News and notes from around the interweb:
- Westjet pilots realize what it’s like to sit in coach. They don’t like it, either.
- First-time Rakuten shopping portal users get $50 (or 5,000 Amex points) for spending $50 at any of its merchants. The easy, quick win before this offer ends September 30th is just to go to GiftCards.com through the portal and buy a $50 gift card for Uber, DoorDash, Southwest Airlines or Delta.
I prefer Membership Rewards points – link an eligible Amex card and set Rakuten to pay out in points. But this is essentially a ‘free’ $50.
- Really frustrated with how American Airlines sells basic economy:
Time to start a class action law suit pic.twitter.com/epnj27zNJl
— MERICA MEMED (@Mericamemed) October 3, 2025
- I’d comment on this, but at a Priority Pass lounge it’s almost de rigueur…
That is one of the sofa cushions she’s resting her bare feet on
byu/WhateverWombat inPriorityPass - Hilarious. And the rest of the passengers surely appreciate the effort.
Father of the year pic.twitter.com/Ch0pKjVRWp
— Xavier ✞ (@RealXavier011) October 1, 2025
- This crewmember remembers which direction traffic flowed over the Berlin Wall…
Now I know y’all are joking
byu/Accomplished-Edge-17 incabincrewcareers
I have a solution… airlines can adopt La Compagnie’s model of a321neos with only business lie-flat in 2-2. Great range, fuel efficient, can go to most major and minor airports, cross most oceans, and everyone’s comfortable. Not thaaat much more expensive…
Never ran into that problem with AA, but I usually use the app to buy my tickets — that’s shady. (Btw, the end of that video is a mood).
Friendly clarification, the Rakuten promotion got extended and is now going through 12/31. Quite the jolly promotion for the holiday season!
The Rakuten expires 30 Sept? Isn’t it already October ?
Westjet is the least comfortable of the major Canadian airlines. The only reasons it survives is that it is the only reasonable option in many western Canadian airports, and it owns Sunwing, the vacation airline. It is always my last choice to fly on, unless I can get a product better than economy (i.e., Premium seats).
Father of the year is pretty funny. The baby knows what source to use.
I have seen flat out bad coding on many commercial sites. My HMO is pretty notorious for it over a number of years and the technical department cannot be reached. For the airline, I cannot tell if the bad coding is due to supervision requiring it (on purpose) or to the coder screwing up. I would normally go with the coder screwing up and bad supervision allowing the coding to go live without proper testing.
By the way, Gary, don’t listen to the haters; I think your use of AI clipart, like in the thumbnail of this post, is excellent. Add flavors I didn’t even know existed. Yum!
@1990
Remember the “more room in coach” product from AA? It was a nice ride in the coach cabin back during that era. Executives thought the passengers would pay a little more for the extra legroom. Well they thought wrong on that one and back came the seats with less pitch.
All pilots should have to sit in the same class of service as the majority of passengers. Then it’s another set of voices pressing for humane seating for everyone. Likewise, all executives and their families should be forced to do the same. How are they supposed to understand what normal humans go through if they always fly up front or private?
@Coffee Please — I do recall; and Ben posted on it (earlier this year on his site). As he said, “while passengers appreciated more legroom, they weren’t willing to pay more for it.” Technically, it was coined “More Room Throughout Coach” (MRTC). Gone by 2004. Bah!
@ Christian. At Southwest we did…and that’s one reason I fly F or J on my $$$.
@One Trippe – Exactly. You chose to be a revenue passenger on another carrier. That’s absolutely your right. The fact that you were willing to fork out the cash to fly up front also indicates an awareness of how bad coach can be.
@ Christian. Thank you. When you have spent a working life at numerous airlines and always traveled in Economy ( DH or NR, both domestic and international…not to mention the “airport appreciation time waiting for a NR seat to become available) it only takes once in Business to easily justify the personal expense in J. At this point it’s not about how important is my time but about how important is my comfort, health and security.