Qantas
Project Sunrise: Australian airline Qantas is gearing up to launch its ultra long-haul "Project Sunrise" flights between Australia and New York City and London. These flights, taking in two sunrises. will clock in over the 19-hour mark.
Qantas
Fewer seats, more space: The airline has revealed the first and business class cabin prototypes for the 12 Airbus A350s that will service the flights. The planes will seat only 238 passengers, far fewer than the usual 300-plus seat layout on most A350s. This will include 52 Business Suites (pictured) and six First Suites.
Qantas
Business Suites: For the first time, Qantas will add a sliding door to its business class seats for added privacy. The suites will include a 25-inch-wide chair that can be reclined into a two-meter-long bed.
Qantas
First Suites: The first-class seats, or First Suites, will feature extra-wide fixed beds, 22-inch wide recliner lounge chairs, full-length wardrobes, folding dining tables -- large enough for two -- and 32-inch ultra-high definition TVs.
Qantas
Mini hotel: The airline says First Suite customers will "feel like they are in a mini boutique hotel."
Qantas
It's a science: Qantas says it has worked with a team of designers, aviation specialists and scientists, including sleep researchers, to come up with the design.

Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations opening, inspiration for future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments.

CNN  — 

This week in travel news: the best time and day to book your flights, new business and first class cabins for Qantas and Air France, and the only woman living on an island populated by convicted criminals.

When should you book your flights?

With some airfares up by as much as 50%, it’s more crucial than ever to get smart about your booking strategy. An expert at travel site Hopper tells CNN you should start tracking your May, June and July vacations now. And there’s a “Goldilocks window” for booking – not too early, not too late – says another expert from travel site Going.

Get your laptop and credit card out on a Sunday to stand the best chance of securing the best deals, says booking platform Expedia. You can refine your search further with flight comparison site Skyscanner’s new Savings Generator, launched this month. Plug in your departure city, your destination and when you’d like to travel, and it’ll help you pinpoint the best time to book and the cheapest time to travel.

New cabins for Qantas and Air France

If you’re an airline planning to launch record-breaking new 19-hour flights connecting Australia with New York and London, you’d better make darn sure you’re offering your customers a comfortable experience – especially for those shelling out the big dollars in the front section.

Qantas has revealed the first and business class prototypes for the Airbus A350s that will be serving its new “Project Sunrise” routes that are slated to launch in 2025. The airline says its First Suite will feel like “a mini boutique hotel.”

That follows the unveiling last month of Air France’s swanky new long-haul business cabin, complete with sliding doors and redesigned seats. It debuted on a Boeing 777-300ER flying Paris-New York and the first destinations it will serve are New York, Rio de Janeiro and Dakar, Senegal.

Prison islands turned paradise isles

Back in 2011, Giulia Manca went to a former Italian prison island in search of a relaxing break. Twelve years later, she’s the only woman living on an island populated by convicted criminals and is loving life in the “Alcatraz of the Tyrrhenian Sea.”

Over in Mexico, one of the country’s most notorious prisons began a new chapter in December as a Pacific Ocean getaway. The former penal colony on the Islas Marías archipelago now boasts a tourism center, restaurant and cafe, as well as villas for guests to stay in before hitting the beaches.

Seeing the world by bike

Dubai could be getting an indoor, climate-controlled, 93-kilometer cycling superhighway looping round the city, if developer URB gets its way. The greenery-filled corridor “aims to make Dubai the most connected city on Earth by foot or bike.”

The move could perhaps earn the Middle Eastern hub a future spot on our list of the world’s best cities to see by bike: destinations in North America, Scandinavia and Asia Pacific all make the current roundup.

Two people who have a better knowledge than most of global cycling culture are British couple Laura Massey-Pugh and Stevie Massey, who last year became the fastest cyclists to circumnavigate the world on a tandem bicycle.

Summer of ’69

Anthony & Barbara Sall
Greek romance: Anthony Sall was an American tourist traveling the world. Barbara Olle was an Air France flight attendant on vacation in Greece. They met on a ferry to the Greek island of Mykonos in the summer of 1969.
Anthony & Barbara Sall
Dream job: Barbara loved her job working for Air France, which allowed her to explore the globe. "Meeting people, being in a different country every trip with my airline friends -- on safari in Africa, walking the Champs Elysees in Paris, going to my favorite hairdresser in Frankfurt -- I could go on and on," Barbara tells CNN Travel.
Anthony & Barbara Sall
Falling in love: Barbara, who is originally from Germany, and Anthony spent a week together, first in Mykonos and then Hydra. "We both began to realize we could not just say 'goodbye' at the end of the Greece experience, and we had to begin to think of continuing a long term commitment," Anthony tells CNN Travel.
Anthony & Barbara Sall
Wedding day: The couple decided to get married. Here they are on their wedding day in Philadelphia. "We can't date across the Atlantic, because back then it was not as easy. You couldn't make phone calls the way you do now," says Barbara. "And so we thought, 'Well, either we get married, or we have to break it off.'"
Anthony & Barbara Sall
Flying career: Barbara moved to the US to be with Anthony. She later worked for National Airlines, Pan Am and now works for Delta.
Anthony & Barbara Sall
Importance of travel: Barbara and Anthony have four adult children who've all embarked on exciting travels over the years. "To this day, they still travel a lot," says Barbara. "Now they try to teach their children what's out there in the world."
Anthony & Barbara Sall
Frequent flier: Barbara is 76, and still flies regularly. Here she is posing on a Delta jet last year.
Anthony & Barbara Sall
Five decades later: Today, Anthony and Barbara enjoy reminiscing about how they met traveling in Greece in 1969. "Stories like this are seldom lived and told, but ours is one we both cherish with all our hearts, as how many people can know each other such a short period of time, from opposite ends of the Atlantic Ocean, and manage to put together a lasting story like this one, that is still going strong today," says Anthony.

Anthony met Barbara at a Greek ferry port in the summer of 1969. He was a 28-year-old American college graduate with a third-class ticket and she was a 24-year-old flight attendant for Air France, traveling in second class.

Like Jack and Rose in “Titanic,” the boat’s class divisions didn’t stand in the way of love. Here’s how Anthony jumped the barriers to the meet the woman who’d be his bride.

Best budget earbuds

What dinky little travel essential are you most likely to lose – and most likely to mourn when you do? For many of us, the answer is earphones.

If you’re someone whose most cherished travel companion is a playlist or podcast, but also doesn’t like to break the bank on something that could end up on the floor of a foreign city’s metro system, take a look at this guide to best budget earbuds. It’s been put together by our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN.

Disruptive traveler of the week

After a brief hiatus, we’re sorry to say unruliness is back. An American Airlines flight was diverted to a North Carolina airport on February 22 due to a disruptive passenger. The woman was taken into custody, but a misdemeanor charge was dismissed.

In case you missed it

An Airbnb plumbing disaster led to a beautiful continent-spanning friendship.

Turn on the waterworks, this one will touch your heart.

This Asian nation has the world’s most “powerful” passport.

So why aren’t its citizens using it?

What it’s like to live off grid in a traditional Maya village.

And why their lifestyle is now under threat.