Fat Tuesday in the Big Easy

American will no longer accept cash

American Airlines will begin transition to cashless cabins onboard flights within the United States and to and from Canada. By summer, the Fort Worth-based carrier will only accept debit and major credit cards for onboard purchases such as drinks, snacks, headsets or other items during these flights.

Flight attendants will be equipped with hand-held sales recorder to charge credit and debit cards, eliminating the need to search for small bills or change. Receipts will be provided to passengers upon request.

American joins the ranks of major airlines that have introduced cashless cabins, including Southwest, Frontier, JetBlue, AirTran, Midwest, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines.

Etihad to fly to Chicago

The national airline of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, has officially confirmed that it will be launching new daily nonstop flights to Chicago-ORD from its Abu Dhabi hub effective September 2.

Etihad will fly the route using a state-of-the-art Airbus A340-500 carrying up to 240 passengers. Initially, the route will be flown 3 times a week but then will be increased to daily flights from October 1 onwards.

The new service will be the airline’s second route to the United States, which already flies to New York-JFK from the UAE capital.

Alaska Airlines to add Austin-Seattle flights

Alaska Airlines has announced plans to start flying nonstop flights from Austin to Seattle beginning August 3.

The new service is filling in a gap in the carrier’s route map, as the Seattle-based airline does not currently operate any flights out of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The flight to Seattle will depart Austin at 4:40 p.m. Central time and arrive at 6:45 p.m. Pacific time. The return flight will leave Seattle at 9:45 a.m. Pacific time and arrive in Austin at 3:40 Central time.

Body massage before taking off

Customers of Emirates Airline will now take to the skies relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated with the opening of Emirates Hotels & Resorts' signature Timeless Spa, located at the new Emirates Terminal 3 (T3) at Dubai Airport. The T3 facilities offer spa procedures and tailor-made travel treatments to reduce stress and ease tiredness.

Emirates' First Class passengers can enjoy15-minute treatments on a complimentary basis, while Business Class passengers can avail 25-minute treatments for a nominal charge.

The spa facilities are available in Emirates airline's First and Business Class lounges, as well as at the Airport Hotel, which has full spa facilities.

Here, weary travellers can enjoy full back and body massages, and a range of deep cleansing, therapeutic facials, including the signature Timeless Traditions Signature Body Treatment.

All spa facilities are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Appointments are made on a walk-in basis and guests should arrive at least 15 minutes prior to their treatment.

Image: Emirates.com