It seems like a bad idea to for the airlines to try and outright combat this. All it does is raise public awareness and point a spotlight on their “contract of carriage”, which they use to get away with all kinds of anti-customer service things.

I am willing to bet this airline is not going to punish you, refund you, or care in any way whatsoever if you book a direct flight and don’t show up for it. They’ll gladly take your money without skipping a beat, and they shouldn’t care here either about a flight that was paid for but not attended.

I couldn’t agree more. I did something like this many years ago when trying to get from Oslo to Vienna for a reasonable price. It was a bit different though - a round trip was cheaper than a one-way trip so I booked the round trip and didn’t take the flight back to Oslo.

An empty seat is a ticket unsold to the money minds who make air travel tick.

I never even knew these existed! Very cool! Seats are do for a recovering but otherwise it looks great!

1st Gear: “One kind will be an EV based on an existing architecture that also accommodates internal combustion and hybrid powertrains.”

Does it look that much better than a 1998 4Runner?

That interior shows just how far American car interiors have come. Back then interior was an afterthought. And it looks depressing.

If VW hadn’t spent decades? lying and cheating to keep selling diesels, I might have an ounce of sympathy.

Terrible take.  Like ‘cancel your account’ bad take.

entertainment absolutely maters, what are you on about

We don’t need no water, let the motherfucker burn.  Burn, motherfucker, burn.

coupled with widely shared food and drink

The original IIHS article has lots of interesting tables

Not stirring the pot, just asking.
To me, they always looked like a pickup that was a bad pickup. They also looked like a Jeep that was a worse Jeep. The level of compromise there seemed to drag down both ends of utility to something that wasn’t great at anything.
Am I wrong?

Also, (for everyone, not just Caddywompis),…

Kennedy’s a nut. He loves OAN and Joe Rogan and conspiracies. He should run as a republican as the last, best hope for the GQP. Did I say he’s a nut?

Are pickup trucks actually good for this particular kind of 4x4ing? The uneven weight seems like a liability on curvy icy roads.

Either a GX of LX470. You can even find 200 series in this price range these days. I can’t imagine a better choice for this scenario unless you really wanted a manual or something with a little more character (“real trucks rattle” kind of thing)

Used GX460. Unlike 4runners and Tacoma’s, they’re creampuffs for most of their lives and very capable even in stock trim. 4Lo, diff lock, downhill assist, it’s all there along with fancy seats and remote start. Here’s my 10 with 130k miles, drives same as the 2020-22 loaner GX’s I’ve gotten.

The best 4x4 Toyota you can afford and be set for life with how rare you’d use it. Would be a little concerned leaving any car sitting all winter though and how that will mess with the common wear parts every year.