News and notes from around the interweb:
- A passenger covered their seat in a plastic bag, I guess this is for hygiene but I hope that cabin isn’t hot because it would make things pretty sticky. That bag covers the whole seat – including the seat back behind them – so that the passenger sitting in back of them cannot open their tray table.
What should you do here in this situation? Wrong answers only:
Lady covers seat with “seat bag” – tray table cannot be opened…
byu/island_architect inmildlyinfuriating - United customer made a 4-year mileage run to fly 4 million miles and earn lifetime Global Services from scratch
- How we got a federal takeover of airport security after 9/11 – the House initially voted against it.
[T]he problem with [pre-9/11] U.S. airport screening was not that it was being provided by private security companies. Rather, those companies were being hired and paid by the airlines in the relevant terminals, who wanted fast, inexpensive screening—something of a conflict of interest. I explained that in most of Europe, screening was done by private security firms (or in some cases, trained airport staff). In both cases, the screening had to meet government-prescribed security performance measures. The resulting House bill favored this approach to beefed-up screening.
The Senate was a different story. In the post-9/11 panic, private screening was mistakenly seen as the basic flaw, and a 100% federal takeover was prescribed as the answer—not only federal standards and regulations but a new federal workforce imposed on nearly every U.S. airport. The House rejected the Senate bill by a four-vote margin and passed its own bill instead. When it came time to work out a compromise, a White House official said that if a bill based mostly on the Senate approach was negotiated, President George W. Bush would sign it. That undercut House negotiators, and the compromise allowed airports to request private screening, but only under TSA control.
- In fairness, lines at the LaGuardia Sky Club are probably the worst these days (since club space has expanded so much at JFK).
LGA Terminal C today. What’s the point in having a lounge when there’s only one in the entire terminal and access is this limited?
byu/kingkube indelta - I don’t feel like this would land well. Have you ever experienced anything like it?
- Don’t say there hasn’t been a time you’ve been tempted to jump on and just grab your bag.
- Citi is offering a 50% transfer bonus to Accor through July 19 (1,000 Citi ThankYou points transfers to 750 ALL points instead of 500, each ALL point is worth 2 euro cents).
- Is Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer about to devalue?
Saw this (the seat bag) on Reddit just yesterday and knew Gary would be on-it! Like a glove, sir!
As for those lines at LGA, they did expand that already massive SkyClub; issues yesterday were because of the weather (storms, heat) which caused delays. Folks just camp out inside, so capacity doesn’t change for a while. This is an instance where it ‘pays’ to be a Diamond or traveling in First, because they basically make an exception (separate line). Otherwise, gonna be a wait for mere Economy/Platinum card folks. Some would say, worth it.
that looks like a Ryanair seatback. The solution is simply to ask the person to remove it long enough for you to lower your tray table and then close the tray table over the plastic bag.
Many airlines object to those types of devices that inhibit the use of the seat by other customers so I would bet a simple call to the FA would get it removed.
I’d just pull it up and put it over her head.
If I need the tray, I would just tear the plastic to allow the tray to operate. No different than tearing the plastic bag to take the headphones out.
@Bob Smith – great idea but you are being too nice. You forgot to mention “suffocate” – or was it implied? A good old suffocation never hurt anyone!!
Rip the bag open!!
@JS — Ah, yes, ‘breath play’ or ‘strangulation’… Remember folks, we don’t kink-shame at VFTW, unless kink-shaming is your kink, then, by all means, you do you.
On Singapore – I wish bloggers would quit calling any change to awards a “devaluation”. It isn’t. It is inflation and simple economics (supply/demand). The price of the ticket (in cash) goes up so the amount of miles should increase to keep up with also there are many more miles out there (mainly due to credit cards) chasing fewer seats so, again, supply/demand.
Look I like a good deal as much as anyone but no one owes you a cheap airline ticket or hotel night. These are businesses that have to look out for their stakeholders. If you come across something.that makes sense go for it but otherwise please quit whining. People that are serious about points/miles are a rounding error to their overall business. Trust me you aren’t as important to them as you think you are!
The reason we “got a federal takeover of airport security after 9/11” was because we failed to sue both United Airlines and American Airlines out of business for catastrophic security failures along with sending their executives to lengthy prison terms among the general inmate population.
As the saying goes, sometimes you need to put heads on posts as a warning to others.
@AC — Nice ‘let the free market decide’ comment. Yeah, a fine idea, but in reality, consumers and workers are often at a competitive disadvantage if there aren’t guardrails to counter excessive greed. (No, I don’t think Singapore is ‘excessive’ here; it’s just not ‘fun’ when such ‘deals’ end.) Nothing lasts forever. This is why I refrain from hoarding points. Earn ’em and burn ’em.
Boy, do I wish companies would care about ‘stakeholders’ (anyone directly and indirectly affected, including passengers, employees, etc.), but realistically, most businesses, especially in the USA, only care about literal shareholders (owners). Maybe Singapore actually cares more about people than just quarterly earnings. As to the importance of the ‘individual,’ you bet! We’re worthless! Bah.
@Denver Refugee — I wouldn’t blame American or United for 9/11. I’d still blame the terrorists. If you really needed ‘scapegoats,’ look no further than Afghanistan and Iraq. Likewise, it would have been an over-reaction to bankrupt the airlines who suffered the most following those attacks…
People are so anti-social and non-confrontational these days…i.e. you’re pussies. Can’t you have a direct conversation with people and say hey, I appreciate that you are a psychopathic hypochondriac, but you have no right to my space. Please remove this thing, you weirdo. If they don’t, I get the flight attendant involved. If the flight attendant is too much of a coward, I take matters into my own hands, and cut the plastic with whatever item I can find to access the items I have a right to. This phenomenon is very recent, nobody got away with this nonsense 20 years ago. Stop encouraging idiocy.
That’s what flight attendants are for. I would first ask them to just sit on it without draping it over the back, and if they refuse, get the FA.
@Mantis — Have you seen @George N Romey’s ‘Cluster B’ hypothesis? You’re speaking his language, brother.
My carryon always has nail clippers with a small file that would easily allow me to cut around the tray table. And, if the plastic would still prevent use of a seat-back storage pouch, it all goes. If the pax complains, I will simply point out they modified my space without permission. I don’t need their permission to fix it. I’m more of an “ask nicely first” person, but this self-centered behavior is a bit much.
No, I’ve never been tempting to jump on to retrieve my bag. And, I’ve regularly given kids, who parents let them play with the belt before it starts moving, the “mean adult stare” to get them to stop. If that doesn’t work, I say something out load so the parents can hear. I don’t want the kid hurt when it starts, and I don’t want to be delayed if they need to shut it down when a kid is injured.
The plastic bag trapping my tray table?
Not a problem for me, In Japan we got these micro mini scissors that fit in my purse so well. I would just whip out my scissors and free my tray and not even say a word to the person in front of me.
Got some cool stuff in Japan last year