Everyone: “Book your flight on a Tuesday at 3 pm, you’ll get the cheapest tickets!”
As an airline veteran, this is a B.S. myth.
Timing matters, but not in the way you think.
If you've ever felt cheated by sudden price hikes, this is what most airlines don’t want you to know:
The best strategies to score cheap tickets according to conventional wisdom:
• Off-peak tickets
• Flexible destinations
• Flights with stopovers
These help. But to game the system, it helps to understand how airlines price their tickets.
Pro tip: The "Tuesday at 3 PM" booking myth is NOT TRUE.
Instead:
• Be flexible with dates
• Use incognito mode to game the algorithm
• Set up price alerts
Remember: Timing matters, but it's not everything.
Another factor that tilts the odds in your favor:
TLDR:
Airline pricing is a complex dance of supply, demand, and data.
To score deals:
• Be flexible with dates
• Use incognito mode
• Set up price alerts
• Go without the à la carte add-ons
Happy hunting!
Ever wondered why airline ticket prices fluctuate faster than you can keep up?
It's not you. It's intentionally designed that way.
Think AI-driven madness.
Let's dive in:
Airlines profile YOU.
Ever notice that prices are always higher the 2nd time you check?
It’s not a coincidence. It’s because…
They stalk you.
• Track searches
• Analyze behavior
• Fast-changing prices
So how can you beat the system?
Air fares have gone through a full makeover since the 1970s.
In 1974, a NYC to LA round-trip cost $1,442 (in today's dollars).
Then came the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act.
Today, that same flight costs $268.
An 81% drop. But how?
Airlines use a secret code: Booking Classes.
Not just economy or business. There's an alphabet soup of fare levels.
F = full fare first class
J = full-fare business
Y = full fare economy
But it gets crazy:
A Boston to San Francisco round-trip has over 25 MILLION different valid fares.
Where does all this insanity come from?
Two words: AI algorithms.
• Leisure vs. business
• Past booking data
• Competitor prices
• Fuel costs
• Seasonal demand
Here's where it gets creepy:
The "Southwest Effect".
When low-cost carriers joined the game, big airlines scrambled to match prices.
A 2013 MIT study showed major fare drops when Southwest and the rest started new routes.
The competition between the airlines is good news for us.
But understand this:
Airlines aren't just selling you a seat.
They're selling an experience:
• Baggage fees
• Seat selection
• Priority boarding
• In-flight Wi-Fi
In 2015, these "extras" raked in $59.2 billion — and the figure grows 20% per year.
So what does this mean for us travelers?
American Airlines and British Airways use D, C, R, I for discount business.
United uses J, C, D, Z, P.
United also uses R for premium economy.
Do you follow?
If that's not complicated enough, guess what:
The all-inclusive ticket is a thing of the past.
What works for the airlines now is to:
• Unbundle service
• Offer dirt-cheap base fares
• With à la carte add-ons
If you want cheap tickets, try to pay only the base fare.
🚨BREAKING: Boeing CEO David Calhoun was under fire at a recent Senate hearing.
With the Boeing controversy, the senator asks: “What is it you get paid to do exactly?”
David: *Purse lips*
8 key points about the airplane manufacturer that holds millions of lives:
99% of airlines have been deliberately overbooking flights for decades.
Most don't talk about it, but they *can & will* kick you off if they please.
If you don't want to lose the seat (you PAID for), open this:
Some dude tried to put a bullet through Donald Trump.
The gun seems like your everyday assassin's favorite go-to. But you know what's more lethal?
An aircraft.
5 plane crashes that "happened" to carry a politician:
(Coincidence or targeted assassinations? You decide)
1/ Calhoun's pay jumped to $32.8 million, up 45% from last year.
This happened while Boeing faced safety issues and investigations.
As the company suffers financial and reputation damage, the CEO gets a massive raise.
What is going on here?
Boeing CEO David Calhoun faced the Senate on June 18, 2024.
He was told:
"It’s a travesty that you are still in your job."
Since the two 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, resulting in 346 deaths:
Boeing has been plagued with endless controversy.
8 takeaways from the hearing:
5/ Boeing has a questionable outsourcing practice.
• 600+ suppliers worldwide
• 35 suppliers in China
• Recent issue: Questionable titanium from China
Has all this outsourcing compromised the quality of Boeing planes?
Who's most likely to get bumped:
• Solo travelers
• Late check-ins
• Budget ticket holders
• Non-frequent flyers
First class, ultra-high status frequent flyers, and families? You're safer.
But remember:
2/ The company punished whistleblowers.
• One employee: Pushed against a wall for speaking up
• John Barnett: Supervisor called him 19 times in one day
• Sam Mohawk: Given an impossible deadline, threatened with firing
• One employee: Pushed against a wall for speaking up
Airlines are allowed to deny boarding to anyone.
If you're involuntarily bumped, know your rights:
• In the EU: Choose between a full refund or re-routing + compensation
• In the U.S.: Compensation based on delay duration and flight type
Another surprise:
6/ Boeing's machinists have had only a 1% raise in 8 years
32,000 machinists in the Pacific Northwest are negotiating contracts.
• Last contract: 16 years ago
• Previous raise: 1% over 8 years
On the other hand, CEO Calhoun's raise: 45% in one year.
Book flights at peak times to increase your chances of being bumped.
But if you don't want to get bumped:
• Check in early
• Join loyalty programs
• Book off-peak flights
Contrary to popular belief, overbooking can benefit passengers. (WUTT?)
• More flight options
• Lower ticket prices
• Increased flexibility for urgent travelers
The catch? You might get bumped.
So how does the airline decide when to oversell their seats?
3/ Boeing is knowingly using faulty parts.
Sam Mohawk, a quality inspector in Renton, Washington, says they:
• Use damaged parts
• Hide evidence from the FAA
• Install out-of-specs components
British Airways and Air France sold up to 130 tickets for each 100-seat Concorde flight.
Why? Most passengers were business travelers with flexible tickets, often booking multiple flights as a backup.
But here's the surprising thing about overbooked flights:
The airlines overbook their flights.
Overbooking isn't just about maximizing profits. It helps airlines weather:
• Rising labor costs
• Fluctuating fuel prices
• Fierce competition
Take this example:
According to , a newsletter is:
📜 A written report
📜 issued periodically
📜 typically by a business, institution, or other organization
📜 that presents information, news, analysis, or forecasts
📜 to people with a specific interest in the subject.
All in all, the hearing went exactly how I expected it to.
An overpaid, well-prepared CEO. Facing off a horde of politicians eager to prove that they care.
But the question remains:
Can Boeing regain public confidence?
(My husband flies the Boeing, so you bet I'm invested.)
5/ Boeing has a questionable outsourcing practice.
• 600+ suppliers worldwide
• 35 suppliers in China
• Recent issue: Questionable titanium from China
Has all this outsourcing compromised the quality of Boeing planes?
It didn't take long for airlines to realize that they've left money on the table:
Those empty seats on sold-out flights.
In 2018, planes were flying with almost 20% of seats empty.
Missed opportunity? They certainly thought so. So here's what happened:
7/ Boeing has not been transparent with the document requests.
Chairman Blumenthal referred to the heavily redacted, unreadable document Boeing provided the senate with as:
"Gobbledygook".
Criticism is the prerequisite for growth when you have mastery as the goal.
It's a hard pill to swallow, but there's no alternative.
You master a craft, you must develop thick skin and an appetite for iteration.
4/ The Alaska Airlines door plug incident was a "manufacturer miss", claims the CEO
A panel blew out on a Boeing 737-9 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft.
2/ The company punished whistleblowers.
• One employee: Pushed against a wall for speaking up
• John Barnett: Supervisor called him 19 times in one day
• Sam Mohawk: Given an impossible deadline, threatened with firing
• One employee: Pushed against a wall for speaking up
Don't just drill techniques in isolation. It leads to robotic, inflexible performance.
Heap on chaos and high stakes.
Then have processes to analyze your performance from multiple angles.
This is how you build mastery from the ground up.
What if we could explore:
• The blurred lines between reality & fantasy
• The supernatural that hides in plain sight in the skies
Enter Sarah Lee...
(This is a segue to a fictional novella I'm writing about a vampire pilot. Intrigued? Keep reading.)
With unbreakable willpower, Jessica learned to use just her feet as "hands" to achieve the unimaginable:
• Tap dancing
• Girl Scouts
• Earned a black belt in Taekwondo
• Became a certified scuba diver
Her mantra: Use whatever it takes to approach a challenge.
Flight training costs money.
We understand if an aspiring pilot wants assurance that they'll land a job afterward.
Reassure them with these three facts:
Scorned Workers maim Boeing's 737 Golden Goose.
Furloughs backfire. 33,000 launch strikes, reject 'final offer'. 737 production halts. $3.5B revenue loss looms.
The standoff continues.
WWBD - What Will Boeing Do?
But while a traditional newsletter
📜 Usually discuss current events
📜 Is time-sensitive
📜 Appears "disjointed"
An Educational Email Course does one thing a traditional newsletter cannot. It...
Choose the More Conservative Option
When nominating an alternate airport, we pick a
• nearby airport if the weather at the destination is fine
• further airport if the weather at the destination is poor
Planning for a further airport gives us more options, which I prefer.
Airlines use AI-powered revenue management systems to decide which seats to oversell. They analyze:
• Historical flight data
• Date and time
• Special events
• Passenger profiles
• Potential no-shows
So who are the likely "victims" of this overbooking practice?
As an airline pilot,
It's my job to ensure that we never run out of fuel mid-flight.
Over time, I realized that the principles of fuel planning also apply to financial planning.
5 money habits I learned from fuel planning (so I'm never surprised by my bank balance):
3/ Boeing is knowingly using faulty parts.
Sam Mohawk, a quality inspector in Renton, Washington, says they:
• Use damaged parts
• Hide evidence from the FAA
• Install out-of-specs components
✈️ Primes the reader into the mindset to enroll because the email sequence takes them through a flow and answers questions about the process that they already have
Overbooking is here to stay.
Airlines make more from overselling than they lose in compensation.
And as AI improves, we can expect fewer denied boardings.
Remember: sometimes, getting bumped can be a jackpot.
Happy flying, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
Thus, there is all the more reason to attract aspiring pilots to choose your school over the others.
You do this by giving them the smoothest path toward becoming an airline pilot — and showing them what you can offer.
The fuel we pump into the aircraft tank is called the Block Fuel.
Block fuel = Taxi fuel + Trip fuel + Contingency fuel + Alternate fuel + Final Reserve fuel + Additional fuel
Here's what they mean:
Boeing's Starliner problems in a nutshell:
1. Overbudget
2. Struggle with the fixed-price contract model
3. Isolated software teams
4. Complications in outsourcing propulsion
5. Broader corporate struggles
5/ Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane crashed in Russia in 2023
The crash came months after his failed mutiny against Putin in 2023.
Details remain unclear, but suspicions of assassination are high.
Overbooking has an unexpected upside: environmental benefits.
By filling every seat, airlines reduce the carbon footprint per passenger.
This matters as commercial aviation faces increasing criticism for its environmental impact.
Personally, I can get behind this reason.
👉 ONE: Post on your social media account
- Pin it on your Twitter account
- Include the link on your Instagram profile
- Post it in the 'Feature' section of your LinkedIn profile
- Or anywhere else you have a social media audience
Through sheer persistence, Jessica pioneered her own flying techniques:
• Using her right foot on the yoke to steer
• Operating throttle with her left foot
• Controlling radios with her toes like "fingers"
1. Starliner is way behind schedule & over budget.
SpaceX - $2.6B NASA contract. Successfully launched crew to the ISS in 2020
Boeing - $4.2B NASA contract. No successful crewed flight *yet*
The Starliner is already a whopping $1.5B over budget (and counting?)
3. Isolated software teams led to a horrible mistake on Starliner's 1st flight test.
• Kennedy and Houston teams operate separately
• To save money, Boeing skipped an integrated end-to-end software testing
The result is a costly timing error:
Flying Schools: Is An Educational Email Course The Same Thing As A Newsletter?
Educational Email Courses are the next big thing.
"But isn't that just a fancy word for 'newsletter'?" you ask.
Good question, friend. Let's take a stroll while I answer this valid query.
3. Isolated software teams led to a horrible mistake on Starliner's 1st flight test.
• Kennedy and Houston teams operate separately
• To save money, Boeing skipped an integrated end-to-end software testing
The result is a costly timing error:
The F-35 has more than 8M lines of code, so the students had much to learn quickly.
To put them in a classroom to learn the traditional way may seem like a good idea, except it's not:
The pilots won't be able to recall information when needed rapidly.
Look at this girl.
Born without arms due to a rare medical condition. Grew up the focus of unwanted stares.
She became the world's first armless pilot and pioneered her own flying technique.
Jessica Cox's remarkable story:
Some travelers love getting bumped. Why?
• Potential for high compensation (up to $10,000 on some airlines)
• Opportunity for free travel
• Flexible schedule perks
If you love getting bumped, here's a pro tip for you:
"CHIME!"
The cabin call button rang.
In an empty aircraft.
For that button to chime, someone needs to press it from the flight attendant panel. In the cabin.
The empty cabin.
4. Outsourcing propulsion to Aerojet Rocketdyne created serious issues.
Now, Boeing and AR were both responsible for designing components.
Culture clash + poor communication = disaster
After a long chain of handovers, nobody had ownership over the work.
Xenophobia at 38,000 feet.
A Hong Kong-London flight erupts as seat spat turns ugly. Passenger faces derogatory slurs. Bystanders intervene. Airline bans offenders.
What's the issue problem here:
Seat ethics or cultural identities?
Because the aviation industry is high stakes, student pilots look to instructors for mentorship. Thus including a flight instructor helps the marketing campaign 👩✈️.
The flight instructor is the X factor. But I encourage you to think of the hierarchy of influence as a funnel.
JUST RELEASED: Dive in to First Woman Issue No. 2 and find out how Callie and her crewmates work together to expand humanity’s understanding of the universe! Read the story (in English or Spanish) and download the XR app to explore the lunar surface at
So I learned to anthropomorphize the weather.
Humourize conversations with air traffic control.
Dramatize ordinary procedures.
Over time, my storytelling brain flourished.
And by extension, my writing skills.
- With text like 'Discover The 5 Biggest Mistakes Newbie Pilots Make'
- This attracts a 30-50% opt-in rate
- Even better if it's the only CTA on your website
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire is a landmark work in education philosophy. In it, Freire critiques traditional education systems that treat students as passive recipients of knowledge.
2) Can you identify my conversation style?
You don't want to sound like JR Tolkien if that's not how you talk (or write). Request that your ghostwriter describe in their own words what they think your conversation style is.
If only there is a way to capture your traffic's contact information on autopilot...
Oh wait. You can!
*A celestial radiance cascades from the heavens and onto an open laptop screen, revealing your flying school webpage ✨💻*
To rapidly bring pilots to mastery, they developed training principles.
These don't just apply to fighter pilots. They're a blueprint for anyone who seeks excellence in their field.
Here's how you become world-class at what you do: