Alaska Airlines Is Ditching Its Airbus A320s. But Could It Soon Order A321XLRs?

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines plane
Dec 29 2020

Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, has been an all-Boeing operator. They acquired Virgin America which flew Airbus narrowbodies. It’s seemed from the beginning that they’d eventually dump those planes, and now the fate of Alaska Airlines Airbus A319s and A320s is sealed with Alaska’s order of 23 additional Boeing 737 MAX 9s.

Yet it appears Alaska is talking to Airbus about what to do with the 30 Airbus A320neo orders it inherited from Virgin America – and instead of cancelling, it’s possible they could be converted to A321XLRs.

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Set To Expire, Bask Bank New Customer Bonus Extended – A Great Place To Park Cash

by Gary Leff

sydney opera house at sunset
Dec 29 2020

2020 has been a hard year, but it’s almost behind us. And I’m excited to start traveling again, I’ve been plotting out several trips for the summer and fall of 2021. I’m only booking my airfare with miles, though, because of how flexible that can be.

A Bask Savings Account is a great way to earn these miles, and it’s great that the new customer bonus offer has been extended.

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Buy Star Alliance Miles For $0.00527 Each

by Gary Leff

Dec 29 2020

Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal sells monthly mileage packages. They also sell miles outright through their ‘Miles Store’. Right now they are offering 75,000 bonus miles for transacting with both. Join the mileage purchase club and then within 6 days make your mileage purchase.

This allows you to buy 200,000 miles for about half a cent apiece.

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Do Travel Bans Make Sense During A Pandemic?

by Gary Leff

Dec 29 2020

The U.S. ban on travel from China was poorly executed, the ban on travel from Europe came too late, and the list of countries chosen for bans was incomplete. Once the virus was spreading, the U.S. didn’t ban travel within the country. Travel bans can work – see New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, etc. – but they have to be absolute and they can’t be lifted until the threat has passed.

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Southwest Airlines Won’t Furlough Anyone Through 2021, Will Spend Airline Aid On Employees

by Gary Leff

Dec 28 2020

Southwest really is going to spend some of the bailout money on employees (perhaps 50%) which is how the government aid was sold – unlike United Airlines which is likely to receive about $3 billion and plans to only pay its 16,000 furloughed workers through March as-required keeping the rest of the taxpayer money for themselves and their shareholders.

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Man Hands Out $100 Bills To Everyone On Flight

by Gary Leff

Dec 28 2020

This week a many started handing out $100 bills on his flight, working his way down the aisle of the aircraft. He tells everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with a wad of cash.

One passenger appears reluctant to take the money. Touching things others have handled – even a $100 bill – causes some reluctance during the Covid era. The man responds, “I don’t care if you want to take it or not, you can throw it out.”

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