News and notes from around the interweb:
- Stay classy, American Airlines.
@AmericanAir This morning this was my seat on AA flight. Human matter. Great to sit in for 4 hours! #disgusting #gross #badcustomerservice #userexperiencefail pic.twitter.com/vvFUJOGZyX
— rfid (@rfidjan) April 9, 2025
Very good @AmericanAir pic.twitter.com/PMK2qaQeFx
— andrew laddis (@gabrielaczr) April 9, 2025
- Even though Southwest Airlines has done pretty much everything Elliott Management has publicly asked for, Elliott has… lost money on its Southwest investment. But before Trump’s tariffs sent markets into a nosedive, Southwest shares were up a little bit from before the airline turned over board seats to them. And Matt Levine wonders if Elliott’s value add is actually… podcasts?
Last October, Elliott Management, the hedge fund, launched a podcast about Southwest Airlines Co. At the time, Elliott was running a proxy fight at Southwest, pushing for changes in management and strategy, and these days I guess investors want to get their information via podcasts on their way to work. So Elliott met them where they were and podcasted about its proxy fight. …It worked, in the sense that Elliott reached a deal with Southwest that gave it some board seats and much of what it wanted. Southwest’s stock closed at $30.37 the day before the podcast launched; it closed at $31.86 last Wednesday (pre-tariffs; it’s much lower now). Did the podcast add $700 million of value to Southwest? I mean, no. But that would be a pretty good podcast.
- Meg Ryan’s unbridled enthusiasm over pastrami which I wrote about here, here, and here.
I’m always thinking about Katz’s Deli. It’s truly the best. People who complain about the $27 price or the meat to bread ratio have probably never been there and don’t know how succulent the pastrami is and that you can get extra bread slices for 40¢ pic.twitter.com/57PlvlHaKp https://t.co/wrA9v76pfI
— Roy Drones Jr (@chiweethedog) April 8, 2025
- U.S. Bank nerfs the Smartly up to 4% cash back card for new customers starting Monday
- Inquiring minds keep asking.
So, @SouthwestAir if you love free bags, why get rid of them? pic.twitter.com/N0MjCsGson
— Michael Levy (@mlevy60) April 8, 2025
- Priority Pass to Offer More Sleep Pods and Spas as Airport Lounges Get Overcrowded Worth noting that Chase-issued Priority Passes (Sapphire Reserve, Ritz-Carlton Card, JP Morgan Reserve) include spas – while Amex and Capital One-issued Priority Pass cards do not. All 3 have dropped Priority Pass restaurants.
Generally speaking, the more consumers swipe their Priority Pass cards, the more Priority Pass makes, so more options for use are good for them (while members walking away and not entering crowded lounges is not).
- Virgin Australia elite status revamp
- Accor ALL elite status fast track
For a mostly shit-free cabin experience, please consider Delta.
If these comments on AA are accurate, I’m amazed that anyone still flies American. This is unbelievable.
Looks staged, for a free upgrade or some free miles.. if it’s on top of the seatbelts it means it was placed after cabin service had finished.
It’s not unusual for people of minimal character to do anything shady to get a freebee..
This is very gross and terrible. They shouldn’t have to pay for that flight. Are ppl that stupid and lazy about not cleaning foeces that can give you amoebic dysentery?
That 4% Smartly card was doomed.
On AA, just took JFK-SFO in Flagship First and no feces, so I got lucky. No messes in the Chelsea lounge at JFK either. Phew!
Sorry, @Matt, I found a last-minute point redemption, just 41K miles for a $3,500 cash price ticket. I couldn’t resist, even though I usually prefer to Keep Climbing.
@Ruth, that’s exactly the plan. Put a little dirt ( if that is feces, it’s a cat dropping from about a month ago) in the seat and cry ewww! Free flight. So give the person $500.00..
Sorry, the people working the flight deserve to get paid… they still rendered the service. The airline still has to pay for the fuel and aircraft costs…
That’s what I find funny about the mindset of some people. Compensate HUGE for a minor problem… as long as THEY benefit.
Oops you spilled a little something on the person next to you at a restaurant. Would you compensate by buying them a new outfit, or maybe a full wardrobe? You dinged a car door in the parking lot… you should buy them a new car, right? But once you are on an airplane…. oh my the tv screen doesn’t work… give my a $500 free trip.and maybe throw in 10K miles for my trauma….
This picture they show in the article looks like someone cleaned out a hair brush and maybe tried the roll up the hair and lint into a ball. My teenager leaves hairballs like this around. Gross.