EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & FOUNDER - SEATTLE, WA. David has written, consulted, and presented on multiple topics relating to airlines and travel since 2008. He has been quoted and written for a number of news organizations, including BBC, CNN, NBC News, Bloomberg, and others. He is passionate about sharing the complexities, the benefits, and the fun stuff of the airline business. Email me: david@airlinereporter.com
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I am one of those who don’t mind doing airport drop offs and pickups. Often I will actually park and walk the person to security or meet them when they come out. I miss the days when you could go through security with the person, walk them to their gate, and wave to their plane as it pushed back. Or welcome them with a smile at the gate as they deplaned. Most drop offs today are about speed and efficiency; the driver will barely roll to a stop, people rush out of the vehicle, bags are thrown to the curb, there are a few quick goodbyes, and then everyone skedaddles before being yelled at by the authorities.
Back in 2018, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) initiated a new program called the SEA Visitor Pass Program. This free program essentially lets you travel back in time to when a non-flying visitor could go through security. I have been wanting to try the program first-hand, but an opportunity never came up… until recently. I had a friend flying in from Montana and I decided to give it a shot. I didn’t let them know my game plan and my hope was to surprise them at the gate.
I would say that for the most part things went pretty smoothly and it was worth the experience. However, I am not sure this will become a regular thing for me.
Over the last few years, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has invited some local AvGeeks, who love sharing their airline passion online, to a special gathering. We all meet up airside and get a rundown of the day, go through security, then pile into a few vans and head out to the airfield, all under escort from airport ops. That part alone is pretty entertaining and fun, but it gets better from there.
Recently, Edelweiss celebrated their inaugural flight from Zurich to Seattle using an Airbus A340 (4 engines 4 long haul). I was double excited not only to see a new international carrier start service at my home airport, but they are also using an AvGeek favorite: the A340. Francis Zera (our Editor-At-Large and Director of Photography) […]
I love flying with a middle seat open next to me (who doesn’t?) and I get to do it quite a bit. I wanted to give you advice on what has worked well for me, so that you too can fly high with an empty middle seat!
This is not one of those “how to” stories that is just clickbait and will tell you “use your miles to upgrade” or “give chocolates to the flight attendants.” Nope… this is all from my own personal experience. You won’t need to do anything unethical, it isn’t that hard, and it often pays off. It will take some time and it will require you to stay engaged from the moment you book your ticket until you board the plane. But I think it is totally worth it… and if you are an AvGeek, I bet you will enjoy the process as well.
Why should you trust me? Well, I would say that 85%+ of the time that I follow the steps below, I end up with a open middle seat next to me… I like those odds. See for yourself and follow these steps to increase the chance of getting an empty middle seat next to you…
Ahhh yes, this is the time of year to take a look back, before taking a look forward. I like to dive into AirlineReporter’s analytics and see what stories were the most popular and where you readers are from. Some of you maybe thinking “well heck David, there haven’t been as many stories this year.” Well, you would be right. I do not want to make any sort of grand statement that we will soon be back to the days of having a daily new story… but I hope we find a happy place in the middle.
And for those who love to see our new stories, but aren’t sure when they post, make sure to sign up for our newsletter and we will send you an email when we publish a new story (sweet self plug, right?).
Let’s take a look at the most read stories, what cities and countries our readers are from, and some other nerdy odds and ends!
