Spirit Is Changing Its Seating, Giving Special Attention to the Middle Seats

Emirates may be best known for its lavish first- and business-class cabins, but the Dubai-based carrier is now turning its focus onto an increasingly popular class of seats—premium economy. The cabin, slotted between economy and business class, fills a niche for passengers who don’t want to pay too much of a premium but still desire something that is a step above the no-frills economy experience. In August 2022, Emirates debuted premium economy onboard its double-decker Airbus A380, becoming the first of the major Middle Eastern carriers to offer this class of service.

You can’t escape the orange. That’s what travelers this summer have been reckoning with — swaths of tangerine, traffic cone and burnt sienna on maps indicating record high temperatures around the globe. Four concurrent heat domes from the southern United States to East Asia descended on millions — Phoenix residents enduring 31 days of 110-degree-plus temperatures. Italians in more than a dozen cities under extreme weather warnings. And in South Korea, at least 125 people were hospitalized for heat-related conditions at the World Scout Jamboree.

Back to school is just around the corner and Spirit Airlines is making that transition a bit easier by helping students, parents, and teachers alike plan for their first school year vacation with a $40 flight sale.

If you’re heading to one of Greece’s biggest tourist attractions later this year, make sure you are aware of the new visiting rules.

When the new Tron coaster opened at Disney World's Magic Kingdom back in April, theme-park reporter Madison Blancafor, couldn't wait for her chance to ride the high-speed coaster, based on the popular sci-fi franchise.

I meet Donald Macauley, the 37-year-old founder of Sierra Leone's first surf school, along a sunny swath of silky yellow sand at Bureh Beach, a surfing destination on the Western Peninsula where he’s been catching waves for more than 20 years. Macauley learned how to surf from a British soldier; before he had access to a proper board, he and other local teens would ride wooden surfboards shaped from busted fishing boats. In 2012, he launched Bureh Beach Surf Club—whose slogan, “Di waves dem go mak u feel fine,” says it all—and today he leads a handful of instructors, mentors street kids, and rallies behind some of Sierra Leone’s most promising young talents. Among them, I meet 25-year-old Kadiatu “KK” Kamara, the country’s preeminent female surfer. “My dream is to teach more girls in Sierra Leone how to surf,” says Kamara, who herself learned at Bureh Beach eight years ago and hopes to someday open her own school. When girls sign up for lessons, she refuses their money. “It’s my responsibility,” she says solemnly. “I want to motivate them not to be afraid of the water.”

American Airlines will add a pair of new flights from Phoenix next year, flying to Mexico and Washington state for the winter.

WOW Air, the Iceland-based no-frills carrier that raised eyebrows with its $99 fares from Boston and Baltimore to Iceland a year ago, now has something in common with Spirit Airlines, the U.S. carrier notorious for its nickel-and-diming and generally customer-unfriendly ways.

Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.

Spirit’s new “Free Flights for a Year” sweepstakes wears its promise on its sleeve: free flights for a year. That’s an attention-getter, to be sure. But this being Spirit Airlines, the promise is deflated by the reality.

One part of the globe has suffered perhaps the most skepticism from travelers in recent years: the Middle East and North Africa. But this year, the region is experiencing a spike in visitor numbers, astounding Middle East travel experts with its sudden resurgence.

A new plane seat design from a startup called Molon Labe Seating aims to provide a wider middle seat on short-haul flights, and the company says two unnamed airlines are set to try out the change in 2020. The design would afford three extra inches of shoulder room to anyone who gets stuck in the middle seat, changing its seatback width from 18 to 21 inches.