News and notes from around the interweb:
- W Hotels are getting a brand refresh many of them are no longer cool, but rather than clear brand standards expect variation across properties and it’s hard to imagine Marriott forcing owners to make big investments (20 years ago Starwood imposed huge costs on owners in the name of cool).
W Seoul Walker Hill - Air Serbia removes Georgia from map hardly the first time we’ve seen this from an airline, kowtowing to geopolitical nonsense.
- Oh my.
Frightening cell phone video of first responders pulling a pilot to safety seconds before a train slams into the plane that crashed onto the tracks near Whiteman Airport in Pacoima. @CBSLA #BreakingNow #news #crash #kcal 📸 Luis Jimenez https://t.co/NWGu2HhBUM @composerluis pic.twitter.com/D4VhNPGYID
— JASMINE VIEL (@jasmineviel) January 10, 2022
- American and United shopping portal bonuses remember that these bonuses do not count as American AAdvantage loyalty points.
- Some people want a vaccine mandate for domestic travel to keep the people who tend not to get vaccinated off of planes and that’s not because of Covid risk.
“This feels terrible to even say, but anything that would filter out the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, anti-whatever, would just make things easier,” one flight attendant said.
- Interview with the incoming CEO of Southwest Airlines
OMAAT has a different reading of the Loyalty Points to be earned using the 500/1000 bonus.
@R B – no, his read is the same as mine – he wrote:
“Note that base miles earned through AAdvantage eShopping are considered qualifying Loyalty Points, and can help you earn American AAdvantage elite status. However, the bonus as such wouldn’t count towards status.”
That train save is both incredibly dangerous and amazing at the same time. Truly, seconds to spare. I am in awe.
@Gary – There are other videos of the crash, including bodycam footage from the officers at the scene. Lots of ads on this site, but they’ve pulled together the social media postings into one place: https://heavy.com/news/lapd-plane-train-video-pilot-rescue/
It was even more harrowing up close in the bodycam footage.