first class

13 Stories

Airline Squeezes Out First Class on International Flights

American says passenger preferences have changed

(Newser) - It wouldn't make a great slogan, but American Airlines has decided that on its international flights, nobody will travel first class anymore. "First class will not exist on the 777, or for that matter at American Airlines, for the simple reason that our customers aren't buying it,...

YouTube Prank Gets Women Booted From Flight
2 Passengers Booted Off
Plane After First-Class Prank
in case you missed it
Nov 7, 2020 5:00 PM CST

2 Passengers Booted Off Plane After First-Class Prank

Witness says woman squeezed under friend's seat before plane took off

(Newser) - An incident on an American Airlines flight got at least two passengers kicked off the plane, all supposedly in an effort to get views on YouTube. A witness to the incident last week in the first-class section of a flight headed from Dallas to Miami posted about it in the...

Mom on Stranger's Kind Act: 'I Cried My Way Up the Aisle'

Good Samaritan offered her his first-class seat when he saw her with baby, oxygen tank on flight

(Newser) - To the passenger who was in seat 2D on American Airlines Flight 588 on Thursday, America applauds you. As does Kelsey Zwick, a young mom on that same flight with her 11-month-old daughter, Lucy, headed from Orlando to Philly to receive treatment for the baby's chronic lung disease. USA ...

First-Class Flier Tries to Sneak Drinks to Pals, Pays the Price

American Airlines boots him from flight after he tries to give booze to friends in economy

(Newser) - Travel and Leisure sees him as a "first class Robin Hood." American Airlines saw him as a disruptive passenger and booted him from a flight. The controversy? It seems the unidentified first-class flier tried to sneak drinks to two of his buddies in economy and got busted....

EPA Chief Says He Flies First-Class for Security

Scott Pruitt blames 'toxic' political environment

(Newser) - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt says he needs to fly first-class because of a toxic environment—the political one. He says he wasn't involved in the decision to put him in first class when he travels, which he says was made after some unpleasant interactions with travelers opposed...

Bill: No More First-Class Flights for Lawmakers

Taxpayers should only cover coach seats, House sponsors say

(Newser) - If federal lawmakers want to kick back in first-class, they'll have to do it on their own dime—or so hopes a new House bill. "At a time of massive deficits and with a national debt in excess of $17 trillion, members of Congress should not be using...

United's Secret Flier's Club Comes With Crazy Perks

But no one's sure how to join

(Newser) - How would you like to be greeted at the airport by people who know your name, whisk you past security lines, and will even press your suit for you? Those luxuries are just the tip of the iceberg for members of United Airlines' secretive Global Services club. United doesn't...

The Economy Is Just Like a Plane: Coach Sucks
The Economy Is Just Like
a Plane: Coach Sucks
OPINION
Aug 7, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

The Economy Is Just Like a Plane: Coach Sucks

And first class is constantly getting nicer

(Newser) - Take a good look at first class on the way to your cramped coach seat the next time you take a flight, because "airline seating may be the best concrete expression of what's happened to the economy in recent decades," writes Harold Meyerson at the Washington Post...

United Adds Bed-Seats on 182 Planes

All of the airline's international flights from New York will have them

(Newser) - If you're heading across the Atlantic—and you're flying first class—United Airlines wants to make your inevitable nap more comfortable. The airline will now offer seats that can lie completely flat in premium cabins on all its long-haul international flights out of New York, USA Today reports....

Life in First Class Gets Even Cushier

Airlines chasing big spenders with luxurious perks

(Newser) - It's enough to make a cramped coach passenger cry: US airlines are going after big spenders by making life in first class an ever-more pampered affair. The AP rounds up some of the upgrades: flat-screen TVs, seats that fold into beds, upscale meals served on china, and personal attention...

Pan Am Lives—in Man's Garage
 Pan Am Lives—in Man's Garage 
GLORY DAYS DEPT.
Oct 26, 2009 11:50 AM CDT

Pan Am Lives—in Man's Garage

Trips to Thailand net vintage headphones and the like for cabin mockup

(Newser) - To Anthony Toth, Pan Am was the epitome of airline class, with its top-notch, martini-pouring first-class service and in-flight music so excellent that the United Airlines employee brought along a tape recorder to record it on trips as a boy. Now that he’s 42 and owns a home, he’...

Foreign Airlines Soar Past US Carriers

Adding services, expanding routes helps margins; take heed, US carriers

(Newser) - As US airlines flounder, and consumers pay the price in baggage fees and reduced services, foreign carriers have an antidote: Buy new, more fuel-efficient aircraft, offer more services, and watch the money roll in. Dubai-based Emirates, which introduced the Airbus A380 on the Dubai-to-New York route Friday, charges first- and...

Feds Fly 1st Class on Your Dime
Feds Fly 1st Class on Your Dime
Oct 3, 2007 9:29 AM CDT

Feds Fly 1st Class on Your Dime

$146M wasted in premium travel

(Newser) - Federal employees wasted $146 million in a single year flying business or first class, according to a government investigation. Some 67% of premium-class travel is unauthorized or unnecessary, and the biggest abusers are Pentagon, Justice and State Department officials, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

13 Stories