Airlines

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)

Avelo contracts to fly ICE deportation flights

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Avelo under fire for contracting with ICE for deportation flights

The U.S. government usually contracts with charter companies for deportation flights. And you can read a ProPublica account of those flights here.

But now a commercial budget airline, Houston-based Avelo, has a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Control and Enforcement agency (ICE) to operate deportation flights out of Arizona’s Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport beginning in mid-May, according to the Associated Press and others.

In a statement, Avelo airline CEO Andrew Levy said the company decided to support ICE’s efforts because it would help with Avelo’s expansion and would protect jobs, but acknowledged the move “is a sensitive and complicated topic.”

Avelo is currently recruiting staff for these flights with a job listing on its site that explains Avelo will be operating a charter program for the Department of Homeland Security and that flights will be both domestic and international “to support DHS’s deportation efforts.”

At the same time, Avelo has announced it will be pulling up stakes Boise Airport (BOI) as of April 27, according to the Idaho Statesman, and at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) as of May 1, according to The Press Democrat.

Petition to boycott Avelo Airlines

A Change.org petition launched by the New Haven Immigrant Heritage Coalition demands that Avelo Airlines halt deportation flight plans in cooperation with the Trump Administration. (Avelo operates flights out of Tweed Airport near New Haven).

“We pledge to boycott the airline until they stop plans to profit off ICE flights that are tearing families and communities apart and removing some legal residents….” the petition states.

Get rewarded for dressing like your Condor plane

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We’re big fans of Condor Airlines’ colorfully striped livery which is inspired by the colors and accoutrements of summer, such as beach towels, ice cream parlors and parosols, according to the carrier.

Now Condor is celebrating the third anniversary of the introduction of its striped livery with a special “Match The Stripes” contest.

Condor unveiled its striped livery on April 4, 2022 and this year, from April 4 to April 30, the airline will be gifting €10 vouchers (about $10.78) to the first 1000 passengers who dress in a striped color shirt, dress or jacket that matches the stripes on their airplane.

The voucher can be used immediately on board the airplane towards the purchase of a drink or snack.

But how will you know know what color stripes will be on you aircrat?

Easy. Condor will tell you.

  1. Two days before a flight, you can search online here to find out which aircraft you will be flying.
  2. Once you know what aircraft you’re flying, you can see what colored stripes it has here.
  3. And once you know what color stripes will be on your plane, you can choose a striped, color-coordinated shirt or dress to wear on the plane.

There are some rules and restrictions, of course, but ‘winners’ will also receive a voucher code to use with the My Postcard app to create a photo postcard of their matchy-match look.

We’re entering Condor Airlines’ dress-like-the-plane promotion in the contest for Airline Amenity of the Week!

Do you love the scent of the airport?

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Have you ever wished that you or your home would smell just like your favorite airport or airline?

It’s not such a far-fetched idea.

Back in 2012, we saw the debut of a line of 19 city-centric scents named for their airport city codes — CDG (Paris), LHR (London), DXB (Dubai) — and packaged in slender bottles with labels that looked like baggage tags, bar codes and all.

The Scent of Departure line no longer seems to exist, but it seemed like a charming travel souvenir.

Linking scents with airports – and airlines – is still a thing.

In mid-January Air France introduced a signature fragrance now being spritzed in its La Première (first class) lobby, a handful of lounge areas at Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and onboard aircraft in the La Première suites.

Named AF001 as a nod to the Concorde flights that traveled between New York and Paris in the late 1970s, the bespoke scent will soon waft through other Air France lounges in Paris and around the world.

What does AF001 smell like?

According to Air France, it has a “comforting, musky scent, combined with mimosa from the south of France” that adds “a sunny, natural vibrancy.”

Air France may have the newest bespoke fragrance in the skies, but as we shared in a story we first wrote for The Points Guy site, there are other airlines and airports with their own special scents.

Dubai-based Emirates worked with Irish brand Voya on a bespoke Eau de Toilette fragrance used on flights in First and Business Class.

Singapore Airlines signature scent is called Batik Flora and was created by Singapore-based Scent by SIX. The fragrance draws its floral notes from the six flowers in the batik motif featured on the airline’s uniforms.

Singapore’s Changi Airport also has its own signature fragrance, called Changi Scent, which smells like orchid, geranium, mint, citrus and Asian spices.

And Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific worked with Australian scent marketing agency Air Aroma on a signature scent that features lavender, jasmine, bamboo, juniper berry, tea leaves, white musk and cedarwood.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) wanted a fragrance that could reflect the Tampa Bay Region. They settled on Scent Air’s “Bamboo Tea,” which has notes of green Bergamot (an Italian citrus fruit), Jasmine, Neroli (the blossom of the bitter orange tree), Musk and Tree Moss.

Smelled any good airports? Let us know.