News and notes from around the interweb:
- Open bottles slowly to release pressure. This is usually done in the galley, not the passenger cabin. And you do know you aren’t allowed to consume alcohol you brought onboard yourself, unless served to you by a member of the crew right?
She popped a champagne bottle 30,000 feet in the air…. pic.twitter.com/QRmVjwU0Cg
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) March 17, 2025
- Despite management, the crew onboard are still good at least.
@SouthwestAir surely made our trip enjoyable!!! pic.twitter.com/Axrsf7Blt0
— JESUSlight (@TuanDuong44) March 17, 2025
comms 101: if you’re going to remove beloved features you should probably also scrap the marketing bragging about said beloved features @SouthwestAir pic.twitter.com/JVqAkxcHNO
— Ann Marie Guzzi (@amguzzi) March 17, 2025
- Such a bad customer experience. Passengers complain about it on American, Delta and United – so when American says adding 5 minutes to boarding time should reduce the frequency of gate checking bags when overhead bin space is freely available, do not believe it.
Please tell me @AmericanAir why I needed to check my carry on bag??
Honestly, this is an extreme pet peeve of mine, when I’m forced to check a carry on when there is plenty of space.
Maybe I just need to stick with @united #customerservicefail pic.twitter.com/IuqRNbnfPx
— Andrew Smith (@andrewpsmith11) March 17, 2025
- Aliens passing through airport security, and they’re detectable only to the TSA.
Have you ever screened a “nonhuman individual” as a TSO?
byu/decomposingcoffeemug intsa - No. No way. Absolutely not. High but not crazy for ConciergeKey maybe but for something below that? Just foolishness.
I finally got my status offer…
byu/4ureli inamericanairlines - There are several readers of this blog with nine figure net worth – put that in your pipe and smoke it..!
"Why bother with credit card and travel points when it's a relatively insignificant amount of $ to you?"
Honest answer: doing it for the love of the game. Feels fun to beat the system.
If it isn't fun for you, don't do it! pic.twitter.com/EQqslkdQM7
— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) March 17, 2025
- Trump Justice Department finds Capital One acquisition of Discover would harm competition The current administration suggested they’d take a similar tact on antitrust as the last one, but the conclusion here just seems wrong. If anything, Capital One could breath life into a moribund competitor to Visa, Mastercard and American Express.
- United 1k members lose complimentary CLEAR benefit May 1. They’re offered a $129 price instead, though of course many will continue to get a credit from their Amex Platinum or Business Platinum cards.
- Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford, himself a pilot, has been named to head the FAA. Bedford has opposed the 1,500 hour rule for pilots.
Regarding being forced to check bags on American, in my experience they usually only require you to check your bag if you are in group 8 or group 9. I think everyone who joins the AADVANTAGE Program is no worse than group 6? If overhead bin space is important, shouldn’t everyone be an AA FF member?
@Gary Leff
The Trump DOJ is likely correct about the Capital One-Discovery merger. You are likely wrong. With the exception of the Venture/Venture X cardholders, both Capitol One and Discovery disproportionately serve subprime borrowers, while Chase and Amex mostly target prime to superprime borrowers. These are overlapping but increasingly distinct business models. The subprime model makes most of its profit from interest, while the superprime model makes most of its profit from higher interchange rates (which merchants reluctantly pay to accomodate likely high spend customers) and group purchasing discounts margin (collecting annual fees and passing on some of the group purchasing discount through credits and “coupon books”). Even a combined Capital One-Discover would not have the scale, user base, or negotiating leverage (with merchants) to switch to the superprime model. The merger would just reduce competition in the subprime part of the market and result in higher interest rates for subprime borrowers.
Wow, this was an action-packed Roundup. Lotta good stuff here.
On SWA crews–Yes! They are great! Thank you, Gary, for making that distinction, between crews and management. Even if the leadership is off (or awful) that doesn’t diminish the workers, who are awesome.
On anti-trust enforcement (Capital One & Discover) — Hmm. Would have expected this. Maybe someone forgot to pay their ‘gratuities’ at Mar-A-Lago this time. Never forget!
On Bedford to lead FAA–If he handle the ATC shortage and upgrade the critical systems, then he will have earned his keep. Lot of work to be done at the agency. Wishing him and his team the best. Since Republic operates under American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express, he probably has a unique perspective, having managed relationships with the big-three. Safety first.
What? A ten year TSO veteran and they only screened 2 non-human travelers?
Premium move by United in removing Clear for 1K members.
I have two Discover cards and zero Capital One ones. The oldest Discover card is the first credit card I got. I had a Capital One card several decades ago but I closed it many years ago. I am glad that the acquisition of Discover by Capital One has been blocked. I am not sure why the offer was $35.3 billion if Discover is so moribund. The combination would create the largest credit card company by loans, larger then JP Morgan Chase (from bankingexchange). After JP Morgan Chase force closed my accounts last year without explanation or justification, I am less favorable to banking consolidation. If consolidation continues, the time could come when I am forced to bank with a banking company I dislike (higher fees, more restrictions, not local, etc.) because the few large banking companies left that I like are unwilling to do business with me.
The champagne sprayer should be put on the no fly list. That would wipe out the smile. Doing something that is prohibited. Actions that could be seen as assault and/or battery. Sticky residue on other passengers and on an airplane that won’t be cleaned properly between flights. An uncontained cork flying around.
@Erect — So, how big is ‘it’? Like, a little, $1 billion, standard, $3-4 billion, ideal, $5-6 billion, or like, ‘brutal’, +$9 billion. I’m ‘just’ talking about finance here, with my ‘big’ ole pal, Erect.
One billion dong- that’s about $40K, to those of you doing math at home…
I once gave a couple million old Turkish lira to a group of annoying touts at Bombay airport who were trying to hold me or my luggage hostage for “helping” me to a prepaid taxi despite my telling them I didn’t want their help and to leave me alone.
They probably felt rich for a while, but they were going to still be cash poor and struggle with getting a low transactional cost liquidity event for what they got from me.
@George — Bah! I was just asking about ‘dongs’ and ‘billions’ above. Any idea on @Erect’s figure(s)?