Poor Sam Bankman-Fried. The disgraced founder of FTX is facing mounting legal challenges and dwindling assets. Perhaps there’s no greater sign of the times than Bankman-Fried’s choice of flying Alaska Airlines First Class across the country versus American Airlines Business Class.
Sam Bankman-Fried Flies Alaska Airlines First Class
You remember the early scene in Blue Jasmine where Jasmine, played by Cate Blanchett, complains about having no money and having to fly across the country, but still doing it in first class?
I feel like Bankman-Fried is in a similar boat (or plane). Last time he was sighted in the air, Brinkman-Fried flew I the comfort of American Airlines “Flagship” business class, which offers lie-flat seating and multi-course dining between New York (JFK) and three California destinations. This premium service comes at a premium price.
> Read More: Sam Bankman-Fried Flies Flagship Business Class On American Airlines
But if you ever want the cheapest first class tickets, that’s where Alaska Airlines comes in. Alaska Airlines, in many respects, is a very decent airline. But while competitors have embraced lie-flat seating on key coast-to-coast flights, Alaska Airlines’ all-Boeing narrow body fleet consists of a “first class” product that is decidedly mediocre with limited recline and legroom and certainly nothing close to a lie-flat seat.
Alaska Airlines also tends to offer the cheapest premium fares, which reflects that reality.
For Bankman-Fried, can we infer anything from his choice to fly Alaska from San Francisco to Newark versus flying United or JetBlue on the same route, both of which offer lie-flat seating, or taking JetBlue, Delta, or American to JFK, which also offer lie-flat seating?
He looks like he’s been sleeping well. 🥱 pic.twitter.com/WxuRO1eetG
— Matthew Liu (matthewliu.eth) (@matthewliu) February 16, 2023
Is the money drying up, even from his parents?
Bankman-Fried might as well “live it up” in AA First Class or JetBlue Mint Class before the trial concludes because even if he is miraculously found not guilty, the civil lawsuits will come and inevitable bankruptcy means he may not have the liquidity or reserves to continue flying in premium cabins.
Already, even American Airlines business class is a downgrade from flying private.
CONCLUSION
Thankfully, I am not a crypto investor. My interest in this issue extends only to why and how one airline was chosen over the other. But for Bankman-Fried, the choice to fly Alaska Airlines to Newark (cheapest fares), suggests that cash reserves might be dwindling.
(image: matthewliu.eth / Twitter // H/T: View From The Wing)
Not to defend this guy, but he could have many reasons he chose Alaska Airlines first class. It could have been the right flight at right time. Who knows? However reasoning he’s economizing by flying a poorer product is ridiculous. I know he’s in big trouble and he deserves every bit of it. I just don’t think that inferring he is suddenly being cheep doesn’t suit his personality. I don’t think he knows the difference between any airlines product. He is young, and certainly not the aviation enthusiasts that we are. Those that invested in crypto kinda had it coming. He is still a massive thief, liar etc… prison is coming for his life.
Pretty soon he’s gonna be downgraded to BBBB class…”Bubba’s Beyotch Behind Bars.”
British tabloid trash talk commentary, stay in your lane Bubba, write about all those miles you log for a living instead of judging people about why they fly certain airlines
We’ve been called worse.
Hmm…speaking of lie-flat seats on transcontinental routes, I attempted that last year with Delta Air Lines from Seattle to NYC-JFK by booking “Delta One” on one of their Boeing 757-200s six months in advance. But Delta foiled my plans by changing the aircraft operating my flight to a Boeing 737-900ER, and they didn’t let me know. I found out just by looking at the flight details a couple months before my trip, and I wasn’t happy, as I was locked into my date, and the best I could do was get Delta to refund part of my ticket, since First Class is normally less expensive than Delta One with the lie-flat seats. So I ended up taking my first transcontinental flight in First Class on a Delta 737 with seats and leg room very similar to Alaska’s (the other airline I fly with a lot). It was okay, but I could have used a foot rest! I understand that Alaska’s new 737 MAX jets do have footrests in First Class, so I hope I get to try that sometime!
Isn’t this stupid on how the news or reporting becomes so social media? We all have a choice and sometimes the choice is not ours. Does he own the airline and can he or you always control a flight? And again, what is the difference in airlines, JetBlue offers better flight to me with more modern planes…so should you chose AA over JetBlue?
A lot of those in the field knew the FTX was fishy but were criticized as mostly being “haters” and time proved most of us in this camp right, but justice may have other plans as it’s very twisted.
That aside, there are multiple reasons to why he did this, whether if it fits better with his schedule, economic reasons, etc. But you also need to consider that it could be a publicity stunt as well. Certain countries when a rich person is caught for a crime, they act like they’re sick and go about in a wheelchair or act like they’re financially ruined when they’re actually not sick or financially ruined.
I noticed there were tons of people outside the industry who felt this was fishy as well.
Also, him traveling in economy would be a better sign of him being financially ruined, whether for a PR stunt or not.
I saw Ron Jeremy (famous porn star and sexual abuse criminal) waiting at PHL after coming home from a convention for a flight to LAX. He sat in row 20-something in economy near the lav. I thought it was sad this icon of porn had fallen so far. Little did i know he was about to be arrested for sexual assault.
This feels like the same thing.
Nice of his parents friends at Stanford to contribute to the bail.
Stanford Law School dean emeritus Larry Kramer signed a $500,000 bond in January on behalf of Mr. Bankman-Fried while Andreas Paepcke, a senior research scientist at the university, signed a $200,000 bond, records show.
What are the optics that Stanford is bailing out a criminal? Will Kamala start a GoFundMe next?
His bail is $250 million. Those sums aren’t even a drop in the bucket. Regardless, this is such a bad look for Stanford University Law School.
Thought he was under house arrest? Unless he is going to court this crook should be staying home with mom and dad.
Hmmm me too. As he is apparently “of the house” should not he be handcuffed to an FBI agent going to NY for “discussions”…. though why not use zoom / skype nowadays ?.
The “plight” of the rich never really upsets me.
Innocent until proven guilty?
Is a commercial flight, in the air, a public space? He has no right to privacy?
And… Crypto isn’t my thing. No opinion.
There’s a lot of proof of his guilt out there already. Money laundering seems to be a common theme the past few decades. Once you know the playbook, you peep the strategy.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ftx-founder-indicted-fraud-money-laundering-and-campaign-finance-offenses
This guy only deserves to be in the news now when he’s sentenced
If he’s an EXP he would have earned 6,912 LPs in discounted First on Alaska. Pretty solid haul for a domestic flight. Surely that was the late Feb push he needed to get him over 200,000.
Like his Father’s friend said, ” We are the chosen ones and we do not go to Jails”.
Don’t know much about this individual, but your “report” doesn’t cut it journalistically.
There could be many reasons why he chose Alaskan over other operators.
Did you approach him for aaa comment and cross reference your declared “facts?”
I doubt it……….
Stupidest waste of words I’ve ever click-bated on the internet. Bloggers must me getting desperate for content….because, well, the internet
Or because we know our audience…
Lol, one of the worst articles I’ve read from this outlet. What a joke, becoming more irrelevant by the day. Removed from my Google news recommendations now. Too bad…
Bye Felicia!
Agree with many of the other commenters. I come here for helpful travel news and tips, not salacious, assumptive clickbait. I hope this isn’t a regular occurrence.
We hope you’ll give us another try.
Call me crazy, but it could be because Alaska Airlines is the “West Coast” airline and flies to 12 different cities just in California: Fresno, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Monterrey, Oakland, Redding, Sacramento, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, San Diego, and San Francisco.
This article is pure garbage. Seems that many of the comments agree but you are being a snide piece of human feces.
I’m sorry Bonnie hasn’t been as loyal as she ought to have been.
Did you turn comments off? What a [redacted] article.
No dear, I just had to edit out your swearing.
Who the [redacted] is Bonnie? You are obviously a [redacted] writer.
*whoosh*
Who is Bonnie? Are you talking about a TV show you fucking piece of shit.
You must have a really small penis.
ROTFL. It’s okay Joe. There are surgeries available to you to fix that.
Well you seem to know A LOT about said surgery. I’m sure your husband or wife would love if you went ahead and got the surgery that you have so throughly researched. Do us all a favor and stop breathing during the surgery.
From what I read in the news, he is being summoned back to the court over his VPN usage.
I’m not much of an aviations enthusiast but after reading the amusing comments I think I will be coming back to learn more.
This is trash tabloid writing and a further sign of what’s wrong with this country. People drooling over others misery. Yes just because the government says you’re guilty and use all their tax payer money and free airwaves to smear you before you even have the chance for a trial. That’s fair and humane. That’s America for you!
The issues surrounding FTX are a bit more complex.
Why should media be wasting time on this matter, when did he become poor or inmocent, is this for sympathy vote or for traffic generation ? Let the officials handle the process and there should be no coverage besides proceedings
I used to respect you Matthew. Seeing your reaction to other peoples negative comments is shocking. You are insulting some of your readers. What a way to show your maturity Matt. I’m very disappointed in your replies to those that disagree with you. Obviously you are not thick skinned enough to handle your blog with the replies you stoop to.