Upgraded: In-flight magazine verité
How about this headline for an inflight magazine: “Live Entertainment in Kabul: Dog Fighting.” Seriously. This is onboard Afghanistan’s Safi Airways, and as their recent WSJ profile makes clear, this is an airline run by realists. “In the seat pocket in front of you on Safi, you will find an article on Kabul heroin addicts, photos of bullet-pocked tourist sites and ads for mine-resistant sport-utility vehicles.”

Downgraded: All-You-Can-Fly
With much hoopla, and a great uptake by many media outlets, JetBlue recently re-launched their all-you-can-fly passes, which provided a month of travel for a $499 or $699, depending on whether you wanted to include weekends or not. Much smaller SunCountry Airlines followed suit days later. I remained silent, and the offers expired. Readers have asked me what I think, and why I didn’t mention this earlier, especially with much of the media is all agog about these deals. Perhaps there are some folks who have a bicoastal commute and could have made this work for a month. And this may be great for gap year tourists or retirees looking to duplicate the EurailPass experience at a higher altitude. But really, how many people can use this? Maybe it’s Europeans: Most Americans don’t have a month of vacation time to burn, and how much of that time do they want to spend flying? Mileage runners are out of luck, too, as you don’t earn miles for each flight on such a pass, but rather earn a fixed sum. So, for the most part, these passes are a non-starter. They’re great PR for the airlines that offer them, though, and perhaps that’s the goal all along.

Upgraded: Mexicana’s life chances
Mexicana, which declared bankruptcy just three weeks ago, has already been bought by an investment group and the airline’s pilots’ union. (Admittedly, the pilots only bought 5% of the airline.) Terms are still a secret, until August 25. But presumably this means that Mexicana will fly again.

Upgraded: Luxury gimmickry
Hotels, especially at the high end, are always looking for a gimmick: a way to distinguish themselves from the myriad luxury properties that are competing for guest dollars. But sometimes, the competition gets downright silly. The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay in California is offering a “fire and wine butler.” From the hotel’s pitch, which made me laugh out loud: “Thursday through Sunday evenings, The Fire & Wine Butler roves The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay on a specially-provisioned golf cart, providing on-the-spot fire and wine service to guests enjoying the out-of-doors.”