American Airlines Unveils New Suites for Travelers on Longer Flights

American Airlines unveiled new suites for some of its longest-range planes with lie-flat seats and a sliding door for privacy that will be available in 2024.

As air travel picks up in pace, airlines are adapting to win over business travelers and those willing to pay a premium for better travel. Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines $AAL unveiled its range of new suites for longer flights called the “Flagship” suites, replacing its prior first class options for long range and international travel flights.

The new suites have sliding doors and will be amiable on new 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus XLRs. They may also be available on some older Boeing 777s. American Airlines plans on offering the new travel suites in 2024.

Predicting airline flight fares in a few years can be hard to do given the enormous range of factors that can influence pricing — most notably in 2020 with the unexpected onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that turned travel upside down. However, the price difference between flying coach and premium has been significant, with an economy ticket for a short round trip between New York City and Paris within a week’s time coming in at $935 in October of this year, as compared to a business flight at $5981.

Airlines worldwide have been reducing first class cabins and replacing them with business class and premium economy cabins and sections as they adapt to market demand. American Airlines expects premium seats to sell rapidly by as much as 45% in 2026. Each Boeing 787-9 will have 51 new suites and 32 premium economy seats, while older 777-300ER planes will have 70 suites and 44 premium economy suites.

Netflix Turns 25 Today

Netflix turned 25 years old today — a significant milestone for a company that started out with a DVD mail subscription in 1999 and grew over the years into a movie-streaming behemoth.

“Netflix and chill”

Known for bringing movies and TV shows to fans worldwide, Netflix, the popular streaming network, founded on August 29, 1997 by Reed Hastings and Mark Randolph, celebrates 25 years today. The company only launched its website www.netflix.com on April 14, 1998. Netflix first began modestly with mailing out red and white DVD envelopes and quickly endeared itself to a public tired of high movie rental fees. The company brought in over 200k subscribers who also were fans of its recommendation engine.

The company’s popularity led to its own slogan “Netflix and chill” where you would invite a friend or significant other to enjoy a movie at your home. The massive popularity of streaming videos and TV shows at home, on an app and in an browser, can be attributed in some part due to the popularity of Netflix who made watching entertainment convenient, familiar, and accessible at any time.

As of 2019, the company has shipped over 5 billion DVDS. The first DVD that Netflix shipped was Beetlejuice in March 1998 starring Winona Ryder, who also stars in the popular show Stranger Things. By 2007, Netflix started offering streaming options. By 2016, Netflix went live in 130 countries. Squid Watch is the most watched show on Netflix.

When Netflix reached its 500,000th subscription, the company invited the subscriber to a company meeting and gave the person a lifetime subscription. Today Netflix is available in 37 languages in 190 countries around the world and has 28 offices.

$NFLX has dominated streaming for a decade. Now it faces stiff competition from Disney+, AppleTV, Paramount Plus, HBO Max and more. Netflix today offers its own storytelling options at scale tailored to markets around the world.

Today, Netflix continues to innovate and influence cultural moments around the globe.

Contactless Convenience: Target's Drive Up Now Enables You to Get a Latte On Checkout

Covid-19 Growth in Curbside Pickup Spurs New Convenience Options

Target (NYSE: TGT) is offering new convenient shopping options for shoppers at some locations this year, doubling down on its Drive Up curb delivery service where consumers can enjoy Starbucks coffee without leaving the car. While the popular retailer did not offer specifics on where it will be offering this new add-on convenience or when it will roll out the new service, Target said the company plans to scale up this feature nationwide. Target already offers Starbucks drinks at cafes located at many of its larger stores.

Target shoppers have increasingly opted for curbside delivery during the pandemic for store items and online purchases for safety and to minimize direct contact with other consumers and Target employees. Target also offers the convenience of safe same-day home delivery through its service, Shipt. As a result, Shipt grew almost 60 percent in the third quarter of 2021.

© Joe Raedle, Getty Images. A Target employee delivers an order to a drive up customer in Miami, Florida.

Target shared that customers requested Starbucks pickup and returns. The new service does not require a pickup window for either coffee deliveries or product returns. Target plans to add more merchandise and features to the Drive Up service, including fresh groceries, frozen goods, and alcohol.

The company intends to use its 2,000 stores as fulfillment hubs to drive its range of contactless same-day services, including Order Pickup, Drive Up, and Same Day Delivery with Shipt. Target’s digital business grew 200 percent from just a year ago, with these contactless services accounting for more than half of those sales.

Since the pandemic, other popular retailers like Amazon and Walmart have also seen massive digital sales and home delivery growth. Amazon offers both food delivery from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods and new grocery stores, while Walmart has its service for both groceries and retail products delivered to the home.