Airlines

Donate to Texas flood relief & get bonus miles

Airlines,

(Image courtesy American Airlines)

Individuals and organizations are doing what they can to help out with relief efforts for those affected by the catastrophic flooding in central Texas.

Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines is partnering with the American Red Cross, Airlink and Team Rubicon in relief efforts, assembling and sending care packages for responders and encouraging AAdvtange members to donate cash to the Red Cross by offering bonus AAdvantage miles.

Through July 18, AAdvantage members who donate a minimum of $25 to the Red Cross will receive 10 AAdvantage miles for every dollar donated.

Members can also donate AAdvantage miles through Miles for Social Good.

Below is a list of ways to donate airline frequent flier miles and/or cash to the Red Cross and to other organizations that offer relief efforts in various ways.

Donate frequent flier miles to the Red Cross and other groups

The Red Cross has a nice roundup page of partnerships and mileage donation pages for major airlines.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Members can donate miles to a wide variety of organizations, including an Alaska Airlines disaster relief pool by signing into their mileage accounts and choosing the ‘donate miles’ link.

Delta Air Lines Sky Miles members can donate Sky Miles through the Delta SkyWish program.

JetBlue TrueBlue members can donate their TrueBlue points to organizations such as World Central Kitchen and The American Red Cross.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards members can donate their points to organizations such as Airlink, the American Red Cross and Team Rubicon through the airline’s Points for a Purpose program.

United Airlines Mileage Plus members can donate miles to organizations such as Airlink and the American Red Cross starting at this page.

Swank new ways to fly + cool new places to fly to

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This week there was news about new planes with upgraded interiors and a bevy of “let’s go!” new routes.

Earlier this week we shared photos and notes about the new seasonal Edelweiss Air flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Zurich.

Alaska Airlines also announced that flights between Seattle and Rome will begin in May 2026. The carrier points out that the ‘Emerald City; will be connected to the ‘Eternal City’ for the first time.

With Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines recently launched flights to Tokyo Narita and in September will begin flying to Seoul, South Korea.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) celebrated new seasonal nonstop service to Athens Airport (ATH).

American Airlines woos with the ‘premium’ Boeing 787-9 aircraft

And this week, to much hoopla, American Airlines began flying one of its new 787-9P ‘premium’ aircraft, with an inaugural flight on June 5 from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Sadly, the Stuck at The Airport team, sadly, wasn’t on that first flight. But we look forward to hopping on board soon to experience all the new creature comforts.

Here’s a short video of the new interior that the airline shared a few weeks back.

And here’s an important public service announcement

(Image courtesy Clark County Dept of Aviation)

Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas and the #WhatsMyName Foundation introduced a safety campaign that is important to remember every time and anywhere you hail a rideshare.

The foundation was created to honor Sami Josephson, a young woman kidnapped and murdered by a fake rideshare driver in 2019. The campaign uses the letters of Sami’s name to spell out the tips that could save your life.

Here are the tips to remember:

S: Stop before you get in a vehicle and go over the safety rules in the app

A: Ask your driver “What’s my name?” to confirm that they are the driver assigned to you. (Don’t say, “Are you ….”)

M: Match the make, model and license plate of the car with the one displayed in your rideshare app.

I – Inform a friend or family member of your ride details. Rideshare apps offer a real-time tracking app. Use it.

Edelweiss Air lands in Seattle

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Lufthansa Group’s leisure airline, Edelweiss (operated by SWISS), touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on Monday and was welcomed with a traditional water cannon salute.

Edelweiss will now offer twice weekly summer seasonal service between SEA and Switzerland’s Zurich Airport (ZRH) on an Airbus A340-300 with 314 seats across three classes.

Edelweiss Business Class has 27 fully lie-flat seats. Economy Max includes 76 seats and there are 211 seats in Economy Class.

With this new flight, travelers can now travel from Seattle to Munich, Frankfurt and Zurich on Lufthansa Group flights.

SEA recently welcomed back SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) for flights between Seattle and Copenhagen after a ‘pause’ of 16 years and celebrated Alaska Airlines’ new flights on Hawaiian Airlines to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. So it’s been pretty busy around here.

But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a proper celebration for Edelweiss.

In addition to short celebratory speeches and a ribbon cutting, travelers waiting for the flight to depart were treated to a tasty snack of chocolate-covered pretzel sticks.

(Bernd Bauer, CEO of Edelweiss Air, with Lufthansa Group and SEA executives).

Flights we’d take on Alaska and United

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Alaska Airlines’ 1st intercontinental route: SEA to Tokyo

(Image courtesy Port of Seattle)

On Monday, Alaska Airlines celebrated its first intercontinental flight to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT).

The new daily flight, operated by Hawaiian Airlines, which Alaska Airlines acquired in September 2024, is on an A330 aircraft and is the first of 12 international wide-body flights Alaska plans to roll out by 2030.

Next up: Seattle to Seoul, starting on September 12, 2025.

Any place United’s updated 787-9 Dreamliners will fly

(Courtesy United)

When United Airlines begins taking delivery of its new 787-9 Dreamliners, sometime before the end of the year, there will be a slew of snazzy nose-to-tail upgrades throughout the aircraft.

Especially in the business class cabin.

As part of what the Chicago-based carrier is dubbing the United Elevated interior, these new Dreamliners will sport two business class suites in the first row of each business class section.

The suites will be 25% larger than standard United Polaris seats and have privacy doors, an extra ottoman seat for companions, special entrée options, wireless charging, a huge 27-inch, 4K OLED seatback screen and a host of other amenities, including hoodie pajamas and slippers, new noise-canceling headphones and amenity kits, playing cards, a velvet throw pillow on the ottoman as well as Saks Fifth Avenue bedding that includes a duvet, day blanket, large pillow and cooling gel pillow.

Standard United Polaris seats will also get upgraded to suites with the addition of sliding doors and larger, 19-inch 4K OLED screens, multiple charging options for gadgets and the option to choose between seats that face the window or the center of the aircraft.

Premium Plus, Economy Plus and Economy seats are also getting some updates with the Elevated interior, including Bluetooth connectivity.

United Aircraft with the “Elevated” interior will also be among the first United widebody planes to have free Starlink connectivity for United MileagePlus members.

The carrier expects to take delivery of the first 787-9 Dreamliner with the Elevated interior before the end of 2025 with the first international passenger flights planned in 2026 from San Francisco to Singapore and San Francisco to London.

Alaska Airlines trading cards + Where we’d go

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How to get Alaska Airlines’ new pilot trading cards

Airports have them. Delta Air Lines has new ones. Even the therapy animals that roam airport concourses have them.

Now Alaska Airlines has issued a new set of trading cards that you can collect too.

On World Pilot’s Day (April 26) the carrier debuted a new 8-card collection of commemorative trading cards celebrating current liveries.

The carrier last issued new trading cards more than a decade ago and those cards were printed on cardstock.

These new cards are more snazzy, with a holographic film and lenticular coating that transforms the aircraft image into what the airline promises will be a “multi-dimensional experience.”

Want some of Alaska Airlines’ new trading cards?

So how do you get your hands on these cool new airline trading cards?

According to the airline you just need to ask the pilot or a member of the flight crew on your next flight if they have cards on hands. Keep in mind though, that limited quantities of the cards are being produced and are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Let us know what you score.

For a full history of all of Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air pilot trading cards, take a moment to visit the World Airline Historical Society site, which traces the airline’s collectible cards back to 1966.

Where we’d go: Kinectic Sculpture Race in Baltimore at AVAM

The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland is a whimsical, magical museum that collects, displays and celebrates art produced by self-taught individuals.

AVAM also hosts some wonderful and wacky events, including a Kinetic Sculpture Race, which is celebrating its 25th running on Saturday, May 3.

According to AVAM, for this race, “Kinetinauts and their multi-terrain machine wonders brave 15 miles of seemingly impassable obstacles, from water circuits and pits of mud to the city’s bumpy byways…FOR NOTHIN’ BUT THE GLORY.”

Check out this video from a recent race.

And let us know where you’re going.

(AVAM images courtesy AVAM)