So for an airline that claims to be the fastest growing major international US carrier these days (see link below), they apparently cannot appreciate that there are exchange rate differences between USD and EUR or between USD and CHF (Swiss Francs), or between EUR and CHF, etc....

Last night on my PHL-ZRH flight, there was the usual FA announcement about the cost of alcohol in Y: each alcoholic beverage costs USD 5 or EUR 5 or CHF 5...I heard the same thing last month when I flew ZRH-PHL and thought it was just a mistake by that particular FA but apparently, it's 'institutionalized'....when I asked the lead FA in Envoy last night about it, she simply nodded her head and said, "Yeah, yeah, that's how much it costs...". For those of you who aren't into FX rates, USD 5 is approximately EUR 4 or CHF 7. So it's a great deal next time you're in Y between ZRH and the U.S. on US to pay in CHF....

Other mishaps on the flight...the usual issues with the TATL 762s:

- completely non-functioning IFE in all cabins. No announcement was made at all about the lack of IFE...they were just hoping that no one would notice...except they had already provided the noise-cancelling headsets in the seat pocket in Envoy so every Envoy passenger decided to plug the headset in, only to be greeted by a loud, sharp noise. When I asked if they were going to reset the system or try rebooting, etc., she simply said, "Oh, sorry, we knew about it on the ground..." So when were you going to tell te passengers??:confused:

- The passenger behind me had a non-functioning Envoy seat - couldn't recline, lights not working, legrest could not be raised....

- Duct tape on my armrests and in other parts of the cabin, fraying carpets, etc...usual stuff...

Good things about the flight:

- We arrived safely
- We arrived on-time (which is a big deal since the night before, the flight was more than four hours late due to a mechanical)
- I collect my 1.5X EQMs in my UA account
- PHL Terminal A Envoy Lounge - very nice, clean, spacious


Oh, and here's the slightly OT part about US' eye on Global growth:

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/transportation/10373627.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

The airline is probably just trying to minimize the amount of change the crew needs to make.

So, would the best strategy is to pay with dollars and receive change in Euros? 5 Euro is approximately 6 dollars.