Why Did Australia’s Youngest Gold Medalist Ever, Just 14, Skip Business Class for Coach? [Roundup]

by Gary Leff

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • Australia flew Olympic medalists home from Paris in business class. Their youngest-ever Gold winner, 14-year old Arisa Trew, declined the upgrade preferring to hang out with her teammates in coach.

  • American Express plans to open a Centurion lounge next year in Salt Lake City airport’s B concourse. It will be around 16,000 square feet.

    Amex began building their own lounges in major cities where they lacked partner lounges, especially as they lost partnerships due to mergers and exclusive deals those airlines did with their co-brand credit card partners (e.g. losing Continental, US Airways, and American). However the pivoted to also building lounges in Delta hubs – their cards were overflowing Delta’s lounges, and this became part of their deal with Delta.


    Rendering of Salt Lake City Centurion Lounge

  • “The Ballad of the (Dulles Airport) Mobile Lounge”

  • Looks like an overcooked frozen meal, what they used to call a tv dinner.

    Deltas transatlantic hot food in economy is diabolical
    byu/booron indelta

    Meanwhile, this is not a pizza. Delta, with a hub in New York, ought to know that.

    New Food Pizza
    byu/Immediate_Face_9848 indelta

  • Pilot sues United Airlines for failing to provide him with gluten free meals as a disability accommodation for celiac disease. He says he has to pay for his own food, while other pilots have theirs provided.

  • This does misread as ‘without you in it’

    The world is whaaaaat?
    byu/kateili indelta

  • This announcement should be made before every flight on a European leisure airline, and on Spirit.

  • Always ask. The worst they can say is no.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. I fully understand the 14 year old turning down business class. First of all she is small so a coach seat probably is fine for her. Sure she doesn’t have a lay flat seat but at that age it likely wasn’t a priority and if she was like my daughters when they were teens she can sleep well about anywhere. Then we have the fact she is too young to enjoy the alcohol and likely doesn’t care about the food difference. Finally, and most important, she will have a great time hanging out and talking with her teammates and friends instead of sitting by herself in a business class pod.

  3. I always wondered about when a 4th place sprinter meets a gold-medal winning skateboarder, break dancer, or synchronized swimmer. Does the former react the same way Phds do when they met an EdD who insists on being called doctor?

  4. @DaveW … How about Mrs. Biden , who styles herself as “Dr. Biden” , with her EdD , in the study of junior colleges ? When I mocked “Dr. Biden” to an M.D. and PhD. , I was politely corrected as being “too inclined to unfairly mock” .

    Re. the Olympics I was very impressed with those who climbed the rock-climbing wall in under 5 seconds . More agile than my cat .

  5. “Why Did Australia’s Youngest Gold Medalist Ever, Just 14, Skip Business Class for Coach? ”

    Because she’s 14 and wanted to hang with her friends, Gary. Talk about a dumb question. Pretty much any 14 year old girl would do the same. Probably most of the 14 year old guys too (though not as many).

    Do 14 year olds appreciate business class? Some do, to a varying degree. But they have little appreciation of it.

  6. @AngryFlier

    Listen buddy! If you wanna pay Gary’s salary, say, $20,000/month, he will gladly stop writing articles to get people like you who have no self control for clicks.
    Until then, keep clicking!

  8. Arisa Trew was also safer being with friends around her instead of isolated in business class.

  9. When did celiac disease become a Disability? Since this Pilot has a “Disability” is he fit to fly as a pilot? Should his flying license be revoked because he has a Disabiltiy.

    The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly limits one or more major life activities.

    The term “disability” in the ADA is legal, not medical.

    He can drive a United Bus now.

Comments are closed.