Lockdown: How are people coping based on data from Google?

3/31/20 8:00PM

For most of you reading this your life is probably very different now to how it was even a month ago. We dove into Google's data to see exactly how life is changing for millions of people around the world -- and the results are pretty interesting.

Some people are taking up a new hipster hobby like brewing beer or making sourdough bread. Some are keeping in shape while worrying about a recession and trying to find some strategies to deal with cabin fever. Others are just frantically trying to get some toilet paper delivered or get a decent haircut.

If we were able to see search data at the individual level we'd probably be able to build different profiles of how people are spending quarantine.

That would reveal what's probably a substantial divide within this data; that the people searching for "how to keep kids busy" are probably not the same people taking up relaxing, but messy, hobbies like brewing beer or making sourdough bread.‍

Whatever you're doing to get through this pandemic, keep it up.

Max Knoblauch15h

American Airlines joins the flock, hiking bag fees amid higher jet fuel prices

American Airlines on Thursday announced that it, too, will be hiking the fees it charges customers to check luggage.

With the move, all four of the major US airlines, which together control about 80% of the US market, have now hiked their baggage fees in recent days amid surging jet fuel prices.

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

Since late March, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Canada’s WestJet, and Southwest have hiked their fees. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.

American Airlines updates bag fees and Basic Economy fares

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

Max Knoblauch17h

Less than a year after implementing them, Southwest is also hiking its bag fees

Southwest Airlines has joined the growing list of airlines opting to hike their bag fees amid sustained higher jet fuel costs.

Starting today, the first checked bag at the carrier — which implemented bag fees less than a year ago — will jump from $35 to $45, and the second from $45 to $55. Southwest quietly disclosed the change Tuesday.

Southwest assigned the decision to “part of an ongoing analysis of the business and against the evolving global backdrop.”

As of Wednesday, jet fuel prices dropped to $4.16 a gallon, per the Argus US Jet Fuel Index, down from $4.81 on Tuesday following President Trump’s ceasefire announcement, which sent travel stocks soaring. Major airlines have shed some of those gains in premarket trading Thursday.

With the move to hike bag fees, Southwest joins JetBlue, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Canada’s WestJet, all of which also boosted fees this month. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.