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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Citi is a TPG advertising partnerThis year has been pretty incredible for credit card bonuses. If you’ve been getting in on the right deals it’s possible to have racked up nearly half a million (or more) miles and points so far this year just from card bonuses - and we are aren’t even halfway through 2011!Today Citi announced that until June 30, 2011 they are offering a 50,000 point sign-up bonus for their ThankYou Premier Card, which is a huge increase from the normal 20,000 bonus....

Losing a piece a jewelry of sentimental value could be heartbreaking for anyone. So, we can only imagine how the owner of this priceless necklace is feeling.In Dec. 2017, a man found an interesting looking necklace with a cylinder pendant at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). After his daughter, Melanie Rivera, recently heard about his find, she researched the necklace and realized that the pendant was actually a tiny urn filled with ashes of a loved one....

If you’ve ever booked an accommodation through Airbnb, you’ve likely noticed that, when it comes to your final bill, it could be slightly more than what you originally saw advertised as the nightly rate. That’s because there’s often a guest fee attached.But, soon enough, those fees might be disappearing for certain stays booked via Airbnb.Beginning next month, travelers may no longer pay any guest fees when they book selected hotels and professionally-managed rentals on Airbnb....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG Reader Karla sent me a message on Facebook to ask about how to get award flights to Hawaii:“I’m trying to find the best way to get my family to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines. We have one flight covered with miles, and we plan to purchase another at full price and use a companion fare, but we still need two more tickets....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Especially if you collect points and miles across several programs, it can be difficult to keep track of your award travel balances. While ideally you never let your miles expire, TPG Contributor Akash Gupta explains how you can recoup lost rewards in the British Airways Executive Program.British Airways Avios are among the most valuable airline mileage currencies out there — not necessarily for long-haul redemptions, but rather for short- to mid-haul options on Oneworld airlines....

Last month, Hilton rolled out a 10% discount when HHonors members book stays directly through the chain, and now it appears that Marriott’s planning something similar.Beginning April 11, Marriott will offer special members-only rates that’ll be available to anyone with a free Marriott Rewards account. Basic members will also receive other benefits, such as points earning, mobile check-in and check-out, plus free Wi-Fi, while elite members get a host of other valuable perks....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, and if you plan on purchasing flowers, jewelry or any other gifts for that special someone, make sure to maximize your spending by going through a shopping portal.Utilize shopping portals for Valentine’s Day gifts, like chocolate! (Photo by Aaron Burden via Unsplash)Why Use a Portal?For the uninitiated, shopping portals are sites that offer loyalty program members bonus miles or points for each dollar spent with specific retail partners....

Tuesday morning, United loaded basic economy fares for some of its international routes — but they aren’t any lower than what was available yesterday. In fact, they’re exactly the same, as evidenced by some screenshots I captured for the airline’s flight between Newark (EWR) and Paris (CDG).On one date I searched on Monday, United was offering an “Economy (first bag charge/no changes allowed)” fare for $552 round-trip, a reasonable savings of $135 off the regular coach fare, which includes a checked bag and allows flight changes with a fee....

Oslo will soon join the list of cities banning cars from city centers.Officials will remove the remaining 700 parking spots in the Norwegian capital city’s center by the end of 2018 as part of a plan to make the area a car-free zone and support eco-friendly initiatives, The New York Times reported.The city plans to cut emissions in half by 2020 and eventually become carbon neutral by promoting zero-emissions transport, enforcing car-free zones and improving cycling and public transport infrastructure....

Update 4/29/19 at 2:34pm: American Airlines says its system is back up. “Earlier today, Sabre had a brief technical issue that impacted multiple carriers, including American,” an airline spokesperson told TPG. “This technical issue has been resolved. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.” Alaska also says its system is back up. JetBlue and WestJet were also reportedly affected by the outage.American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are both experiencing system outages that are affecting flights....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.“Reader Questions” are answered twice a week by TPG Associate Editor Brendan Dorsey.Credit card bonuses are probably the easiest way to earn points and miles. So TPG reader Justin wants to know if it ever makes sense to wait for an increased offer…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Justin”]Does Chase ever offer a higher sign-up bonus than the current 50,000 points on the Sapphire cards?...

South Africa’s struggling flag carrier is reducing its route network as part of a plan its managers hope will revitalize the business.On Thursday, South African Airways released a statement announcing that it would end a number of domestic and international routes at the end of February.The cuts include services from Johannesburg to Hong Kong, Munich and Sao Paulo, and all domestic flights aside from those between Johannesburg and Cape Town, though SAA will reduce its frequencies on that route....

Being rated with a number can be stressful. And one number that many travelers have associated with them is their Uber passenger rating.While generally your rider rating doesn’t matter all that much, Uber has said it will start removing riders from the ride-hailing platform if their rating falls low enough.So, are there ways to boost your rating? There’s likely no one better than Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to tell you how to get your score up, and he gave us a few tips on how to boost your passenger rating, even revealing his own grade on the platform, during a recent interview at the Uber Elevate conference in Washington, DC....

The largest domestic airline in the United Kingdom, Flybe, has ceased all operations, entering into the British equivalent of bankruptcy effective immediately. The Independent newspaper reports that the airline’s more than 2,000 staff now face an uncertain future with all flights from Thursday March 5, 2020 and onwards cancelled, and the entire fleet of more than 60 aircraft grounded.Visit TPG’s guide to all coronavirus news and updatesThe airline reportedly failed in a last minute attempt to secure emergency funding, seeking a $128 (£100) million loan from the U....

In January, I flew on Air Canada’s Airbus A220 inaugural flight from Montreal to Calgary and back.On the way back home, we were delayed due to deicing, and I missed my connecting flight. When I deplaned in Montreal, an agent was waiting for me with a hotel confirmation, a meal voucher and a new boarding pass for the following day. A pretty seamless experience for a misconnection, or so I thought....

Earlier this month, the brand new ultra-luxe Waldorf Astoria Itaafushi in the Maldives began accepting reservations, and expects to open its doors to guests starting July 1. Initially, those wishing to book the Waldorf Astoria Itaafushi could only do so if they paid the cash rate, with no option available to book with Hilton Honors points. But, a week after the hotel began accepting reservations, the property was finally made available for points reservations at 120,000 Hilton Honors points per night, putting the property in a league of its own....

One week ago, I embarked on the longest nonstop journey of my life — for the second time. Singapore Airlines operated the world’s longest flight, from Newark to Changi Airport, until it was forced to retire its flagship route, along with the gas-guzzling Airbus A340-500, in November 2013.Since then, a handful of other airlines have fought for that record-breaking title, but even Qatar’s 9,074-mile journey from Doha (DOH) to Auckland (AKL) will have to make do with runner-up — a new aircraft capable of operating the nearly 10,000-mile journey just made its debut, finally marking the return of Singapore SQ21 this month....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers hereWe all have to stay on top of our miles and points balances to make sure we are earning the miles and points we are due, and airlines, hotels, credit cards and others often make mistakes when it comes to calculating our earnings. But what happens when the mistake is in your favor? TPG contributor Nick Ewen delves into this issue and asks for your opinions on how to resolve it when things go wrong – but also right....

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.Skúli Mogensen, the founder and CEO of now bankrupt WOW air, is laying the groundwork to get airborne again. Fréttablaðið is reporting that Mogensen is seeking investors to raise $40 million to purchase the assets of the failed airline and start flying again using the same low-cost model....