Travel Perks

Airlines add better bedding and other amenities for well-heeled travelers on long flights

You are getting very sleepy.

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines is working to improve its sleep game and has signed on innovative global sleep company Casper to fluff up the pillows.

Beginning in December, customers seated in long-haul international and transcontinental First or Business class and Premium Economy will get access to a suite of advanced sleep offerings designed by Casper's engineering team.

Founded in 2014, Casper is the company best known for its "mattress in a box," wherein the mattress is delivered to your door in a box. You unroll it and give it 24 hours to let it puff up. This is the first time Casper has applied its sleep expertise beyond the home to the world of travel.

The Casper line of sleep products for American will include a mattress pad, duvet, pillow, day blanket, lumbar pillow, pajamas, and slippers, with the exact offering varying based on the route.

Better bedding for well-heeled travelers is an airline trend. United Airlines has launched its new Polaris business class service for international travelers, with new seats and amenities, such as plush bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue and amenity kits with products from Soho House & Co's Cowshed Spa.

The new bedding and amenities are now available on trans-continental United flights. The suite-like pods with new business seats are being gradually added to the United fleet of Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 787-10 and Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, as well as on retrofitted Boeing 767-300 and 777-200 planes. United created a new custom-designed seat that offers direct access to the aisle, 180-degree flat bed recline and bed space measuring 6-feet, 6-inches long and 23 inches wide.

For American Airlines, Casper studied the travel environment for months to better understand the challenges of in-flight sleep. Their sleep engineers applied their renowned expertise in sleep research and sleep science to design innovative products specifically for air travel and made exclusively for American Airlines. So this wasn't some casual analysis, there was actual science involved.

Casper researched more than a dozen versions of the onboard pillow and tested it with a variety of fibers to find the perfect balance of support and breathability for customers. Inspired by performance outerwear, Casper’s signature duvet and the onboard duvet are created to provide comfort at all altitudes, and its sewn-through seams create small, rectangular chambers for a consistent fill distribution to stay fluffy and in place.

American put these designs to the test with customers on some of its longest flights, including Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand. The airline also tapped the expertise of some of its most frequent travelers, its flight attendants, for advice on fit, durability, and comfort.

"Customers and crew members who tried Casper on our flights said they loved it," says American Airlines senior VP Kurt Stache in a release. "Casper has set a new standard for premium sleep products, and our new line showcases their attention to detail and design and their commitment to providing the best rest possible for American Airlines customers."

In addition to long-haul international and transcontinental flights, Casper products will be available on these select routes:

Boston (BOS) – Los Angeles (LAX)
New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) – Seattle (SEA)
Miami (MIA) – Seattle (SEA)
Miami (MIA) – San Francisco (SFO)
U.S. to Hawaii
U.S. to Northern Rim of South America (MAR, MAO, BOG, CCS, CLO, GYE, LPB, MDE, UIO, VVI)

The only problem here is that Casper is not available on any domestic flights out of DFW International Airport, ostensibly because most of those flights are short. Wah, American Airlines, we need our naps, too.

transportation

on the road

Primitive Texas camping spot makes new list of most scenic U.S. campgrounds

Photo courtesy of The Dyrt camper Zach B.

North Prong Primitive Campground is one of the best places to camp in America.

A primitive camping spot in the Texas Panhandle has just been named one of the most scenic campgrounds in America, boasting some of the prettiest views nationwide.

North Prong Primitive Campground is the sole Texas destination to make the cut in North American travel publication Matador Network's list of "60 Campsites With the Best Views Across the United States."

The San Francisco-based publication collaborated with various parks organizations, tourism boards, and campground review platform The Dyrt to develop its list of the most scenic American camping spots.

The list contains a variety of locations – from primitive sites with no amenities to full-service campgrounds with electrical hookups and WiFi – that each "represent the variety of experiences and landscapes available in each region" of the United States. The 60 sites were sorted into regional categories along the East Coast, West Coast, "Mountain West," Midwest, South, and in Alaska, Hawai’i, and other U.S. territories.

"Camping in the United States is as much about the landscapes as it is about the experience of being outdoors," the report said. "The country’s diverse geography and sheer size give it some of the most striking natural views in the world, from towering mountain ranges to vast desert expanses, dense forests, remote coastlines, shimmering glaciers, and even tropical rainforests."

North Prong Primitive Campground stood out among Matador's top-10 list of "Prettiest Places to Camp in the South." The campground is located within Caprock Canyons State Park in Quitaque, Texas, which is over 500 miles northwest from Houston.

There are eight different secluded campsites for visitors to pitch their tents at North Prong, offering breathtaking views of the park's red rock canyons and the wide-open Texas sky.

North Prong Primitive Campground at Caprock Canyons State Park Get ready to hike to reach the campground.Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

"Most tent sites have expansive views of canyons with flat clearings on vivid red dirt and are dotted with cottonwood trees and scrub oaks," the report says. "The colors are vivid as can be at sunrise and sunset when light magnifies off steep red canyon walls in the distance."

According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, it's a one-mile hike to reach the camping area, and visitors must bring their own drinking water and keep pets on a leash at all times. There are no trash cans on-site, so all trash must be carried out by campers, but the area does have composting toilets nearby. Ground fires are not allowed.

Matador recommends travelers book a reservation to gain access to the area, but clarifies that reservations do not provide access to one of the eight camping sites.

The report suggests traveling to the Panhandle campground during the spring when the weather isn't too hot yet, or in the fall months when there may be fewer dramatic temperature fluctuations.

"The South’s relatively mild winters make it a year-round camping destination, but summer heat and humidity can be intense, especially in the Deep South," the report said.

The top 10 best places to camp in the South are:

Devils Fork State Park, South Carolina
Garden Key, Florida
North Long Primitive Campground, Texas
Edgar Evins State Park, Tennessee
Jekyll Island State Park, Georgia
Stone Cliff Beach Campground, West Virginia
Gulf State Park, Alabama
Red River Gorge Geological Area, Kentucky
Seneca Shadows Campground, West Virginia
Chikee Wilderness Camping, Florida

travel camping west texas

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on the road

Primitive Texas camping spot makes new list of most scenic U.S. campgrounds