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5-4-3-2-1: Travel tips for San Francisco’s big game weekend

As football fans around the country get ready for Sunday’s big game, Bay Area airports are preparing for the crush.

“In advance of the big game Feb. 7, we’re reminding all travelers to plan ahead and don’t underestimate the craziness that a major sporting event can bring to a city,” says Matt Prainito, Alaska Airlines’ managing director of operations and service administration. “Last year in Phoenix we saw a huge influx of travelers, with some customers missing flights because they didn’t anticipate the crowds and long lines on public transportation, rental car facilities and security alike.”

Alaska and its airport partners are preparing for the blitz by opening check-in counters early – Alaska’s will be open an hour earlier than usual in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco. They are also joining Bay Area airports in encouraging travelers to follow the 5-4-3-2-1 method if they’re flying in or out of one of these airports.

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TRAVEL ALERT: Winter Storm Jonas

Alaska Airlines has canceled 40 flights in and out of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Raleigh-Durham and New York for Friday-Sunday, Jan. 22-24, in advance of Winter Storm Jonas.

The airline will be keeping a close eye on the conditions on the East Coast throughout the weekend, and will only operate flights when it is safe to do so.

Alaska has implemented a flexible travel policy waiving change/cancelation fees for customers who would like to change their plans to or from Baltimore, Boston, Newark, New York – JFK, Philadelphia, Washington-Dulles and Washington-Reagan this weekend. Learn more at alaskaair.com.

All customers are encouraged to check the status of their flights online at alaskaair.com or on Alaska’s mobile app before leaving for the airport.

List of affected flights:

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Alaska Airlines statement on arrest of David Hans Arntson

Alaska Airlines has an uncompromising commitment to safety and compliance. We put the safety of our passengers and our employees above all else. We have a zero tolerance policy for employees, including pilots, who fail alcohol and drug tests.  Mr. Arntson was immediately removed from duty. He refused to submit to an investigatory interview. Mr. Arnston left the company before we were able to complete an investigation that would have led to his termination.

A walk around Suzhou, China’s historic heart

Robert Reid is a travel writer based in Portland, Oregon, whose writings have appeared in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He’s been the spokesperson for Lonely Planet, appearing on CNN, NBC’s Today Show and NPR to discuss travel trends. He’s currently the Digital Nomad for National Geographic Traveler.

“Suzhou is Shanghai’s back garden,” I’m told at my hotel in this Chinese city a half-hour bullet train ride west of Shanghai. “It’s laid back, peaceful, quiet. You’ll like it.”

“How many people live here?,” I ask.

“About 14 million.”

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Alaska Airlines ranks No. 1 for third year in a row in The Wall Street Journal’s annual ‘Airline Scorecard’

Alaska Airlines is the best in the business, according to The Wall Street Journal’s 2015 Airline Scorecard.

For the third year in a row, Alaska ranks No. 1 among the nine largest carriers in the United States.

Alaska Airlines is best for on-time arrivals, fewest extreme delays, fewest 2-hour tarmac delays, and fewest complaints, according to the scorecard that ranks airline performance on measures important to travelers.

Alaska has been the No. 1 or No. 2 airline every year for the past six years, including the top spot in four of the past five years.

“We have done remarkably well over a long period of time, and that’s not by chance,” said Alaska Airlines Chief Operating Officer Ben Minicucci. “Our consistent excellence is a direct result of the commitment and dedication of our 15,000 Alaska and Horizon employees. Their work makes a difference every day for our customers – we’re safe, we’re on time, we’re taking care of people – and now that work is being recognized at the highest levels of our industry.”

Data for the scorecard came from GEE Operations Solutions, FlightStats and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article online here. (You will need an online subscription).

Shanghai, bite by bite

Robert Reid is a travel writer based in Portland, Oregon, whose writings have appeared in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He’s been the spokesperson for Lonely Planet, appearing on CNN, NBC’s Today Show and NPR to discuss travel trends. He’s currently the Digital Nomad for National Geographic Traveler.

“Drink this in one gulp,” says a young nuclear physicist consultant from Maine with a full JFK-like set of hair. “Trust me, it’s not a sipper.”

I eat food but I can’t quite call myself a foodie. So I’m kick-starting my exploration of Shanghai’s food scene on a four-hour night market tour with a dozen others. On our first stop, we’ve tried 10 or so delicacies: ear-shaped xiaolongbao soup buns, “dwarf dumplings,” heavily spiced “little lobster” crawfish, a fish-fragrant pork (with no fish), lotus roots grilled on a stick, purple sweet rice milk pudding.

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2015’s top #iflyalaska photos

In 2015, we saw more than 27,000 mentions of #iFlyAlaska on Instagram and Twitter, and passed more than 50,000 fans on Instagram. We’re closing out the year with some of our favorites.

Join the conversation in 2016: follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram and make sure to tag your posts with #iflyalaska. We can’t wait to follow your adventures.

Happy New Year!
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Weekend Wanderer: Truckee, California to Crested Butte, Colorado

Nick and Laura Visconti are a husband and wife duo hailing from Truckee, California. Laura considers herself a coffee-fueled mountain soul while Nick loves to shred the mountains as a professional snowboarder. They just returned from an Instagram takeover in Crested Butte as part of Alaska’s Weekend Wanderer series. For more Weekend Wanderer posts, make sure you’re following Alaska Airlines on Instagram.

I was so excited when Alaska Airlines invited me and my husband Nick to spend a couple of days in Crested Butte, Colorado as Weekend Wanderers.

Coming from Truckee, a small ski town nestled in the mountains of Lake Tahoe, we were excited to pack our snowboard bags and head out for a ski vacation that I assumed would somewhat mimic our everyday life. But once we touched down in Gunnison after the inaugural Alaska Airlines nonstop flight from Los Angeles, I realized that while Crested Butte may be a small ski town in the mountains not unlike my own home, it had a culture entirely its own. It was, in a word, unforgettable.

Packing for a ski trip: 6 tips to get through the airport and to the slopes faster

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Hero Miles: Keeping families together

It was nearly Christmas last year, and U.S. Army airborne paratrooper Justin Isham was facing the prospect of another holiday spent alone in the barracks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Isham’s wife and family were thousands of miles away in Phoenix while he completed 1.5 years in the Warrior Transition Unit at JBER, preparing Isham and fellow wounded or disabled soldiers for the transition to civilian life.

A career of physically intense jumps had put wear and tear on Isham’s knees and back. His 2012 deployment to Afghanistan had additional effects, including some hearing loss and intense flashbacks to combat.

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No lumps of coal: Tips for low-stress holiday travel with kids

Marie LeBaron is the editor of Make and Takes, a popular parenting site featuring kids’ crafts, home projects, recipes, parenting tips and more. She lives in Seattle with her family, and loves to travel.

The holidays are quickly approaching and it’s almost time to travel to see family and friends to celebrate the season. If you are traveling with children during the holidays, here are 5 tips and tricks to help everything go a little more smoothly, while making your vacation one you’ll always remember.

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Gifts you can travel with, and gifts better left at home

Before you head to the airport this holiday season, make sure the gifts you’re packing will make it to your destination with you.

5 gifts better left at home

Hoverboards. Battery rankings on these self-balancing devices are unreliable and they’ve been prone to fires – that’s why they’re banned from Alaska Airlines flights. Learn more: Hoverboards cannot fly.

Drones. These fun, self-piloting aircraft have been all the rage over the past few years, but they pose a real concern for airlines when flown too close to an airport. If you’ve got a drone on your wish list this year, make sure you’re complying with all local and federal laws, and stay far away from your nearest airport.

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