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DALY NEWS | APRIL 2017

IN THE AIR …

 

QATAR INTRODUCES DOUBLE BEDS IN BUSINESS-CLASS PODS

 

Qatar Airways unveiled its business-class pods, featuring the 1st double beds in the sky. The QSuite is coming to existing aircraft beginning in June. The pods are configured in clusters of four non-window seats. The side-by-side pods, when lying flat, form a double bed. Passengers can retract the privacy partitions between the pods.

 

WHAT IS “BASIC ECONOMY”?

 

American & United began offering basic economy on Feb. 21. American is selling basic economy seats on 10 routes from its hubs: Dallas, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Miami.  United offers the service on flights between Minneapolis and its seven hub cities, such as Chicago, Denver and Newark.

 

Passengers who purchase this fare class are limited to a single carry-on bag, which must fit under the seat. In addition, they are seated at the back of the plane and board in the last group. Their tickets are nonrefundable and nonchangeable, and they are not eligible for seat assignments prior to check-in.

 

For both airlines, basic economy fares are still in the testing stage, but so far neither airline is pricing the product aggressively. The fare is normally $20 less one way than standard economy seating. For flyers who typically travel with one carry-on suitcase, $20 off the base fare won’t even make up for the $25 they’ll have to pay to check the bag since both American and United limit basic economy ticket holders to a single carry-on small enough to fit underneath a seat.

 

Basic economy products are largely seen as the legacy carriers’ approach to competing for price-conscious flyers with discount airlines like Spirit and Frontier. In 2012, Delta became the first of the Big Three to implement the fare class.

 

A BUCKET OF WONDERS – ULTIMATE BUCKET LIST TOUR

 

How about traveling the globe and visit five continents to see each prominent site? We have just the trip! The 30-day journey includes the Colosseum in Rome; Petra, Jordan; the Taj Mahal in Agra, India; the Great Wall of China; Chichen Itza, Mexico; Machu Picchu in Peru; and Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, with an extra stop at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Prices begin at $9600 per person, based on double occupancy.