trinacriabob

I have always done well with United and their frequent flyer program and partners are the best ones for my needs. Alaska is very good and has good pricing in a north-south direction on the West Coast, but it's not so cheap when going east-west, at least not when I've looked. It will be interesting to see if the cattle car disappears from Southwest once assigned seating begins. It might. I will find out this summer.

A window, toward the back, so I'm way behind the wing and close to a bathroom. If the plane is full on a 3-3-3, I have to ask two people to move, which is even worse when someone has fallen asleep. On an older A330, only one person has to move. I had this happen on an almost 9 hour flight from Helsinki to Seattle and I didn't like it, and neither did the 2 people who had to move. My hat is off to Japan Air Lines for possibly being the only carrier, who configured their B787 on normal routes as 2-4-2, for which they lose one seat per row in revenue, but add a good deal more comfort for the passenger in economy.

For obvious reasons, bags are a big concern for me.

Okay, thanks. It's funny how sometimes Frontier might have just one point to point flight on a given day and its hours are just right. If you don't belong to their club, you have to snag that lower price fairly quickly before it goes up. I have yet to fly on them. And I'm sort of looking forward to using them someday, just to do things differently. Without the 2 free bags, Southwest is much like any other big American airline these days. Their fees to pick out a particular seat are within bounds and at least it avoids the cattle call. Of the legacy carriers, American Airlines typically has the best fares, especially if going one way. I believe I flew MIA-LAX on a 777-300 for less than $200. It was a very smooth flight and the descent into LAX was really nice. I'm at the end of my rope with Delta. There's nothing wrong with them in the air. They are usually the most expensive and what they want for mileage redemptions is comparatively high to what the other legacy carriers want. Once that frequent flyer account is depleted, I doubt I will be using Delta much. Also, they do not have ITA as a partner anymore and their only major European partners that are even relevant to me are Air France and KLM, and they are not even that relevant to me.

@bobo Thank you. I looked for it for a few days and I'm happy to be reading it now. It's always well done ... and not just because I'm on the same page with with you on a lot of the topics. January was a strange and distracting month for me that I'd rather not repeat - a few months of physical therapy in cold weather after an orthopedic procedure and extensive preparations to cross the pond, which I routinely have to do since I live out of 3 or 4 suitcases for the time I am away. Greetings from Sicily!

More of a random thought: I strongly dislike 3-3-3 seating in economy, which is what I can afford. I therefore avoid flying on either the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or the Airbus 350 if I have other options or need to connect one more time.. I will happily opt for a flight on an older Boeing 767 (2-3-2) or Airbus 330 (2-4-2).

I am very happy for you. I've had a few as rentals and even reviewed one here. The exterior is more attractive, the ergonomics of the interior are better, and it keeps its 2.5 engine, but adds (an) electric motor(s). Sounds like a plan! - - - - - I am extremely unhappy with domestic automakers that not a single sedan for everyday people is anywhere to be found in their portfolio of offerings. I think that there would be a market for one good one, and not necessarily a "rental agency darling."

What I was really going to say: I've never seen peace in the Middle East and I don't expect to ever see it. It's very sad. The wiring is about 180 degrees from that encountered in present day Finland and Sweden. Just saying.

Would this be tang of the poon variety? I couldn't resist that play on words. Cheers and Bread 8, fellow C&Gers. LOL. (I had a big BYD for a week recently. I can't say that I really liked it.) Yes, we haven't had a recession for a while. That doesn't mean much since they are not necessarily scheduled. However, one way you can tell is that offers and deals by the travel sector have suddenly become more generous. When things are good, they charge you up the wazzoo (sp.). I have not been shopping for durable goods, so I suppose that that will follow. True. Let me just hang out with La Crosse, Grand Prix, Impala, and Malibu owners ... or past colonnade owners. The weird thing is that you tend to have a lot more in common and more similar personalities with people who drive the same sorts of cars that you do, and that's BEFORE even knowing what kind of car they drive.

In this case, I think I'm having a bad dream! Just kidding. This was the fly inthe ointment in terms of 1976 GM colors and, while it was really cool that they had all the matching different colors for the trim pieces inside, think about how much of a head scratcher that was in terms of penciling out.

I think I'm dreaming Look at how beautiful this S/R coupe is as he spins it around the parking lot. Crank windows! I think the black landau and black interior take away from the rich, dark burgundy exterior. The price is not stated. Good luck getting parts. Regardless, we didn't know how good we had it. This was bicentennial year stuff.

If this does not put a smile on your face ... ... check your pulse

What I was really going to post ... This is more of a QUESTION than it is a random post. Have any of you flown on the lesser known airlines like Frontier, Allegiant, etc.? - - - - - I flew on Spirit only once and surprisingly got a good fare from Pensacola to South Florida (Lauderdale, in this case). It was about $105 with the bag underneath and a window seat. I got lucky that time. It was cheaper than driving and less tiring. What about Frontier and Allegiant? They initially display a favorable price with zero add-ons. But, by the time you add a rollaboard and a bag underneath, does it come out to about what the legacy carriers might charge? I always get turned off when I check out Frontier or Spirit, only to find that it's not as cheap as it looks and I don't get miles credited to a significant account. As for Southwest, they're just like the other carriers now ... you pay for bags, good seats, etc. Help needed with the "other" cheapies ... especially Frontier. Thanks.

Good morning: "Presidential material?!?" LOL

Just thinking ... ... the '70s, '80s, and '90s - when music had it all (great and complex instrumentals, good lyrics, catchy passages, and more)

It seems that either your music collection ends or Bluetooth derails, but other songs you "might" like start coming through on your auto's infotainment system. I was taking my rental car back to the airport here some 1.5 hours away, this came on, and was this ever a blast from the past. I have yet to look up what year it's from. I thought I would share. . . . . Awaiting the response: "Thanks for sharing."

Argh. That's too bad. An Aveo would have had an interference engine. When I lost a timing chain in my '84 Cutlass Brougham coupe 3.8 V6 with 160,000 miles, I was at the end of a ramp in Vancouver WA, there was an almost imperceptible shudder, and silence. A tow truck came. At the shop, they pulled off all the pulleys, also threw in a new water pump, put on the new timing chain, and buttoned it up. I later sold the car to a really cool Catholic high school senior from a very nice African-American family in Seattle. When the father met me at the AAA to do the paperwork and drove off, the exhaust note was like that of a car with less than 50,000 miles. But my beloved car went to nice folks and I hope it served them well. Forget those high-tech ergonomic seats! Those plush Brougham seats made it the most comfortable car I've ever owned.

Yes! I do see some old Maverick, which we'd refer to as a "toad." I didn't know you had a Chevy Aveo. What year and how many miles on it? Which part of it gave up the ghost? Yes, I remember your stories about your '78 Olds Cutlass Supreme with a 260 V8 that you beat to hell and back. My dad would have gone off on me if I didn't baby the cars I was handed down to make them last a long time, the first of which was also a Cutlass Supreme. In a way, I sort of liked one thing about that magenta colored AI Cutlass Supreme. The front modification from 1981 was referred to as the shovel nose grille. The AI version keeps it slightly canted back, eliminates the shovel nose, and references the car to the full size Oldsmobile line-up.

I wonder what I'd do! It didn't mention where this was. I'm guessing in and around Lake Tahoe. It's a beautiful sport but an expensive sport ... and I don't have time to keep up with the trendy apparel and equipment, not to mention an orthopedic mishap. It's like a group of any other animals crossing the road! I don't think black bears are looking to interact with humans. There are about 10 ski areas in and around Lake Tahoe. My favorite one was Sierra Ski Ranch ... now renamed, so that dates me. Northstar is very impressive and Boreal, next to I-80, is the easiest to reach. My least favorite of the 4 I've been to was Kirkwood. I was still under 30 and it was proof positive that a lot of way cool douchebag kids drop out (for a while) to work at ski areas.

AI is a pill. Too bad, that could have been a beauty with a real car. I remember that AI Cutlass Supreme "amended" with that split grille found on full-size Oldsmobiles. There's some weird stuff going on in the opera window and at the rear, but I can't say that the grille is all that bad. I wonder how many of our members drew or sketched cars when they were kids or teens. *raises hand* Now, above is a real '82 Cutlass Calais with a 260 c.i. (4.3 L) V8. They saved the more elaborate egg crate grille in '82 for the Brougham and the Calais. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Good morning This is what I really wanted to share. That's what Californians do ... share. Maybe not museum grade, but it works well. I don't know if that's a Ford, an AMC, or an old Buick Skylark!

Maybe I didn't use the right words. It's overly supple and overly assisted in parking lots and when driving slowly on smaller streets. It does not communicate much when there are lots of thick walls next to small roads and farms right beside me! After renting it, I read a review and it said that it doesn't corner or track very well, and that started getting annoying last night. I drove a Citroen C3 here somewhere between 2019 and 2021. I believe I reviewed it. First, I couldn't believe how smooth it was. It handled well in parking lots and was surprisingly smooth and agile on the highway, too. It's not like you get two times the smoothness because the car costs two times as much. I have a friend who went for civil engineering at ASU. He said that they used the same textbooks, for the most part, that they did at Berkeley. So, with Berkeley being so much more prestigious, and with a much lower acceptance rate, it's not like you get two times a better civil engineering education there. So my point is that for twice the money, the increase in drivability is not a ratable or linear relationship. I've come to see that the extra money in this BYD is all about the many bells and whistles that take about a week to learn. It's not that impressive on the highway and on rougher roads. I sort of like it on nicely asphalted urban streets at lower speeds and it has been getting respectable fuel mileage. I liked zooming around in that Citroen C3 with the side "Air Bump." I had asked them for a smaller car instead and they told me that if it had to be automatic, it had to be this one.

The "cute" little Nissan Versa fit that bill, surprising me via rentals that it was actually likeable, but production of it ended a few months ago. I was given this bloated BYD Seal SUV automatic last week and that's what I'm driving around Sicily in. It's a HEV, so I don't push down too hard, and it sips fuel. Except for its velvety and disconnected road to cabin and steering wheel communication at low speeds, I'm not so sure I like it. Give me a smaller Citroen C3 with an automatic which is smaller and rides smoothly.

Very nicely written tribute for your late friend Phil. We all need more folks like this in our lives. The cream colored Monte Carlo in the montage is beautiful. The 1981 to 1986+/- coupe was a real uptick for the MC. Belated happy New Year from across the pond. I'm enjoying the much slower rhythm so far and the people have been great.

No, I'm not going to weave in any Subaru jokes. When anyone first hears this, they know it's a good song - it's sort of catchy - and the voice is stellar. But the trippy part is the black and white video itself showing a strange stage act in this grande dame type theater. The people in the play look like something right out of a Jack Kerouac or John Steinbeck novel. It all leaves you hanging as to how and why it may all fit together.