Welcome to The Morning Shave. We read a ton of travel articles each day for our research to share the best travel tips, tricks, and news with you. Here are the articles for Monday, November 25, 2024, that we think you should read.
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The Morning Shave
Southwest Airlines does a switcheroo on Hawaii’s Big Island.
When Southwest launched service to Hawaii in January 2020, one of its first routes was from Oakland (OAK) to Kona (KOA). This route is ending in March 2025, but it is being replaced with flights from Sacramento (SMF) starting the next day. Those who LUV Southwest or prefer flights from California’s capital city will remember that it once offered service from this airport in Summer 2022. Southwest is also starting to offer redeye flights from Hawaii in the first quarter of 2025.
How airlines are fitting lie-flat business seats on narrow-body planes.
Airlines are increasingly using Airbus A321neo family planes for transatlantic flights. These single-aisle aircraft offer efficient long-haul economics for routes to Europe. JetBlue, La Compagnie, and Iberia offer lie-flat business class on these narrow-body planes. Would you fly one of these narrow-body planes to Europe, or do you prefer the larger planes, like the Boeing 777 or Airbus A380?
10 best all-inclusive family resorts for Christmas 2024.
All-inclusive resorts offer amazing family vacations for a fixed price. For one price, they include your room, activities, meals, and drinks (including alcoholic beverages for Mom & Dad). When the kids are young, you don’t have to fret over paying for food they don’t eat. And as they become teenagers, eating out won’t bust your budget. Would you consider traveling to one of these resorts to spend Christmas with family?
First look: Bluey’s World in Brisbane, Australia, is ‘doggone’ fun for kids.
Bluey’s World is a cartoon show targeting young children, but many older kids and teenagers love it. And there is plenty to love for parents as well. When I heard that a Bluey’s World theme park was opening in Australia, I was intrigued. It seems like the writer and her family had a great time, and (unlike the theme parks in the U.S.) the tickets were actually quite reasonable. If you plan to visit, check out our podcast episode for the best things to do in Brisbane.
Why AMEX Charges a Transfer Fee But Other Banks Don’t.
Flexible points are one of the most valuable travel rewards that you can earn. Not only can you redeem them for cash back, travel, gift cards, and more, but they can offer tremendous when transferring them to airline and hotel partners. While most of these transfers don’t incur fees, Amex charges an “excise tax offset fee” when transferring to domestic airlines. The writer does an excellent job explaining what these fees are, why they’re charges, and how Amex passes them along to its customers.
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I have yet to try A321 lie flat so it’s a little tough to say but I know that one thing that bothers me a lot when I do pay extra to fly up front on a narrow body plane is people constantly tromping through first class to use the toilet. Since these flights are never very long it’s that they can’t wait or more frequently that it’s just easier for them. On an eight hour flight on a A321neo it’s got to be a logistical nightmare serving rounds of drinks and a couple of rounds of food with only one aisle to work with while dealing with passengers hunting for the loo. That’s one of the advantages of a widebody plane in my opinion.
You make some good points about the challenges of having just one row for everyone to work with. I took one of the first JetBlue flights to London a couple of summers ago. The lie-flat seats were 1-1 configuration and had plenty of space.