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View this post on Instagram That new concourse smell. Charlotte Douglas International concourse A extension (2018), by C-Design and Perkins+Will. #airportarchitecture A post shared by Airport Architecture (@airportarchitecture) on Nov 5, 2018 at 6:53am PST View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram That new concourse smell. Charlotte Douglas International concourse A extension (2018), by C-Design and Perkins+Will. #airportarchitecture A post shared by Airport Architecture (@airportarchitecture) on Nov 5, 2018 at 6:53am PST

“Reader Questions” are answered twice a week by TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Ethan Steinberg.If you absolutely need a lie-flat bed or a large hotel suite in order to enjoy your trip, you’re always best booking it outright instead of waiting and hoping for an upgrade to clear. Still, if you hold elite status or are willing to spend some extra cash or points, upgrades can be a great way to travel in a little more comfort than you actually need....

When it comes to booking basic economy, it can feel like you’ve kissed goodbye to your expectations for an average flight experience — and not in a good way. You board the plane last. Your backpack counts as luggage. You can’t select your seat beforehand. You usually don’t earn elite-qualifying miles or spend credit, and you almost certainly won’t get a refund for your ticket if anything goes wrong.Most seasoned travelers avoid basic economy fares like the plague....

Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.A major 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook parts of the Caribbean with shocks felt as far away as Miami on Tuesday afternoon. Shortly after, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit near the Cayman Islands according to the United States Geographical Services....

Airbus launched its first A380 in 2007, and since then, the company has built and delivered nearly 200 of the massive aircraft. Over this decade, it has fast become a passenger favorite — from Etihad’s Apartment, to Singapore’s business class and even Malaysia’s economy cabin. It’s safe to say that the largest commercial aircraft has built quite the large fan base.If you’re one of those fans — or want to try out the A380 for the first time — there haven’t been any good options to find itineraries that specifically include flights operated by the A380....

A prize-winning show dog went missing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) on Saturday, and airport authorities are searching for her. [Update 4:25pm ET: Gale has been found! An email from the Atlanta airport’s public affairs office was sent with the laconic but moving subject line “dog found”. According to the airport, the dog was spotted earlier on Tuesday and caught with a baited trap.]The pure-bred American Staffordshire Terrier, named Gale, was headed home to Amsterdam on a KLM flight following a round of shows throughout the US....

British Airways “might consider” stepping in and providing a lifeline for the struggling Airbus A380 program, according to Willie Walsh, CEO of International Airline Group, BA’s parent company.“We might consider some additional aircraft, but only if at an attractive enough price,” Walsh said at a Oneworld press conference in London on Friday. “They’re going to have to be aggressive on the pricing.“The order would follow another from Emirates Airline, which was hailed as the savior of the world’s biggest passenger plane — but that order is not firm yet....

Over the last few years, we’ve seen airlines double down on the business-class ground experience. In the United States, that trend started with American and United building Flagship and Polaris Lounges, respectively, and Delta might finally be playing catch-up. Now there’s one other North American airline offering a true biz lounge, and it’s Air Canada.When the Air Canada Signature Suite opened in 2017, it was immediately hailed as being one of the continent’s best....

During the COVID-19 crisis, our team has temporarily ceased taking review trips. However, we are publishing new flight, hotel and lounge reviews, from trips taken before the lockdown. We have also been publishing a selection of our most popular reviews from the past year. We hope this will help you choose once we’re all ready to start booking trips again.Bear in mind that for the foreseeable future, service on board will be greatly reduced to lower the risk of contamination, and that the ground experience will also be very different from what was available before the pandemic....

Marriott is announcing a new option for travelers in Bali. Scheduled to open in 2020, the new W Bali – Ubud will offer a yet another luxury option to travelers and expand the W Hotel brand to more than 50 properties around the world.According to Anthony Ingham, the Global Brand Leader for W Hotels Worldwide, the company is, “applying a unique, vibrant sensibility to this hotel, one that has not been seen before on the island....

Being an astronaut ranks high on the dream list of career aspirations and childhood responses to the inevitable question of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” But not all of us grow up to attain those dreams. Some of us find alternative dream careers; others pursue elaborate travel-hacking hobbies that allow us to escape from our less-than-dreamy jobs, at least for a little bit.Whether you’re doing what you love or not, you could probably use a little getaway....

Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.Just in time for the holidays, gasoline now costs less than $2 per gallon at nearly 20% of gas stations in the United States.Tuesday’s national average was $2.37, according to AAA, which also reported that the rate was four cents cheaper than the same time last week, 26 cents cheaper than a month ago and 5 cents cheaper than a year prior....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.“Millennial” is one of the biggest buzzwords in travel, since this segment makes up a quarter of the US population and spends billions per year on travel-related activities. For the last few years, major players on the hotel landscape have been molding their latest brands to home in on this market, with tech-savvy offerings, design-heavy social spaces and budget-conscious rates for rooms that look like they belong in a boutique hotel....

Tokyo is set to host the 2020 Summer Olympics — but good luck finding a premium-class award ticket or a points hotel during the games. However, if you’re already looking ahead to a potential trip to Japan after the Olympics wrap up, you’ll want to pay attention. Based on searches on ExpertFlyer (and confirmed on popular Star Alliance booking sites), we’re seeing a solid amount of ANA first- and business-class award space from multiple U....

Delta introduced on Thursday the SkyTeam Rebooking feature, which will enable Delta’s frontline reservation agents to assist with irregular operations and flight changes across Delta’s vast partner network. For Delta flyers connecting on partner airlines like Air France, KLM, Aeromexico and Korean Air, this change could save quite a few headaches when plans go awry.Going forward, anyone facing a flight delay, cancellation or diversion on one of the 19 SkyTeam member airlines can phone Delta to sort out a solution....

At TPG, most of us consider ourselves avgeeks. Some are more versed than others, but we all share a love of travel and an appreciation for the incredible machines that make it possible.It’s an unfortunate aspect of the aviation industry — eventually, planes are phased out or retired, either because of age, to make room for newer aircraft or because of changing airline needs. A few TPGers have had the chance to fly on a few final revenue flights over the years, and it’s always a bittersweet experience....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Tomorrow marks the last day that those of us in the US with American Express Membership Rewards points can transfer to British Airways Avios at a 40% bonus, so I thought I’d remind people that it is possible to redeem Avios without paying the huge fees British Airways redemptions are known for.I’ve done several series on maximizing British Airways Avios in the past (the most recent one is linked at the bottom of this post) if you are a newbie, but here are 12 quick tips on the basics of redeeming Avios in general, and then I’ll get into situations where you can redeem them without incurring huge fees:1....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you may have missed from the week before, including several that already appeared on The Points Guy, and some more that we haven’t covered yet. If you’re an avid TPG reader, scroll down for the new stuff. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you may have missed this week:5 Reasons Chase Sapphire Preferred Should Be Your First Card in 2016With 2016 finally here, it’s time to gear up for another year of earning and burning, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the perfect card to get you started....

Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.German carrier Lufthansa announced plans for a new premium economy product for its new long range aircraft, unveiling the product Monday as part of a broader investor presentation.Rendering of Lufthansa’s new premium economy product courtesy of Lufthansa.Lufthansa revealed the new seats will be available as soon as next year....

Long before I joined forces with The Points Guy, he published a review and trip report that still often comes to mind, detailing Le Meridien Barbarons and his experience exploring the island nation of the Seychelles.But TPG himself isn’t the only coworker who’s had an opportunity to visit — senior writer Darren Murph is also a Seychelles pro, so I invited Darren to join me to chat flights, hotels and activities on the podcast this week, helping me (and you!...