New and notes from around the interweb:
- Richard Branson is launching a beer and wants help naming it
- Is it offensive – or polite – to help a woman with a suitcase on a plane?
Dear men on airplanes who offer to lift my bag: please keep doing so. I am grateful for the assistance, and I’m not bitter or miserable about it. https://t.co/S6t261ahgu
— Erielle Davidson (@politicalelle) August 5, 2019
- The new Washington National 14 gate concourse that is going to replace gate 35X will have an American Airlines Admirals Club.
- Marriott’s all-inclusive push
- Lufthansa Miles & More card 75,000 mile offer. Years ago when a Lufthansa card was first introduced into the market I let my miles expire, but it was far fewer miles than this.
- Skift we need to talk about that Boeing 737 MAX coverage.
That 737 MAX coverage, though @skift (https://t.co/cCNy0qO8Lj) pic.twitter.com/8qqJei4L8D
— gary leff (@garyleff) August 5, 2019
- Ultra low cost carrier Allegiant, which flies to obscure places at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays, will slap its name on the new Raiders stadium in Las Vegas.
Half of United’s Dulles traffic goes through the abominable A1 – A6 gates at IAD. When its cloudy and United Express doesn’t operate (which seems like 2 or 3 days a week) this concourse is a jam packed madhouse. You’d think with 3 United Clubs (soon 4) in C/D, United would have thought about this.
hmmm what’s so horrific about DCA 35X ? Any gate along LGA’s old Term B is far worse than this.
Airlines are constantly looking for ways to save every penny and yet they will spend a reported $25M per year to sponsor a stadium that will get used for 8 regular season games and a couple of pre-season games?
Re: helping people with bags – I am very noticeably a tall and strong man, but I require either a verbal request or sustained, helpless eye contact for me to get up and assist with a bag. It is a little unfortunate, because I would like to help more people, but obviously it’s become a bit of a “thing” to offer help when it’s not welcome.
On the flip side, I’ll hold the door for you until the day I die. But that one is extended to everyone, men, women, children….
The first story is a great example of why nobody wants to marry American women, and why American men are gravitating towards women from other countries that actually are so callous as to differentiate between male and female gender roles. You can’t have it both ways.
Edit: second story…Richard Branson is definitely not a factor.
Henry: Oh, come on. “Gate” 35x isn’t even a gate. It’s a hole in a wall through which passengers walk out onto the tarmac to get on a bus, which then has to travel a long way to reach a row of planes. Say what you will about LGA: it at least has actual gates and jetways, plus an Admirals Club.
Actual boarding, by the way, is done via slippery metal rolling steps.
You would’ve been better off not commenting at all.
The airport authority and American claim that they’re not adding any new flights. I don’t believe a word of it. You don’t spend $1,000,000,000 on a new facility just to service existing passengers. At the very minimum, AA sees this as a way to get more connecting traffic through DCA even though the airport is already too crowded and adding connecting passengers is going to make traveling so much worse.
@ Adam L — I don’t think AA is interested in getting lots of “connecting passengers” through DCA. They’ve got PHL and CLT to do that. Rather, the name of the game at DCA is to cater to the high-yielding, fabulously wealthy and frequently travelling Washington DC community — and those who need to visit our nation’s capital. DCA is insanely well located to service these needs (and as DC traffic gets worse every year, this real estate gets even more valuable). While I don’t know whether AA will actually be able to add any flights, the main idea is to fly larger commuter planes with about 50% more capacity. From a profit standpoint, that can be as good as adding flights!
35X at DCA is far better than it’s LGA Central Terminal version D9a-f – think 35X but with only stair access and 40% of the space, with no access allowed until your flight is called.
I think the issue with the bag is with the assumption that help is needed. The guy was already grabbing her bag before she responded.
Just ask first. That’s all. Don’t assume that anyone needs or wants your help.
And, honestly, that goes for men and women, young and old, disabled or able-bodied.
(That said, I don’t know what “calculated act of resistance” means.)
Q. Is it offensive to offer a woman assistance in stowing / retrieving her bags on a plane?
A. Only if you are a flight attendant.