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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Today I want to share a story from TPG reader Peter, who used miles to save on flights for an anniversary trip abroad. Here’s what he had to say:My wife and I live in Los Angeles, and we’ve been wanting to visit the Azores for a while after reading about how amazing the islands are. Thanks to tips we picked up from TPG, this summer we’ll be able to celebrate our wedding anniversary there after spending next to nothing on airfare....

Italian flag carrier Alitalia was forced to ground more than 130 flights on Monday as a four-hour strike by Italian air traffic controllers effectively closed Italian airspace. The strike lasted from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time (5 a.m. to 9 a.m. U.S. eastern time). As a result most flights to and from Italian airports were not able to land or depart.Several flights to the United States were substantially delayed including Alitalia flight 604 from Milan’s Malpensa (MXP) to New York’s Kennedy Airport (JFK) which departed four hours late....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.In less than three days, a cluster of storms has exploded into one of the strongest hurricanes on record. Now, the extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane is just hours away from landfall on the Florida Panhandle after undergoing rapid intensification overnight Tuesday.As of an intermediate 11:30am ET National Hurricane Center advisory, the hurricane packs 150mph top sustained winds....

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.If you’ve been thinking about hopping aboard a Carnival Cruise but have yet to get a handle on that smoking habit, you might want to reconsider your booking. The family-oriented cruise line has just announced its new Tobacco and Marijuana Smoking Policy, and it involves a $500 fine and the possibility of getting kicked off the ship....

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing the Italian government to do something that hasn’t been seen in decades in Europe: Nationalizing an airline.An emergency decree published on Sunday, introducing billions of euros in measures to help the Italian economy crippled by the pandemic, contains a provision for the state to buy Alitalia. The airline, which hasn’t made a profit since 2002 and has been in bankruptcy for almost three years, would be nationalized in response to the crisis....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Lately Barclaycard has been making a major push into the market of travel points and rewards with a host of new products targeted at the US market including the Barclaycard Arrival and various airline and hotel-specific co-branded cards.The issuer has another potentially lucrative credit card offer for travelers, the Travelocity Rewards American Express. Don’t let the name confuse you, Barclaycard is the issuer, the card just transacts through Amex’s network, so when you’re applying, you apply through Barclaycard....

If you’ve shared points with friends or family members in the last year, you may have received an oddly-worded email from Marriott this week. But don’t worry — your account hasn’t been hacked.The chain has apparently emailed members who shared points with others at some point between August of last year and now, which left some users thinking that additional transfers had been made on their accounts.TPG Loyalty & Engagement Editor Richard Kerr tweeted a screenshot of the email he received, which said that he shared 19,000 points....

Josh Kirdy has worked in the travel industry for the better part of a decade. But this summer marked the first time he stepped foot outside of the United States, when he and his fiancé Brandon visited Italy, Portugal and London for 10 days.A longtime TPG reader, Josh credits The Points Guy for helping him figure out how to make the most of their bucket-list Europe trip. “I got the Chase Sapphire Reserve a couple of years ago, which totally changed the way I live my life,” Josh said....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.I’m lucky enough to earn miles and points via a variety of methods — work travel, leisure travel, everyday spending on rewards credit cards, promotions and last, but far from least, the occasional credit card welcome bonus. I’m not aggressive with applying for lots of cards every year, but as the rewards credit card landscape evolves, we evolve with it and pick up a sweet bonus or two along the way....

In the spring of 2015, before Club Carlson increased the eliminated the last award night free benefit for co-branded credit cardholders and increased the price of top tier properties from 50,000 to 70,000 points per night, I crossed my fingers that the dates would work and booked a couple of nights for summer of 2016 at the Radisson Blu Edinburgh. I was able to book two nights for 50,000 total Club Carlson points when that would now cost 70,000 Club Carlson points per night....

One of the largest airlines in Europe is warning travelers that the summer season could bring even more delays and cancellations than in previous years because of ongoing air traffic control strikes.Ryanair Chief Marketing Office Kenny Jacobs addressed media at a press conference at ITB Berlin on Thursday to explain the concern the airline has for the ongoing air traffic control issues plaguing Europe.Jacobs said that it’s the biggest issue facing European airlines currently, and looking ahead to the busy summer travel season, it’ll be an even bigger issue....

It’s no secret at this point that Singapore Airlines has reclaimed the title of operating the world’s longest flight on its nonstop route between Newark (EWR) and Singapore (SIN). The route is operated by one of the carrier’s Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft, which features just two cabins: business and premium economy. And, as it turns out, one of those two cabins isn’t performing as well as the carrier had originally expected.Singapore Airlines is having no issue in selling tickets in business class on ultra long-haul routes to the United States....

Update: The 60,000-point pricing detailed below is no longer available as of March 5, 2019. For details on Marriott redemption options, please visit How to Redeem Points With the Marriott Bonvoy Program.If you’ve been eyeing a suites-only property from the legacy SPG program but have run into difficulties booking these over the phone, go ahead and fire up your Marriott app. It appears that some of these properties are now bookable without calling!...

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Today I want to share a story from TPG reader Winston, who earned miles for a premium award to South Korea. Here’s what he had to say:My partner and I took an awesome trip to South Korea last summer, and I scored a relatively sweet $3,500 fare in Delta One (on the 777 before suites) with non-stop flights between Atlanta and Seoul....

Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways, which has been cutting costs in an effort to keep its balance sheets afloat, is reportedly buying a larger stake in another faltering airline, India’s Jet Airways.Etihad is doubling its investment in Mumbai-based Jet Airways from a 24% stake up to a 49% holding, local media reports said on Monday. Jet Airways is India’s largest full-service carrier, but it hasn’t posted a profit in nine of the last 11 fiscal years, Bloomberg reports....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.For this week’s Thursday Giveaway, in celebration of American’s new 787 aircraft, we are giving away a $500 American Airlines Gift Card that can be used anywhere American flies.In addition, you can earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months with both the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard and the CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard....

We were feeling a bit nostalgic a few weeks ago on the heels of news that the A380 program would be coming to an end, and it turns out we weren’t the only ones. We asked the members of our TPG Lounge to share their best A380 award redemptions, and as always, we were impressed by their experiences. Here’s a look at some of our favorite answers. (Some responses have been lightly edited for style and clarity)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.For today’s Travel Tuesday Top 10, we take a look at some the most dreaded fees airlines tack onto the flying experience for everything from changing tickets to checking bags, and how you can get out of them:Most airlines will charge $25 for the first checked bag.1. Checked Baggage Fees: Although they’re not the most expensive, the fees most of us have to pay to check luggage is one of the most pervasive and annoying aspects of traveling today....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Katie is doing some home improvements and wants to use her Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to pay for them, but that might not be the best idea:“We have to have $2,900 worth of work done on the house. Our handyman accepts credit cards, but he’ll have to charge a 7% sales tax. Would the points earned on a Capital One Venture Rewards card be worth the extra $200 it would cost us to put this purchase on the card?...

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG Reader Jamie recently went on a Disney cruise with her family, but is now wondering how she could have been smarter about booking their trip:“My daughter turned five in March so my husband and I took our family of four on a Disney cruise, which we absolutely loved. I am now regretting not doing more research beforehand to see what credit card would have helped us out most when booking this trip....