Flying During Covid - Social Distancing OnBoard
EPISODE #7 TRANSCRIPT
NOTE: This transcript is from The Travel Pro Show, which you can watch on YouTube here.
How would you like easy and cheap access to luggage storage anywhere in the world? Stay tuned, and we'll show you how. Also coming up in this episode of the Travel Pro Show, a highly controversial news story about a passenger who got booted off a plane in salt Lake city, simply for being concerned about social distancing. And I'll also show you some fascinating new technology for travelers passing through LAX. I'm Andrew Lock, and this is the show that shares the secrets to smarter travel!
Hello, and welcome to the show. First up, here's a story that's become a topic of hot debate among travelers. As you know, throughout the pandemic, the airlines saw passenger numbers plummet, and one of the ways they tried to coax travelers back again, was to ensure social distancing on board, including very often blocking middle seats to allow passengers to spread out. As we all know, COVID is highly contagious, and the closer you are to someone who has it, the more likely the chance that you will be infected. With that in mind, here's what happened in Salt Lake City recently. It was a Delta flight, and one passenger was complaining that passengers were all bunched up together at the back of the plane...
(video shows a passenger pushing back on a flight crews saying nobody could move forward to empty seats).
All the passengers were seated at the rear. The passenger who asked only to be identified by his first name, Garth, says he suggested spreading everyone out to give more distance and prevent potential COVID spread. There was no reason not to do it. They didn't mention anything about the load of the plane being off balance or anything like that. The flight crew in the video explains they can't move passengers between classes, even with empty seats.
When Garth's objections, persisted, he was told to leave the plane and he could be rebooked on another flight.
When it comes to passengers health and safety, there are limits. And one of those limits is not allowing passengers to spread out if it means there'll be sitting in more expensive seats. The interesting thing about this particular case is that the seats in question were not in a different cabin, they were simply higher priced economy seats at the front of the aircraft.
When I first heard this news story, my ears immediately perked up, because this exact situation has happened to me several times in the last few months, both on SAS and Southwest. I even took photos to document what happened, because on both flights, the front of the aircraft was basically empty, and 95% of the passengers were crammed together at the back. And again, it wasn't that the empty seats were in a different cabin, they were simply the higher priced economy seats at the very front.
Now look, I understand this is a tricky issue, but right now I honestly believe that most passengers, are much more concerned about safety than whether they happen to score a free upgrade. Meanwhile, airlines are still claiming they're putting safety first when it comes to COVID, but they're obviously not when they're cramming passengers all together in one section of the plane.
Now, again, I don't think they're doing it intentionally, but they're also not paying attention to it. Case in point, I flew from LA to London recently on Virgin. And although there were only six of us in Upper Class, they literally sat all of us right next to each other, even though the entire cabin was empty. I pointed this out to one of the flight attendants and she said, "Oh, no problem. You can spread out if you like." My feeling is that they should have looked strategically at the seating chart beforehand and facilitated spreading us out before we boarded.
To add further weight to the argument that airlines are more concerned about profits than safety, although many airlines blocked middle seats for awhile, that's no longer happening, even though COVID is still very much around. In their statement about the incident that I mentioned at the outset, Delta revealed their true feelings about safety versus preserving premium seats. Here's what they said: "Customers purchasing seats in one class are not randomly permitted free upgrades into another class. Even when seats are available."
As for that passenger, he was kicked off the plane here in Salt Lake, he canceled this trip, and he is now on his way back home to Oregon on a train. That's a long train journey back to Oregon! The guy's probably still on the train now! But again, as you saw from Delta statement on the incident, they basically admitted that preventing random upgrades is more important to them than protecting passengers from COVID. Bizarre. Let me ask you, what do you feel is the right solution to this, since COVID is so contagious. For the time being, should airlines allow passengers to spread out once everyone's on board, or should "preventing random upgrades" as Delta puts it, always Trump social distancing? It's an interesting debate!
Personally, I do think it's hypocritical of airlines to make a big song and a dance about how much they care about social distancing in one breath, but then refuse to allow passengers to spread out when there are many empty seats available. As this story shows, there are times when passengers could and probably should spread out, but the airlines apparently disagree.
Delta airlines aren't the only ones kicking passengers off planes right now. In another controversial incident, Spirit airlines recently kicked a family off a flight because, get this, their toddler was eating a yogurt without a mask! In case you didn't know, under two year olds do not have to wear a mask on flights within the U.S. and perhaps more importantly, all passengers regardless of their age, are allowed to eat without a mask because, well, it's kind of difficult to eat with one. After the flight attendant ordered everyone off that plane, managers from the airline interviewed passengers, looked at their videos, and in a remarkable turnaround of events, they allowed everyone back on the plane except the flight attendant. Wow. I'd love to know your opinion about both of these incidents, and I look forward to reading your comments below. And now let's hear from our favorite travel pro presenter, Gabriella Soutine with another nifty app review...
Have you ever found yourself on a short stopover wanting to explore the city, but not knowing what to do with your bags? In other words, you want to see the sites, but you don't want to lug your luggage around? Enter Radical Storage. It's an app that has negotiated a flat rate daily fee with more than three and a half thousand storage locations around the world. In short, this app makes it easy to find a cheap place to store your luggage while you explore the city. It's available for both Android and Apple devices, and it's completely free.
Here's how to get started. When you first open the app, you can either choose from one of the most popular cities listed, or search for a specific location. For this example, I'm going to type in Stockholm because that's where I was born. The capital of Sweden. By the way, if you ever go there, "take a chance on me" and be sure to check out the "super trooper" album museum. I'm telling you, it's the "name of the game" whenever you're in Stockholm. You can say, "thank you for the music," and it doesn't cost much "money, money, money." Okay, enough with the Abba puns, back to the app...
So when we searched Stockholm, as you can see, there's five results. We can select any of these places for a flat fee of just five dollars a day. And if we want to see the locations on a map, just click the up button at the bottom of the screen. To see more details about each location, just click the little black and white arrow symbol. And then the summary at the bottom, you can then view the opening hours, read a description, and browse the reviews. When you're ready to book, click the 'Book Now' button. From there, you'll be asked to select the date and time of the drop-off and the pick-up, as well as the number of pieces of luggage you want to store to get the best deal. Always try to book at least a day in advance as the prices are more expensive the same day. You can choose to pay with Apple pay, credit card, PayPal, and you'll get a confirmation immediately, along with details of the exact address. I love this app. It's such a relief to know that I can store luggage easily and inexpensively while I roam and explore. I think you're going to like it too. So I have one question for you: "Voulez Vous this app!? Sorry, I couldn't help it. Let me know in the comments if you use Radical Storage, I'd love to hear about your favorite travel apps as well, so be sure to comment below. All right, that's all from me, back to you, Andrew.
Thank you Gabriella. If you're enjoying this episode so far, please consider becoming a subscriber so you can continue to enjoy these episodes. Now, then I admit I'm a bit of a gadget geek, and occasionally during my travels, I come across some innovative technology. That was the case at LAX recently. I went to purchase some food items in the food collection area, I think it was in terminal six, and there was no cashier. Instead I was directed to this futuristic looking checkout and the little sign instructed me to "place items here." Well, within a second of me placing the items down, all three were detected on the checkout screen, as you can see.
I was really fascinated by this, so the rebel in me wanted to see if I could fool the system. So I grabbed both a Pepsi and a Diet Pepsi, placed them both in the checkout area, and sure enough, it instantly knew the difference. I did the same thing with bottles of orange and lemonade, and again, it correctly identified both items, even though the packaging was the same. Turns out, whatever I put down, it nailed it, every time. Two bottles of tea, two sets of sandwiches, nothing I did fooled the system. I even covered up some barcodes and it still recognized everything.
Have you come across this technology before? The company behind it is called MashGin, a very weird name, but apparently they're using some kind of AI wizardry, because their website confirms you can "place any item anyway," and it will always detect it correctly. Obviously this technology has the ability to greatly speed up the checkout process, so it'll be really interesting to see how it rolls out in the future.
I'd love to hear your comments about this. What do you think about it? Have you used it, or would you be happy to use it? Or do you see any potential issues? Please do share your thoughts below. We always love comparing notes with other travel pros like you.
If you want more travel tips for getting perks, upgrades and VIP status, I encourage you to visit TravelProShow.com, where you'll find plenty of helpful tips. And while you're there, grab the nifty free guide "7 Top Travel Hacks to Save You Money on Your Next Flight." It's the ultimate blueprint for getting the best deal every time. For more travel tips and inspiration, check out the YouTube channel: "All the goodies." Self-described as a design focused travel channel, there's some really interesting, unusual content on there, such as London's highest swimming pool, and making chocolate at the Lindt museum in Cologne.
On Instagram checkout at Alex Strohl. He's originally from Montana, but spends most of his time on the road, taking outdoor photos of interesting places all around the world, and I have to say almost every photo looks like a picture postcard. The images really pull you in. So we'll put links to both of those resources below, and be sure to check them out. Join us again next time when I'll have a report from the lovely little Island of Malta, we'll also tell you about a new trend that gives travel pros the ability to enjoy five-star resorts during the day as a guest. And you won't believe my shocking discovery about British Airways - all will be revealed next time!
And finally, here's a 'lost in translation' sign from my travels. This one's from a Chinese restaurant that enthusiastically offers diners, "Sweat and Sour Pork." I think I'll give that one a miss, something's definitely lost in translation! Please continue to check out our other videos, and we'll see you on the next episode.
Hello, and welcome to the show. First up, here's a story that's become a topic of hot debate among travelers. As you know, throughout the pandemic, the airlines saw passenger numbers plummet, and one of the ways they tried to coax travelers back again, was to ensure social distancing on board, including very often blocking middle seats to allow passengers to spread out. As we all know, COVID is highly contagious, and the closer you are to someone who has it, the more likely the chance that you will be infected. With that in mind, here's what happened in Salt Lake City recently. It was a Delta flight, and one passenger was complaining that passengers were all bunched up together at the back of the plane...
(video shows a passenger pushing back on a flight crews saying nobody could move forward to empty seats).
All the passengers were seated at the rear. The passenger who asked only to be identified by his first name, Garth, says he suggested spreading everyone out to give more distance and prevent potential COVID spread. There was no reason not to do it. They didn't mention anything about the load of the plane being off balance or anything like that. The flight crew in the video explains they can't move passengers between classes, even with empty seats.
When Garth's objections, persisted, he was told to leave the plane and he could be rebooked on another flight.
When it comes to passengers health and safety, there are limits. And one of those limits is not allowing passengers to spread out if it means there'll be sitting in more expensive seats. The interesting thing about this particular case is that the seats in question were not in a different cabin, they were simply higher priced economy seats at the front of the aircraft.
When I first heard this news story, my ears immediately perked up, because this exact situation has happened to me several times in the last few months, both on SAS and Southwest. I even took photos to document what happened, because on both flights, the front of the aircraft was basically empty, and 95% of the passengers were crammed together at the back. And again, it wasn't that the empty seats were in a different cabin, they were simply the higher priced economy seats at the very front.
Now look, I understand this is a tricky issue, but right now I honestly believe that most passengers, are much more concerned about safety than whether they happen to score a free upgrade. Meanwhile, airlines are still claiming they're putting safety first when it comes to COVID, but they're obviously not when they're cramming passengers all together in one section of the plane.
Now, again, I don't think they're doing it intentionally, but they're also not paying attention to it. Case in point, I flew from LA to London recently on Virgin. And although there were only six of us in Upper Class, they literally sat all of us right next to each other, even though the entire cabin was empty. I pointed this out to one of the flight attendants and she said, "Oh, no problem. You can spread out if you like." My feeling is that they should have looked strategically at the seating chart beforehand and facilitated spreading us out before we boarded.
To add further weight to the argument that airlines are more concerned about profits than safety, although many airlines blocked middle seats for awhile, that's no longer happening, even though COVID is still very much around. In their statement about the incident that I mentioned at the outset, Delta revealed their true feelings about safety versus preserving premium seats. Here's what they said: "Customers purchasing seats in one class are not randomly permitted free upgrades into another class. Even when seats are available."
As for that passenger, he was kicked off the plane here in Salt Lake, he canceled this trip, and he is now on his way back home to Oregon on a train. That's a long train journey back to Oregon! The guy's probably still on the train now! But again, as you saw from Delta statement on the incident, they basically admitted that preventing random upgrades is more important to them than protecting passengers from COVID. Bizarre. Let me ask you, what do you feel is the right solution to this, since COVID is so contagious. For the time being, should airlines allow passengers to spread out once everyone's on board, or should "preventing random upgrades" as Delta puts it, always Trump social distancing? It's an interesting debate!
Personally, I do think it's hypocritical of airlines to make a big song and a dance about how much they care about social distancing in one breath, but then refuse to allow passengers to spread out when there are many empty seats available. As this story shows, there are times when passengers could and probably should spread out, but the airlines apparently disagree.
Delta airlines aren't the only ones kicking passengers off planes right now. In another controversial incident, Spirit airlines recently kicked a family off a flight because, get this, their toddler was eating a yogurt without a mask! In case you didn't know, under two year olds do not have to wear a mask on flights within the U.S. and perhaps more importantly, all passengers regardless of their age, are allowed to eat without a mask because, well, it's kind of difficult to eat with one. After the flight attendant ordered everyone off that plane, managers from the airline interviewed passengers, looked at their videos, and in a remarkable turnaround of events, they allowed everyone back on the plane except the flight attendant. Wow. I'd love to know your opinion about both of these incidents, and I look forward to reading your comments below. And now let's hear from our favorite travel pro presenter, Gabriella Soutine with another nifty app review...
Have you ever found yourself on a short stopover wanting to explore the city, but not knowing what to do with your bags? In other words, you want to see the sites, but you don't want to lug your luggage around? Enter Radical Storage. It's an app that has negotiated a flat rate daily fee with more than three and a half thousand storage locations around the world. In short, this app makes it easy to find a cheap place to store your luggage while you explore the city. It's available for both Android and Apple devices, and it's completely free.
Here's how to get started. When you first open the app, you can either choose from one of the most popular cities listed, or search for a specific location. For this example, I'm going to type in Stockholm because that's where I was born. The capital of Sweden. By the way, if you ever go there, "take a chance on me" and be sure to check out the "super trooper" album museum. I'm telling you, it's the "name of the game" whenever you're in Stockholm. You can say, "thank you for the music," and it doesn't cost much "money, money, money." Okay, enough with the Abba puns, back to the app...
So when we searched Stockholm, as you can see, there's five results. We can select any of these places for a flat fee of just five dollars a day. And if we want to see the locations on a map, just click the up button at the bottom of the screen. To see more details about each location, just click the little black and white arrow symbol. And then the summary at the bottom, you can then view the opening hours, read a description, and browse the reviews. When you're ready to book, click the 'Book Now' button. From there, you'll be asked to select the date and time of the drop-off and the pick-up, as well as the number of pieces of luggage you want to store to get the best deal. Always try to book at least a day in advance as the prices are more expensive the same day. You can choose to pay with Apple pay, credit card, PayPal, and you'll get a confirmation immediately, along with details of the exact address. I love this app. It's such a relief to know that I can store luggage easily and inexpensively while I roam and explore. I think you're going to like it too. So I have one question for you: "Voulez Vous this app!? Sorry, I couldn't help it. Let me know in the comments if you use Radical Storage, I'd love to hear about your favorite travel apps as well, so be sure to comment below. All right, that's all from me, back to you, Andrew.
Thank you Gabriella. If you're enjoying this episode so far, please consider becoming a subscriber so you can continue to enjoy these episodes. Now, then I admit I'm a bit of a gadget geek, and occasionally during my travels, I come across some innovative technology. That was the case at LAX recently. I went to purchase some food items in the food collection area, I think it was in terminal six, and there was no cashier. Instead I was directed to this futuristic looking checkout and the little sign instructed me to "place items here." Well, within a second of me placing the items down, all three were detected on the checkout screen, as you can see.
I was really fascinated by this, so the rebel in me wanted to see if I could fool the system. So I grabbed both a Pepsi and a Diet Pepsi, placed them both in the checkout area, and sure enough, it instantly knew the difference. I did the same thing with bottles of orange and lemonade, and again, it correctly identified both items, even though the packaging was the same. Turns out, whatever I put down, it nailed it, every time. Two bottles of tea, two sets of sandwiches, nothing I did fooled the system. I even covered up some barcodes and it still recognized everything.
Have you come across this technology before? The company behind it is called MashGin, a very weird name, but apparently they're using some kind of AI wizardry, because their website confirms you can "place any item anyway," and it will always detect it correctly. Obviously this technology has the ability to greatly speed up the checkout process, so it'll be really interesting to see how it rolls out in the future.
I'd love to hear your comments about this. What do you think about it? Have you used it, or would you be happy to use it? Or do you see any potential issues? Please do share your thoughts below. We always love comparing notes with other travel pros like you.
If you want more travel tips for getting perks, upgrades and VIP status, I encourage you to visit TravelProShow.com, where you'll find plenty of helpful tips. And while you're there, grab the nifty free guide "7 Top Travel Hacks to Save You Money on Your Next Flight." It's the ultimate blueprint for getting the best deal every time. For more travel tips and inspiration, check out the YouTube channel: "All the goodies." Self-described as a design focused travel channel, there's some really interesting, unusual content on there, such as London's highest swimming pool, and making chocolate at the Lindt museum in Cologne.
On Instagram checkout at Alex Strohl. He's originally from Montana, but spends most of his time on the road, taking outdoor photos of interesting places all around the world, and I have to say almost every photo looks like a picture postcard. The images really pull you in. So we'll put links to both of those resources below, and be sure to check them out. Join us again next time when I'll have a report from the lovely little Island of Malta, we'll also tell you about a new trend that gives travel pros the ability to enjoy five-star resorts during the day as a guest. And you won't believe my shocking discovery about British Airways - all will be revealed next time!
And finally, here's a 'lost in translation' sign from my travels. This one's from a Chinese restaurant that enthusiastically offers diners, "Sweat and Sour Pork." I think I'll give that one a miss, something's definitely lost in translation! Please continue to check out our other videos, and we'll see you on the next episode.