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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Air Travel Passes can be a great way to maximize your travel to a specific region. Today, TPG Contributor Richard Kerr looks at a new product from AirAsia.Last week I wrote about Travel Rewards Credit Card Combinations to Explore East Asia, and one of my suggestions was to check out Air Asia’s new Asean Pass and redeem miles from the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard to cover the cost....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Between tightening its generous change fee policy and slashing its customer-friendly price guarantee, it’s been a big year for Alaska Airlines on the customer experience side. Among the number of updates announced this year was the introduction of a basic economy product. Although it was reported that Alaska Airlines would begin selling basic economy, or Saver Fares as Alaska calls it, in November 2018 for travel beginning in January 2019, the carrier has begun rolling out the new fare class for travel this year....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Citi is a TPG advertising partnerOffer expired February 28, 2011.One of the perks of having a Citi American AAdvantage card, is having the opportunity to redeem awards for reduced amounts of miles.There are two tiers of discounts, down from the standard domestic saver mileage of 25,000 for coach and 50,000 for first (on 2 class cabins). In order to get the discount there needs to be “saver” (low) level awards available and you need to call and give the agent the code for the card that you have and city where you want to go (which can be found at using the link below)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Want to see the latest flight deals as soon as they’re published? Follow The Points Guy on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to text message alerts from our deals feed, @tpg_alerts.American Airlines recently launched a new award discount program called Economy Web Specials. It initially launched on just six unremarkable routes. But Friday, we’re seeing a massive expansion of this discount award program — including award discounts to Hawaii....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Want to see the latest flight deals as soon as they’re published? Follow The Points Guy on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to text message alerts from our deals feed, @tpg_alerts.Airfare deals are typically only available on limited dates. We recommend you use Google Flights to find dates to fly, then book through an online travel agency such as Orbitz or Expedia, which allows you to cancel flights without penalty by 11pm Eastern Time within one day of booking....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Want to see the latest flight deals as soon as they’re published? Follow The Points Guy on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to text message alerts from our deals feed, @tpg_alerts.Airfare deals are typically only available on limited dates. We recommend that you use Google Flights to find dates to fly, then book through an online travel agency, such as Orbitz or Expedia, which allows you to cancel flights without penalty by 11pm Eastern Time within one day of booking....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.For today’s Destination of the Week, TPG contributor Kathy A. McDonald takes us on a tour of one of Southern California’s most scenic and accessible destinations. Nicknamed the “American Riviera,” where the Pacific Ocean meets the Santa Ynez Mountains, we are heading to Santa Barbara, California.Santa Barbara is described as the American Riviera.WHAT TO DOA pleasure to visit, Santa Barbara is a preferred weekend getaway spot for Southern Californians – hence weekends are super busy, particularly in summer and early fall when the weather stays just right due to the ocean’s cooling influence....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG contributor Jason Steele comes back this week to analyze minimum spend.Perhaps we are living in the golden age of credit card rewards, where banks are eager to offer us so many valuable points and miles just for giving them a chance to earn our business. Nevertheless, most of these offers require a significant amount of spending (often referred to as the “minimum spend”) in order to qualify for bonus offers....

After months (years?) of waiting, loyal Harry Potter fans finally know what the theme of the new roller coaster coming to Hogsmeade at the Wizarding World of Harry Porter in Universal Orlando’s Island of Adventure. And, we now know when the most diehard fans will get to try it out for the first time.Motorbike Over HogwartsUniversal Orlando has released just a hint of what we can expect. On June 13, the park will debut Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure....

Traveling for work is super fun — up until a certain point. Whether it’s because of your stage in life, lifestyle preferences, comfort with displacement or just sheer volume, there’s definitely a point where leaving home for the sake of your job becomes a drag.Hotels literally become home for serious road warriors, some of whom spend upwards of 200 nights a year in hotel rooms. Thus, it’s no surprise that many career travelers have perfected an extensive wishlist of hotel room criteria they seek out for extended stays....

Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A340s are set to fly off into the sunset later this year. The airline is replacing the older wide-body aircraft with newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft like the Airbus A350. With just five Airbus A340s remaining in the airline’s fleet, the aircraft’s days are quite limited. Here’s how to fly aboard the unique 4-engine Airbus before Virgin Atlantic retires the aircraft.What Makes the A340 SpecialOn the surface, the Airbus A340 isn’t all that special....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.It’s official - we’re in elite status crunch time. It’s just about the last two weeks of the year and everyone is scrambling to check their mileage balances and figure out if they’ll hit their elite status tier for 2014 and I bet more than a few of you are considering some mileage runs to squeak in under the buzzer....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.World of Hyatt is changing for the better come January 1, 2018, bringing one component of the chain’s loyalty program in line with the competition and improving a second as well.Two changes go into effect on New Year’s Day:All free night awards will count toward elite statusFree nights issued after achieving status levels will expire after 180 days, up from 120That first bullet was a Hyatt loyalist pain point for many years....

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.Earlier this year, a JetBlue flight attendant attempted to sneak a suitcase full of 70 pounds of cocaine through security — and failed. Marsha Gay Reynolds, who tried to sneak the suitcase through Los Angeles Airport (LAX) in March, is expected to plead guilty in federal court to conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine....

The Marriott/SPG integration hasn’t been smooth on many accounts. From missing points to elite status errors, we’ve heard a rash of complaints from our readers (and staffers). In general, I’d say the most common Marriott/SPG issues have been IT-related. It’s understandable to have a few hiccups when you’re combining two massive, diverse programs with two completely separate front- and back-end systems, but after several months, you’d think the new Marriott Bonvoy program would’ve learned a few things....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Starwood Cash & Pointshas to be one of the best hotel redemption values out there, especially if you’re a little short on points but have some extra cash sitting around, and because you can use this option at over 1,000 Starwood properties all over the world. Even though you are spending some money, you’re generally still getting a ton of value out of your points and saving a lot more cash than you’re spending....

Numerous articles and blog posts have surfaced in recent weeks claiming that Norwegian Air, arguably the pioneer of successful low-cost trans-Atlantic flying, was on the verge of collapse. Over the weekend, Norwegian told us the company is healthy and talk of a demise is pure speculation, and on Monday it reiterated that its liquidity is satisfactory – in other words, it can still pay its suppliers.This past year has been especially tough for low and ultra-low-cost rans-Atlantic carriers with Primera Air abruptly ceasing all operations in October and WOW Air facing collapse and being possibly rescued by Indigo Partners, the private equity firm that also owns Frontier and Volaris....

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.We’ve all experienced first-class envy, whether it’s because you’ve caught a whiff of chocolate chip cookies baking, heard the delicious sound of a fresh bottle of (free) champagne popping, or simply been annoyed that you can’t see what’s going on behind the curtain....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Update: Because of technical difficulties, American Express is extending this transfer bonus opportunity to 11:59pm EST on February 1, 2012.Today is the last day to take advantage of the American Express Membership Rewards 30% bonus on transfers to British Airways Avios points. The bonus is hard coded into the transfer ratio, so 1,000 Amex points = 1,300 Avios points and they transfer instantly....

The 11-year-old Star Alliance lounge in the Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport has had a facelift. The revamped space opened on Tuesday. With seating for more than 220 guests, the stylish Parisian-inspired 10,549-sq-ft space offers a panoramic view of the airport from its penthouse vantage point, as well as a landscaped garden for a breath of fresh air between flights.If you’re after a restful experience of another sort, check out the shower rooms or relax in front of the premium-quality television screens scattered throughout the facility....