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    Travel Perks

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

    Teresa Gubbins
    Oct 3, 2017 | 11:12 am
    American Airlines
    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.

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    news/travel
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    go rural

    Tiny West Texas town tops Airbnb's 'off-the-map' destinations to visit

    Amber Heckler
    Mar 27, 2026 | 4:45 pm
    Matador, Texas, Airbnb, best rural destinations
    Photo courtesy of Airbnb
    Welcome to Matador, Texas.

    More Texas travelers are shying away from tourist traps for their vacations and instead embracing the calming roadside with increasing interest in rural areas of the state, according to Airbnb, and one tiny Texas city in the Panhandle is generating buzz atop a brand-new list of under-the-radar rural destinations in America.

    The vacation rental marketplace's inaugural "Off-the-Map" list features 20 rural destinations across the country where short-term rentals are bringing in "new opportunities for local tourism."

    "From coastal fishing villages to Cajun bayou towns and alpine mountain escapes, America Off-the-Map invites travelers to discover something new and helps support local economies and communities across the country," the report said.

    Matador, a small town about 80 miles northeast of Lubbock and 530 miles from Houston, was named the No. 1 hidden gem vacation destination in Texas. The report described Matador as a part of Texas that tourists "haven’t found" yet, which is what makes it all the more rewarding as an undiscovered treasure.

    "Welcome to the seat of Motley County – where the wind is constant, the skies are enormous, and the history is deeper than the caprock beneath your boots," the report said.

    Visitors can explore the Motley County Historical Museum, which explores the building's history as the Traweek Hospital that was originally built nearly a century ago. The museum also sheds light on Native American history, the life of ranchers, and other historical facts about the town and county.

    Local restaurants like Chelle's Garden or TC's Ponderosa in nearby Dickens are good spots for travelers to eat like a local, while the Coffee Mill and Mercantile in Quitaque is the place to be for breakfast, lunch, and a cup of joe.

    Matador is also less than an hour away from the newly expanded Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway, a popular Texas state park known for its roaming bison herd and bat colony.

    According to Airbnb's website, there are over 130 short-term rentals in Matador and the surrounding Motley County area, with some homes available for $172 for an overnight stay in April 2026.

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