YouTube‘s relatively new live television service YouTube TV launched in a limited number of markets, and while it still isn’t available for everyone, Google says it’ll soon be available in ten new markets. It hasn’t actually launched in all of these markets yet, so you’ll still need to sign up on the service’s website where you’ll find out whether your … Continue reading
Nike is the latest company to join the augmented reality craze. The sportswear giant has started using the tech to sell limited-edition kicks through its SNRKS app, with the system’s first drop being the Nike SB Dunk High Pro “Momofuku,” a model desi…
In a bid to keep its creator community happy, Facebook announced that it’s planning a whole new app just for them later this year. It’s essentially a video creation app made just for its star broadcasters, who are also the same folks who are deemed w…
The ladies of Twitter never fail to brighten our days with their brilliant ― but succinct ― wisdom. Each week, HuffPost Women rounds up hilarious 140-character musings. For this week’s great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.
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The blood on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s hands may be metaphorical, but the blood spilled on the marble floor outside his office on Thursday morning was very, very real.
The small, bright red spots, mopped up soon after they were spilled, belonged to Bruce Darling, an organizer at the national disability rights organization ADAPT.
Yesterday, U.S. Capitol Police arrested Darling and 42 other people from ADAPT who staged a “die-in” at McConnell’s office to raise awareness of the health care bill a small group of Republicans drafted in secret.
Among other things, the bill would drastically cut Medicaid funding, a fundamental program essential to many of the protesters’ lives.
Darling told HuffPost he wasn’t seriously injured. He didn’t even realize he was bleeding until after he’d been handcuffed in the police wagon and “noticed a splotch of blood on the wall.”
To steal liberty and life, simply because they want to give a tax cut to the wealthy, is abhorrent to me.
Bruce Darling, ADAPT
“I want [Mitch McConnell] to understand that when the freedom and liberty of Americans is under attack, they fight back,” Darling said. “It’s appalling that the very government put in place to protect our liberty and freedom is attacking it today.”
“To steal liberty and life, simply because they want to give a tax cut to the wealthy is abhorrent to me,” he added. “The framers of the Constitution would be appalled by their behavior.”
Many of the protesters removed themselves from their wheelchairs and lay down on the floor. Capitol Police said this justified the arrests and charges of crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
It also led to countless unforgettable images of officers arresting protesters, at times dragging them out of wheelchairs.
Stephanie Woodward, who can be seen getting hoisted out of her chair in the video above and who is photographed below wearing restraints, was one of the people arrested.
“I was born with spina bifida,” Woodward told HuffPost. “In 1988, when I was born, [it] wasn’t so easy for my mom, who is a hairdresser, and my dad, who is an electrician, to get health care and pay for multiple surgeries, wheelchairs, all that stuff.”
The 29-year-old resident of Rochester, New York, has gone on to graduate from law school and now has her own private insurance. But “without Medicaid,” she says, “I would not be here.”
Asked what she would tell McConnell if she had the chance, she said she’d remind him of America’s founding creed.
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is not just for non-disabled Americans, it’s for all Americans,” she said. “By cutting Medicaid, he’s basically telling us he thinks disabled Americans are better off dead than being a part of American life.”
One of the more striking images to emerge from Thursday’s protest features Laura Halvorson, a 33-year-old native of Dallas who has muscular dystrophy, wheeling out of the hall under the direction of a police officer.
“When an officer asked me to come with her, in my heart I wanted to resist completely and refuse to move my chair,” she said, “but since I use a breathing machine that was attached to the back of my wheelchair, it could have been deadly if the machine were unhooked for too long. So, I complied with the officers.”
She said that Capitol Police processed protesters in a building that didn’t have an ADA-accessible women’s bathroom, adding insult to injury.
Halvorson requires help for activities like bathing and cooking meals, so she’s hoping to be approved for a personal care attendant via a Medicaid Waiver program, which would cost half as much as care in an institutionalized setting and offer a higher quality of life.
“Medicaid Waivers are optional services for states to provide, and would likely be the first thing to go, due to the AHCA’s drastic cuts to Medicaid,” Halvorson said. “For me, spending the rest of my days in a nursing home is not an option, due to their high rates of abuse and neglect.”
Susan Stahl, a 52-year-old from Rochester, New York, was also among those arrested.
“I have cerebral palsy, and I have a back injury,” she told HuffPost, explaining how essential Medicaid is to everything in her life. An aide helps her with daily tasks like showering, cooking and using the toilet. As a result, she’s able to have a job, own a house and live life.
Stahl relies on a power wheelchair and crutches, both of which are at risk as the Republican bill seeks to cut Medicaid funds for durable medical equipment.
She said she wasn’t surprised politicians called to have her arrested. “It’s an ‘inconvenience’ to them,” she said, “but to me, it’s my life.”
“Like every other American, I want to be out in the community. I don’t want to be locked away behind closed doors,” she said. “This is my freedom, this is my liberty.”
“Without Medicaid, none of those things would happen. I would be stuck in a nursing home.”
For more information on the Senate’s health care bill and its effect on the social safety net, click here.
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The last few days of the holy month of Ramadan are supposed to be a joyous time of the year for American Muslims. Spiritually, it’s believed to be a time when God blesses and forgives. The holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, is observed with prayers, food, gifts, and community bonding.
But this year, as Muslims await the beginning of Eid on Sunday or Monday, some are also full of anxiety about safety. Mosques hold special prayers and other activities during the final days of Ramadan, and attendance at worship centers swells, making mosque leaders especially concerned about security.
Against a backdrop of increased anti-Muslim hate crimes and rhetoric, sometimes simply going to a mosque to pray can be an act of courage.
American mosques have been targets for vandalism and other criminal acts for more than a decade. Many have responded by installing elaborate security systems with cameras and alarms in their worship spaces, and training members to watch for suspicious behavior.
But over the past year, there’s been a dramatic uptick in anti-Muslim hate crime and rhetoric. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy organization, recorded a 57-percent rise in anti-Muslim bias incidents in 2016 from the year before. This included acts of vandalism and arson against mosques.
Since Ramadan began on May 26, CAIR has recorded eight possible attacks on mosques. Zainab Arain, coordinator of CAIR’s department to monitor and combat Islamophobia, told HuffPost that the frequency of the anti-mosque incidents during Ramadan seemed comparable with the rest of the year.
But recent incidents ― including an attack on a mosque in north London and the baseball-bat killing of Muslim teenager Nabra Hassanen in Virginia ― have made some community leaders especially apprehensive about the coming days.
On Monday, CAIR called on Muslim communities to take extra security measures for the end o Ramadan and for Eid ― including requesting extra police patrols and hiring private security officers authorized to carry firearms.
“Because of the recent spike in hate incidents ― particularly those targeting American Muslim women and girls ― and because Islamic religious institutions have been targeted recently in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, we urge local communities to implement increased security measures during end-of-Ramadan activities and through the Eid ul-Fitr holiday that follows,” Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, said in a statement.
The Noor Islamic Cultural Center is a large complex in Dublin, Ohio, that serves a diverse community of Muslims in the central part of the state. Imran Malik, the center’s outreach director and president, told HuffPost the center began receiving threatening phone calls and hate mail about three years ago.
Mosque leaders have worked hard since then to put safety measures into place, upgrading cameras and alarms, and hiring private armed and unarmed security guards during big events.
Security concerns become even more important during the last few days of Ramadan, when Malik estimated as many as 3,000 people attend services at the mosque daily. During the holy month, security costs reach $600 per night, he said. But during the last 10 nights of the month, costs soar to about $1,000 per night, he said.
Malik said the center spends up to $70,000 per year on security. The added cost has “taken a significant toll on our finances,” Malik said. But mosque leaders want to make sure everyone coming to the center feels safe.
“Luckily, so far we haven’t run into any issues,” Malik said. “But we don’t want to stay at ease and then have something bad happen. We always want to be proactive.”
Mosque leaders in other parts of the country also prioritize security during Ramadan.
Imam Talib M. Shareef, of The Nation’s Mosque, Masjid Muhammad, in Washington, D.C., said he’s asked local police to be at the mosque during Eid, in addition to a volunteer community-based security team.
Kalim Ahmed, a board member at the Islamic Society of Western Maryland, told HuffPost the attacks in Virginia and London have “escalated” Muslims’ fears about safety, both individually and when they come together.
Ahmed said his mosque has installed security cameras, an alarm system, and a large metal entrance gate. Leaders have asked law enforcement to patrol the area, and have recruited community volunteers to stay on the lookout for suspicious activity.
Saleh M. Sbenaty, a spokesman for the Islamic Center Of Murfreesboro in Tennessee, said the 35-year-old religious congregation began having security troubles after purchasing land for a permanent mosque.
Sbenaty said the mosque, which was completed in 2012, has already installed a video system and door-entry security. During Ramadan, leaders usually take extra security measures, including limiting points of entry, hiring a private security guard, and giving volunteers the task of being vigilant during services.
Sbenaty said that tragic events like the Virginia slaying and the attack on the London mosque put his community “on edge, especially because we live on the outskirt of a small city in Middle Tennessee.
“Our center has endured seven years of harassments, bomb threats, arson, threats and so on and so forth,” Sbenaty said.
The Islamic Center of Nashville has taken efforts this year to maintain its close relationship with local law enforcement. Rashed Fakhruddin, the center’s president, told HuffPost that new police cadets visited the center earlier this Ramadan during a bus tour to learn about the city’s diversity.
The center has requested extra patrols during this year’s Ramadan and Eid, Fakhruddin said.
Despite the security concerns of American Muslims, President Donald Trump hasn’t addressed the issue.
Some Muslim leaders hope the president speaks against attacks on American mosques in the same way that he condemned a string of phone threats against Jewish community centers nationwide earlier this year. (A suspect was charged with making those threats.)
Malik, the leader from Ohio, said that he believes America’s elected leaders are responsible for safeguarding the rights and safety of Muslim Americans and other minorities.
“The Muslim community overall, throughout the nation, would appreciate such a [condemnation] from the president,” Malik said. It would be a sign that “the president is concerned about the security of not only one ethnicity, but everyone who has chosen America as their home.”
But others, like Sbenaty, believe such talk wouldn’t be enough. What American Muslims need are actions that will correct Islamophobic rhetoric and stop alienating religious minorities, he said.
“Words will not be adequate, enough damage has been already done,” Sbenaty said.
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Advocates for the trash-incineration industry are trying to sink an effort to get nearly 1,500 cities behind 100 percent renewable energy, according to an email obtained by HuffPost.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors, the largest nonpartisan coalition of city executives in the country, is set to vote Monday on a proposal to make converting to zero-emissions energy a top priority, laying out a policy framework for making the shift. If approved, the resolution would be the broadest rejection yet of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal to reduce planet-warming emissions. But first, the motion must clear the organization’s energy committee.
On Friday, the Energy Recovery Council ― a trade group representing companies that operate most of the country’s 77 power plants that burn solid waste ― asked its members to send letters to the committee’s 13 members and urge them to block the motion because it doesn’t include burning garbage as a source of renewable energy.
The email, sent by association President Ted Michaels to the roughly two dozen cities with trash-incineration plants, included a prewritten letter. It’s unclear if the companies in the trade group were also encouraged to join the campaign.
“ERC is sending a letter to the USCM Energy Committee expressing opposition to the proposed resolution,” Michaels wrote in the email. “It would be extremely helpful if ERC Municipal Members would also communicate opposition to the proposed policy by emailing the Energy Committee. I have attached a short letter for you to use.”
Michaels did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Electricity from trash incineration makes up only a tiny fraction of the U.S. output. In 2015, waste-to-energy plants produced roughly 14 billion kilowatt-hours burning about 29 million tons of garbage, according to data from the Energy Information Association. By contrast, renewable energy from sources such as hydropower, wind and solar made up nearly 15 percent of the 4.08 trillion kilowatt-hours generated last year.
At the same time, incinerators do help reduce the waste pileup. In 2014, incinerators diverted 13 percent of the nation’s 258 million tons of solid waste from landfills.
Still, incinerators are by far the most expensive source of electricity, with a projected capital cost of $8,232 per kilowatt-hour for new waste incinerator facilities, according to the EIA’s 2010 annual energy outlook report. In 2011, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, became the largest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy amid the skyrocketing cost of operating an aging incineration facility.
Detroit taxpayers have spent over $1.2 billion on debt payments from the construction and upgrading of the world’s largest trash incinerator, according to the nonprofit Zero Waste Detroit. As a result, residents have had to pay high trash disposal fees of over $150 per ton. The city could have saved over $55 million in just one year if it had never built the incinerator. Last year, amid mounting odor violations, an environmental group sued the plant.
Waste-to-energy plants have a huge environmental impact. In 2004, New York state denied incinerator facilities entry to the state’s renewable energy standard because mercury-emission measurements from such facilities four years earlier were on average six times higher than coal, according to a 2011 article in Scientific American.
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Menstruation is a natural and unavoidable part of most girls’ lives. But for many young girls in Kenya, it was a stressful inconvenience that often interferes with education and perpetuates a cycle of poverty – until now.
Young Kenyan activists have long highlighted the problem of a lack of access to sanitary pads for girls. The inability to purchase the pads prompted girls to either skip school when they had their periods or create protection out of uncomfortable materials. In response to their campaign, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed an act on Wednesday, which requires the government to provide a sufficient amount of quality sanitary pads – free of charge – to state schools.
“I feel so happy that the government…is taking the step towards making Kenya a better place for all girls,” Joyce, 14, said in a statement through Plan International, a nonprofit that works to protect vulnerable children. “Now girls will never miss school again because of their periods.”
In Kenya, about 65 percent of women and girls can’t afford sanitary pads. The price of one package of sanitary napkins is equivalent to an unskilled worker’s daily wage. Most women need two packets per cycle, according to a report from Afri-Can Trust, which helped developed a low-cost, reusable sanitary pad.
Girls in Kenya already faced a number of unique hurdles when it came to going to school consistently. The task of collecting water for the family, for example, typically falls on the shoulder of women and girls. Not being able to buy a basic hygiene product only compounds the issues they face.
In 2012, an average of 30 to 40 percent of girls in Kenya reported missing days of school because they didn’t have access to pads when they were menstruating, according to studies conducted by Huru International, a group that works to keep marginalized African girls in school.
When girls regularly fall behind in school, they’re more likely to drop out, which can lead to early pregnancies or marriage and lower wages in the long run, Huru International noted in a report.
Some menstruating girls who were desperate for protection would use whatever resources they had available to make their own pads. Some used tissue paper or old clothes, according to Plan International. One teenager said she wrapped a sock around her underwear, the BBC reported.
Kenyatta’s decision builds upon years of progress toward making menstruation hygiene products more affordable.
A decade ago, Kenya stopped taxing sanitary products – something the U.S. still continues to do. Since 2011, the government has been setting aside funds to distribute sanitary pads to underserved girls. It has budgeted $5 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, up from $4 million compared to the last fiscal year, according to the BBC.
Management teams at schools will be responsible for buying and distributing the pads.
“This is a pioneering step, which will ensure that more girls can secure their right to a quality education,” Lennart Reinius, Plan International’s Kenya country director, said in a statement. “It also shows that when girls speak up, they can become champions of change.”
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CNN brought in a courtroom sketch artist to illustrate Sean Spicer’s camera-free briefing — the press secretary will let the illustrator’s craftsmanship speak for itself. Joe Biden called activist investor Bill Ackman an “asshole,” so you can pretty much expect Carl Icahn to bankroll his 2020 presidential campaign. And Donald Trump can’t stop incriminating himself. We swear, if you gave the guy a Cessna with a skywriting smoke dispenser attached to it, vacationers on the Eastern Shore would soon know that he is trying to obstruct a federal investigation. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, June 23rd, 2017:
DEAN HELLER HAS NOTHING NICE TO SAY ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE BILL – He sounded like he’s been reading HuffPost’s health care coverage, tbh. Jeffrey Young: “Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) on Friday offered a harsh assessment of Senate Republicans’ health care bill and vowed to withhold his support for it unless it is altered significantly…. Speaking at a joint press conference with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) in Las Vegas, Heller said the Senate bill must protect states, like his, that expanded Medicaid and preserve gains in coverage that resulted from the Affordable Care Act. ‘In this form, I will not support it,’ Heller said. ‘It’s going to be very difficult to get me to a yes. They have a lot of work to do.’″ [HuffPost]
PRO-TRUMP GROUP TARGETING HELLER – Matthew Nussbaum: “America First Policies, a group started by some of President Donald Trump’s campaign advisers, is set to launch an advertising blitz against Nevada’s Republican Sen. Dean Heller, who on Friday came out against the Senate’s Obamacare repeal bill without significant changes. Heller is up for re-election in 2018 and is seen as one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans in that cycle. The ad blitz is backed by more than a million dollars, according to a source familiar with the planning, and the digital component is set to launch this weekend. The television and radio component will launch next week. Heller, according to the official, has also indicated privately to the White House that he is unlikely to get to ‘yes’ on the current Senate version of the bill.” [Politico]
INSIDE THE OBAMA ADMIN’S ATTEMPTS TO PUNISH RUSSIA – Instead, it turned into a pseudo-apology tour. Greg Miller, Ellen Nakashima and Adam Entous: “Early last August, an envelope with extraordinary handling restrictions arrived at the White House. Sent by courier from the CIA, it carried ‘eyes only’ instructions that its contents be shown to just four people: President Barack Obama and three senior aides…. Obama also approved a previously undisclosed covert measure that authorized planting cyber weapons in Russia’s infrastructure, the digital equivalent of bombs that could be detonated if the United States found itself in an escalating exchange with Moscow. The project, which Obama approved in a covert-action finding, was still in its planning stages when Obama left office. It would be up to President Trump to decide whether to use the capability.” [WaPo]
The health care bill is bad, Part I. “You’ve heard consumers say this about their health insurance policies, particularly in the last few years since Obamacare became law. And if you’ve been paying attention to politics, then you’ve heard Republicans promise to bring those deductibles down…. If the GOP proposal becomes law, then it’s likely out-of-pocket costs for people buying coverage through healthcare.gov or one of the state exchanges would tend to be higher, not lower ― unless these people were able and willing to pay even more in premiums.” [HuffPost’s Jonathan Cohn]
The health care bill is bad, Part II. “The legislation unveiled Thursday, which Republicans dubbed the Better Care Reconciliation Act, aims to preserve the Affordable Care Act’s popular rule forbidding health insurance companies from rejecting people with pre-existing conditions. But the bill also would repeal that law’s unpopular individual mandate that most Americans obtain health coverage or face tax penalties and would significantly scale back financial assistance that helps make health insurance premiums affordable…. In their attempt to appease public sentiment by keeping a widely liked thing, getting rid of a widely loathed thing and scaling back a poorly understood thing, Senate Republicans may have set up their own system to fail.” [HuffPost’s Jeffrey Young]
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DONALD TRUMP IS THE LEBRON JAMES OF SELF-INCRIMINATION – It’s like he has Fifth Amendment Tourette’s. Willa Frej: “President Donald Trump admitted this week that he did not tape his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey despite his earlier tweets suggesting he had. When asked why he did this in an interview that aired Friday, he offered the following perplexing explanation: ′When he found out that there may be tapes out there, whether it’s governmental tapes or anything else, I think his story may have changed,′ Trump said in an interview alongside first lady Melania. ‘I mean, you’ll have to take a look at that, because then he has to tell what actually took place at the events.’ While we didn’t exactly follow his logic, ‘Fox & Friends’ co-host Ainsley Earhardt ate it up. ‘It was a smart way to make sure [Comey] stayed honest in those hearings,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t stupid, I can tell you that,’ he replied, adding, ‘You never know what’s out there but I didn’t tape and I don’t have any tapes.’” [HuffPost]
TRUMP NOT SAVING YOUR JERB – Dominique Mosbergen: “President Donald Trump proclaimed while visiting a Boeing plant in South Carolina in February that he was there ‘to celebrate jobs.’ Jobs is one of the primary reasons I’m standing here today as your president and I will never, ever disappoint you” he told the crowd in North Charleston that day. ‘Believe me, I will not disappoint you.’ On Thursday, Boeing confirmed that it would be laying off workers at the very plant where Trump had spoken so reassuringly five months ago. The aerospace company told CNNMoney that about 200 jobs at its facilities in South Carolina would be cut.” [HuffPost]
WHAT IS REALITY, ANYWAY? KELLYANNE CONWAY REFLECTS – The White House advisor definitely playing into the commander-in-chief’s strong belief that he is living in a simulation. Sam Levine: “Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, attempted to spin a question about Russian interference in the 2016 election by saying people who questioned whether Trump could win had actually meddled with the campaign. ‘The president has said previously, and he stands by that, particularly as president-elect, that he would be concerned about anyone interfering in our democracy,’ she told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on Friday. ‘We saw a lot of people interfering with our democracy by saying he couldn’t win here at home.’” [HuffPost]
TRUMP A GIFT TO INTELLIGENCE – Not the kind you’re thinking about, though. Nada Bakos: ”Trump’s Twitter feed is a gold mine for every foreign intelligence agency. Usually, intelligence officers’ efforts to collect information on world leaders are methodical, painstaking and often covert. CIA operatives have risked their lives to learn about foreign leaders so the United States could devise strategies to counter our adversaries. With Trump, though, secret operations are not necessary to understand what’s on his mind: The president’s unfiltered thoughts are available night and day, broadcast to his 32.7 million Twitter followers immediately and without much obvious mediation by diplomats, strategists or handlers.” [WaPo]
JUDGES FINES KOBACH – Sam Levine: “A federal magistrate judge fined Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) $1,000 on Friday for misrepresenting the content of documents he was photographed holding while meeting with President Donald Trump, but will allow Kobach to continue to shield the documents from the public. The ruling came in connection with a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union over a Kansas law requiring people to prove their citizenship when they register to vote. As part of the lawsuit, the ACLU sought documents Kobach was photographed holding when he met with Trump in November that contained proposed changes to the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. Kobach argued the documents were not relevant to the lawsuit, but the ACLU argued they were because Kobach’s proposal of amendments to federal voter registration law signaled he did not have the authority to implement a proof of citizenship requirement.” [HuffPost]
BILL ACKMAN’S BAD BET ON VERBAL-STRIFE – Bill Ackman is definitely the guy who responds to “a-dollar-a-day” charity infomercials by wondering why the children don’t just invest in a solid emerging market fund. Charlie Gasparino and Brian Schwartz: “Some say former Vice President Joe Biden is too old to run for president in 2020, but he still knows how to throw a verbal punch — just ask financier Bill Ackman…. [D]uring a private VIP dinner…the question of why Biden didn’t run for president in 2016 was raised once again…. Biden explained that part of the decision stemmed from the death of his son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015. The room grew quiet as Biden became emotional, and said: ‘I’m sorry…I’ve said enough.’ That’s when Ackman blurted out ‘Why? That’s never stopped you before.’ The formal, and understated dinner conversation suddenly turned tense, according three people who were present and confirmed both the substance and the wording of Biden’s responses. Biden, these people say, turned to someone seated near him, and asked, ‘who is this asshole?,’ a reference to Ackman.” [Fox Business]
Joe Scarborough has a new music video. Please don’t ask us why.
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR – Here’s a gorilla splashing about in a tub of water.
COMFORT FOOD
– A trip inside a World War Two B-17 Flying Fortress.
– The richest person in each state.
– Acquaint yourself with Justin Trudeau’s socks.
TWITTERAMA
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Seatmate uncertainty is one of the most daunting parts of air travel. Who knows if you’ll be assigned a spot next to someone smelly and annoying, or nobody at all?!
Etihad Airways lets passengers guarantee the latter with “neighbor-free” seating in economy class, it announced this week. The program lets travelers pay extra to keep the seats surrounding theirs empty to secure some extra elbow room or even an entire row for lie-flat napping.
Here’s how it works: Before a flight, a passenger can place a bid online for one, two or three seats next to theirs, depending on the type of plane and how full it is. It’s not guaranteed they’ll score any extra space, according to Etihad, but they’ll receive a confirmation 32 hours before the flight. If the bid is accepted, the passenger pays for keeping the extra seat or seats empty and enjoys some bonus space. If not, they’re out of luck.
An Etihad spokesperson wouldn’t confirm how much “neighbor-free seats” are going for. There are minimum and maximum bidding amounts for each flight, according to the carrier’s website, but it doesn’t specify what those prices are.
“Neighbor-free” bidding is among moves the Abu Dhabi-based airline is making to generate more revenue streams in a difficult Middle East market, Bloomberg notes. Etihad flies into the U.S. through Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Dallas and Washington, D.C.
Indeed, airlines have found all sorts of creative ways to play with profits lately, like shrinking seats to fit more passengers and introducing “no frills” tickets that come at a cheaper upfront cost but tack on extra fees for necessities like checked bags.
This latest offer, however, has us intrigued. And ready for some elbow room.
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