News and notes from around the interweb:
- I suspect this is just one Uber employee’s misunderstanding, but apparently they’ve suggested to drivers checking where a passenger is going and forcing a passenger to cancel the trip if it isn’t long enough!
- While Swiss says they’re going to un-block and charge extra for the best seats in business class, apparently those seats are un-blocked but they aren’t yet charging. Go check yours now and get yourself a throne seat for free if you can!
Credit: Thompson Aero Seating - Emirates will be offering free helicopter transfers from the Nice airport to Monaco for those passengers eligible for chauffeur service (no awards issued by partners) when the flight upgrades to an A380.
- The head of DC’s metro system says you’re not supposed to walk while on the escalator, just stand there to minimize wear on the very sensitive equipment. As anyone that’s visited DC knows, any given metro stop may have an escalator out of service at any given time.
- Spirit Airlines is considering installing wifi and offering streaming entertainment starting next year.
Copyright: boarding1now / 123RF Stock Photo - The federal General Services Administration has ruled that Donald Trump’s ownership of the Trump Hotel in DC while President does not violate the hotel’s lease. Shaky analysis at best to say that the family’s plans to delay paying out hotel profits to the President until he leaves office carries much legal meaning, but since I had highlighted the issue when it first came up it seemed worth nothing that the federal government considered it resolved.
- American won an anti-trust jury verdict against Sabre for the terms of its prior fare distribution agreement with US Airways. Something happened behind the scenes because it apparently won’t change Sabre practices.
- Etihad is seriously trolling here, they want to #MakeFlyingGreatAgain.
@Gary:
“…you’re not supposed to walk while on the escalator, just stand there to minimize wear on the very sensitive equipment…. any…metro stop may have an escalator out of service.”
In essence: if the metro stop escalator is not working, riders are not allowed to proceed up to street level. So, what are they supposed to do if they cannot walk up the non-functioning escalator?
The escalator bit is hard to believe. One of the sure tells of a tourist is that they don’t walk. Everybody in DC and NYC has somewhere to be, and it annoys us to no end when people clog up the escalator.
Interesting to see that the linked article on Uber drivers calling re: destination and then cancelling is about arrivals at DCA. About a year ago that was happening to me all the time – literally 80% of arrivals – at DCA. When I mentioned this to drivers who did pick me up, they talked about how the practice was becoming epidemic in scale.
But I hadn’t encountered it recently, so I thought Uber corporate had cracked down on it. Too bad that this phenomenon is popping up again.