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Booking an international trip starting from a city outside Alaska can save you big bucks

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Booking an international trip starting from a city outside Alaska can save you big bucks


Finding the best deal on an airline ticket can be tricky. The deal that was there yesterday is gone. Perhaps the airline itself has disappeared. Or, if you’ve saved up your miles for a trip, perhaps the airline increased the number of miles required.

All of these things have happened. Still, Anchorage is a competitive market and deals keep popping up.

Sometimes, though, you have to look beyond your home airport to a bigger gateway like Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York or Honolulu.

How you get to the gateway city is up to you. Sometimes you can grab a good deal. Sometimes you use miles. But starting your foreign trip from another gateway outside Alaska can save you big bucks.

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Fly from Los Angeles to Oslo nonstop on Norse, a new Norwegian airline that flies Boeing 787s. The airline is having a sale, with seats as low as $344 round-trip. Buy now for travel between Aug. 19 and Oct. 28.

Norse flies twice each week between L.A. and Oslo, on Sundays and Tuesdays. It’s the only nonstop flight to Oslo. You can bring a small backpack or purse with you in the cabin, but a rolling carry-on suitcase costs $45 in each direction. A standard checked bag will cost between $60 and $75.

You don’t have to purchase a seat in advance. But if you want to make sure you’re seated toward the front of the plane — or at least away from the potty — pre-assigned seats cost $25-$75 per segment.

Pre-purchase a meal for $30. A second “light meal” served before landing is $20. There are extra charges to check in at the airport (instead of at home online) and for priority boarding.

[What travelers say about how to navigate travel insurance and leverage credit cards or frequent flyer points]

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Another West Coast route for Norse is San Francisco-London. Norse flies into Gatwick Airport. The base price for an economy ticket is $416 round-trip. Travel from Sept. 7 to Oct. 28, and Norse offers three weekly nonstops. Three other airlines fly nonstop from San Francisco to London’s Heathrow Airport: United, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Virgin has the cheapest fare, from $564 round-trip.

Norse is not affiliated with any mileage plan. You’re not going to accrue any points on these cheap flights.

Norse’s biggest gateway is New York’s JFK airport. Right now, you can book seats during the airline’s nonstop flights to Rome, Paris, Berlin and Oslo. Travel through Oct. 28.

Honolulu is a good gateway for travel to Australia. Right now it costs about as much to get to Hawaii as it does to travel from Honolulu to Sydney or Melbourne on Jetstar. Fly on Aug. 20 for $223 one-way. Or, fly on Oct. 22 for $143 one-way. A small carry-on is included, but it’s $39 to check a bag. Jetstar charges $7-$25 for a regular seat, or $45 for extra legroom. If you don’t pre-select a seat, you’ll receive an assigned seat at the airport.

Return seats on Jetstar to Honolulu range from $204 to $251 for the best dates. But prices vary quite a bit.

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Fly Jetstar nonstop from Honolulu to Sydney on select dates between Aug. 18 and Sept. 11 for $227 one-way. Return flights from Sydney to Honolulu cost between $238 and $299 one-way for travel between Aug. 25-Sept. 9.

Next week ZipAir is running a sale between Honolulu and Tokyo: just $212 one-way, nonstop. The fare is valid only on July 28, 30 and 31. If you want a lie-flat seat on these dates, it’s just $576 one-way.

On other dates in the fall, fly one of the thrice-weekly nonstops for $350 one-way. Return flights cost $275-$330 one-way. A bundled add-on package, including a checked bag, pre-assigned seat and in-flight meal costs $58 one-way.

The cheap seats are not the only ones on sale.

Fly with La Compagnie in their all-business-class jets from Newark to Paris, Nice or Milan. The company flies single-aisle Airbus A321neo planes configured with just 77 lie-flat seats.

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Choose from any of the company’s three destinations, from $2,400 round-trip.

Other strange fares keep popping up, such as United’s odd-ball routing from Anchorage to Seattle. The airline doesn’t offer nonstop flights between here and Seattle. But they do fly each evening from Anchorage to Denver. From there, catch a connecting flight back to Seattle. Instead of $157 one-way on Alaska or Delta, the cost on United is $125 one-way. That price is available between Oct. 22 and Dec. 11 and again from Jan. 7 to Feb. 26.

Getting back from Seattle to Anchorage for that price is harder. The rate is only available on Sept. 27, Oct. 3 and Oct. 7.

[Flying during summer storm season? Better have a backup plan.]

Bottom line: Sometimes you have to shop different gateways and cobble together your international tickets to get the best bargains. Remember to leave yourself enough time between connecting flights. Usually, that means an overnight stay. But often, the tickets still are cheaper than the “through fare” offered from Anchorage.

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I expect more fares to go down as fall approaches.





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Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Gets Fired For Twerking On The Job

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Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Gets Fired For Twerking On The Job


A flight attendant’s viral TikTok video ended up costing her job. Nelle Diala, who was working as a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines for over six months was reportedly fired from her job after recording a twerking video while at work, the New York Post reported. After losing her job for “violating” the airline’s “social media policy”, Diala set up a GoFundMe page for financial support. The twerking and dancing video, posted by Diala on her personal social media account, went viral on TikTok and Instagram. The video was captioned, “ghetto bih till i D-I-E, don’t let the uniform fool you.”

After being fired, Diala reposted the twerking video with the new caption: “Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive. What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.” She added the hashtag #discriminationisreal.

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According to Diala’s GoFundMe page, she posted the “lighthearted video” during a layover. The video was shot in an empty aircraft. She wrote, “It was a harmless clip that was recorded at 6 am while waiting 2 hours for pilots. I was also celebrating the end of probation.”

“The video went viral overnight, but instead of love and support, it brought unexpected scrutiny. Although it was a poor decision on my behalf I didn’t think it would cost me my dream job,” she added.

Also Read: To Wi-Fi Or Not To Wi-Fi On A Plane? Pros And Cons Of Using Internet At 30,000 Feet

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Talking about being “wrongfully fired”, she said, “My employer accused me of violating their social media policy. I explained that the video wasn’t intended to harm anyone or the company, but they didn’t want to listen. Without warning, they terminated me. No discussion, no chance to defend myself-and no chance for a thorough and proper investigation.”

The seemingly “harmless clip” has led Diala to lose her “dream job”. She shared, “Losing my job was devastating. I’ve always been careful about what I share online, and I never thought this video, which didn’t even mention the airline by name, would cost me my career. Now, I am trying to figure out how to move forward.”






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Federal funds will help DOT study wildlife crashes on Glenn Highway

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Federal funds will help DOT study wildlife crashes on Glenn Highway


New federal funds will help Alaska’s Department of Transportation develop a plan to reduce vehicle collisions with wildlife on one of the state’s busiest highways.

The U.S. Transportation Department gave the state a $626,659 grant in December to conduct a wildlife-vehicle collision study along the Glenn Highway corridor stretching between Anchorage’s Airport Heights neighborhood to the Glenn-Parks Highway interchange.

Over 30,000 residents drive the highway each way daily.

Mark Eisenman, the Anchorage area planner for the department, hopes the study will help generate new ideas to reduce wildlife crashes on the Glenn Highway.

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“That’s one of the things we’re hoping to get out of this is to also have the study look at what’s been done, not just nationwide, but maybe worldwide,” Eisenman said. “Maybe where the best spot for a wildlife crossing would be, or is a wildlife crossing even the right mitigation strategy for these crashes?”

Eisenman said the most common wildlife collisions are with moose. There were nine fatal moose-vehicle crashes on the highway between 2018 and 2023. DOT estimates Alaska experiences about 765 animal-vehicle collisions annually.

In the late 1980s, DOT lengthened and raised a downtown Anchorage bridge to allow moose and wildlife to pass underneath, instead of on the roadway. But Eisenman said it wasn’t built tall enough for the moose to comfortably pass through, so many avoid it.

DOT also installed fencing along high-risk areas of the highway in an effort to prevent moose from traveling onto the highway.

Moose typically die in collisions, he said, and can also cause significant damage to vehicles. There are several signs along the Glenn Highway that tally fatal moose collisions, and he said they’re the primary signal to drivers to watch for wildlife.

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“The big thing is, the Glenn Highway is 65 (miles per hour) for most of that stretch, and reaction time to stop when you’re going that fast for an animal jumping onto the road is almost impossible to avoid,” he said.

The city estimates 1,600 moose live in the Anchorage Bowl.



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Flight attendant sacked for twerking on the job: ‘What’s wrong with a little twerk before work’

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Flight attendant sacked for twerking on the job: ‘What’s wrong with a little twerk before work’


They deemed the stunt not-safe-for-twerk.

An Alaska Airlines flight attendant who was sacked for twerking on camera has created a GoFundMe to support her while she seeks a new berth.

The crewmember, named Nelle Diala, had filmed the viral booty-shaking TikTok video on the plane while waiting two hours for the captain to arrive, A View From the Wing reported.

“I never thought a single moment would cost me everything,” wrote the ex-crewmember. TikTok / @_jvnelle415

She captioned the clip, which also blew up on Instagram, “ghetto bih till i D-I-E, don’t let the uniform fool you.”

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Diala was reportedly doing a victory dance to celebrate the end of her new hire probationary period.

Unfortunately, her jubilation was short-lived as Alaska Airlines nipped her employment in the bum just six months into her contract.

The fanny-wagging flight attendant feels that she didn’t do anything wrong.

Diala was ripped online over her GoFundMe page. GoFundMe

Diala has since reposted the twerking clip with the new caption: “Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive. What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.”

The new footage was hashtagged #discriminationisreal.

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The disgraced stewardess even set up a GoFundMe page to help support the so-called “wrongfully fired” flight attendant until she can land a new flight attendant gig.

“I never thought a single moment would cost me everything,” wrote the ex-crewmember. “Losing my job was devastating.”

“Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive,” Diala wrote on TikTok while reacting to news of her firing. “What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.” Getty Images

She claimed that the gig had allowed her to meet new people and see the world, among other perks.

While air hostessing was ostensibly a “dream job,” Diala admitted that she used the income to help fund her “blossoming lingerie and dessert businesses,” which she runs under the Instagram handles @cakezncake (which doesn’t appear to have any content?) and @figure8.lingerie.

As of Wednesday morning, the crowdfunding campaign has raised just $182 of its $12,000 goal.

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Diala was ripped online for twerking on the job as well as her subsequent GoFundMe efforts.

“You don’t respect the uniform, you don’t respect your job then,” declared one critic on the popular aviation-focused Instagram page The Crew Lounge. “Terms and Conditions apply.”

“‘Support for wrongly fired flight attendant??’” mocked another. “Her GoFund title says it all. She still thinks she was wrongly fired. Girl you weren’t wrongly fired. Go apply for a new job and probably stop twerking in your uniform.”

“The fact that you don’t respect your job is one thing but doing it while in uniform and at work speaks volumes,” scoffed a third. “You’re the brand ambassador and it’s not a good look.”

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