civilservant

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23687680

Can't help but see this as a good thing, the reduction in competition on anything other than trunk routes across the US has lead to an alarming surge in ticket prices over the last 10 years.

Pulaski

Agreed. I was afraid that it was just going to get a rubber stamp like all the other airline mergers in recent years.

Michael

I haven't seen much of that other than the baggage fees. My usual trips to Minneapolis and NYC are pretty much the same price (maybe a little more) as about 10 years ago. The big increase seems to have been the transatlantic routes and that is probably due primarily to high landing fees/taxes at European airports for international flights.

Uncle_Bob

screw them both I'm going to take the Hyperloop

Speedwell

They deserve each other, as my mother once said about my sister-in-law's wastrel brother and his gold-digger girlfriend.

Michael

I always wanted to see what is was like to be in one of those tubes that department stores used in the 1950s.

Pulaski

I presume that you don't use a drive through bank? .... I have never been to one that doesn't still use that sort of equipment.

Michael

I haven't used one in a long time but now that you mention it, the last time I used one, it had the tubes but I can't imagine why.

Pulaski

Well they typically have three or four parallel lanes, and the tellers all sit behind a window to the left, but only the far left lane has face-to-face access to "their" teller, .... the rest conduct their transactions by vacuum tube.

Michael

OK that makes sense. It was so long ago that I used a driver up window (maybe 20 years ago) that I didn't remember why it was used. Since I didn't remember how it was used, I thought maybe they were doing it for security purposes to get the money to and from the vault.

Uncle_Bob

Drive through banks and pharmacies use them here but the longest most impressive tubes are still in use at local Home Depot stores

Michael

Never noticed them at the Home Depot stores in California. What could they possibly use them for? I'm sure the answer is obvious but my brain just isn't working today.

Speedwell

Currency from the registers to the accounting office and back. It's much safer than the other common way, sending an employee through the store with a bank bag tucked under their arm. HD stores are way too big for that.

Michael

I suppose that it is worth it to install a multimillion system when 99% of the transactions are credit cards and there is probably less than $1,000 cash in the cash register.

civilservant

And.....