| With the holiday travel season underway, some passengers are choosing to mitigate the stress by paying thousands of dollars extra for a seat in a premium cabin. Airlines reporter Leen Al-Rashdan gives us the details. Plus: A look inside the turmoil at the UN's global health agency. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up. If you had the misfortune of flying over the weekend, you probably know the drill: Arrive at the airport early, queue for what feels like forever to get your body and bags scanned, join another line to board, sharpen your elbows to stow your carry-on. If you're lucky, you'll be offered a microscopic bag of a salty or sweet something and maybe a bottle of water in flight. If not, it'll be $4 or more for each. Now imagine you've entered a parallel universe. You're whisked through security and pampered in a lounge while waiting. On board, you're escorted to a three-room suite with leather recliners, two TVs (32-inch and 27-inch), a double bed and a bathroom with a full-size shower. If you're feeling sociable during the flight, you can join other passengers at a bar a few rows back. You'll get Champagne (2009 DeVaux & Chapoutier) and osetra caviar as an amuse-bouche, then delicacies such as beef tenderloin with heirloom carrots or a platter of scallops, pan-seared salmon and poached lobster, served up on Giorgio Armani tableware and a linen tablecloth. If something's missing, a "sky butler" stands ready to serve. Airlines desperately want you to imagine the latter scenario when you think about them, and they're devoting ever-bigger heaps of cash to outdo one another in that mind game. Carriers worldwide are spending billions of dollars to improve what's already an excruciatingly luxurious front of the plane: even-bigger lie-flat seats, even-richer-and-tastier grub, and even-more-private privacy doors. While the headline opulence focuses on first class, the spirit of improvement is trickling down to business and even premium economy. "There's a rush to accommodate this premium business," says Emirates President Tim Clark, who's working on a first-class redesign of the double-decker A380 but is mum on the details. It's "almost a renaissance in the way the airlines go about looking after their premium cabin." Sure, the poshest pampering will set you back as much as $15,000 for a few hours of splendor—roughly 15 to 20 times the cost of an economy ticket that gets you to the same place at the same time. But airlines say they more than recoup the money they're plowing into upgrades. Even though the average first-class fare between the US and Europe has more than doubled since 2018, the cabins do sell out—but that's according to the airlines. "People are starting to think more: 'I deserve that,'" Antonoaldo Neves, chief executive officer of Etihad Airways, told Bloomberg Television. "We were not expecting that to come so quickly."  The bedroom of Etihad's Residence. Source: Etihad Airways Etihad's largest jets are already decked out with the Residence, the three-room layout mentioned above, which is sold as a $3,000 one-way upgrade on a standard first-class ticket. Those too late to book the suite must make do with First Apartment areas, featuring sliding doors for privacy and access to a lounge for mingling. Although the Gulf tends to lead the way in over-the-topulence, US and European carriers are doing their best to catch up. United Airlines is spending $150 million on business-class studio suites with more room, doors for privacy, lie-flat seats and high-speed internet through the flight. The first of the upgraded Boeing 787s—with 99 premium seats, or about 45% of the total—will start flying next year out of San Francisco to Singapore and London. Air France has invested €1 billion ($1.2 billion) over the past five years on upgrades such as la Première, a redesigned first-class cabin that Air France-KLM Chief Executive Officer Ben Smith says "is as close to a private-jet experience as possible." The carrier's Boeing 777s will include four enclosed suites measuring 3.5 square meters (38 square feet)—about 25% bigger than the previous iteration—with a seat and a chaise longue that converts into a full-length bed. Next year, British Airways plans to introduce first-class improvements—including beds big enough for the average pro basketball player—on its A380 double-deckers. But back to your Thanksgiving flight, or the one you'll take to see mom and dad or the grandkids over the upcoming holidays. Even if you don't shell out for the Residence or la Première, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has your back anyway. He just kicked off a publicity campaign urging civility on flights, including "dressing with respect," helping pregnant women with their bags and saying thank you to airline employees. If he gets his way, you might not get Champagne, caviar or a cabin with a shower, but at least the guy next to you will keep his shoes and socks on. | 
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