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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Here’s a recap of the interesting points and miles news from this week:New Delta Medallion Qualification Thresholds.Delta Announces Revenue Requirement for Elite Status: As a recap from earlier this week, starting in 2014, US-based Delta Medallion members will need to either spend $25,000 dollars a year on a Delta American Express credit card, or spend a certain amount of money in addition to accruing regular Medallion Qualifying Miles or Segments to qualify for elite status....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.As the details of the new unified Marriott and SPG loyalty program have emerged, one of the most common questions we’ve gotten from readers has been whether it makes sense to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points or American Express Membership Rewards points to Marriott. As a reminder, Ultimate Rewards transfer to Marriott at a 1:1 ratio, while Membership Rewards transfer 3:1 to SPG, which in turn transfers 1:3 to Marriott....

The conclusion of the government shutdown didn’t mean the end of incredibly long security lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL). When the Super Bowl ended Sunday night, it marked the beginning of a mass exodus from the city, and many of those visiting had came to Atlanta via air.City officials say the airport could see more than 110,000 travelers passing through security — it could be the most travelers that have ever gone through the airport....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Last week, American Express unveiled a bigger and better welcome bonus on the SPG Amex: Both the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express and the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express gave new cardholders the chance to earn up to 35,000 points. You’ll earn 25,000 points when you spend $3,000 in the first three months on the personal card (or $5,000 on the business card), plus another 10,000 points when you spend an additional $2,000 in the first six months from account opening (or an additional $3,000 on the business card)....

You might be able to get away with the excuse of your dog eating your homework, but when it comes to your passport—you won’t be so lucky.That’s what one newlywed couple discovered after they had already flown 16 hours to Bali. Daniel and Tia Farthing were traveling for their honeymoon from the UK to Bali with a layover in Singapore. The couple made it through Singapore seamlessly, but were denied entry into Bali because their dog chewed up the corner of Daniel’s passport....

According to studies conducted by some of the most prestigious universities, people don’t actually enjoy hearing each other’s travel stories. Yet, people love telling them.This research, conducted between 2013 and 2017, was recently the crux of a Vox post and the response seemed to be unanimous: Keep your vacation tales to yourself. So, we decided to conduct our own research, asking TPG Lounge members about the topic. Turns out, those in the points & miles game have a different opinion....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.WOW Air is growing fast by offering spectacularly low fares from the US to its home base in Iceland and on to Europe. If you’re willing to go absolutely bare-bones, you can fly WOW one-way to Iceland and Europe for under three figures. Granted, those insane deals come with some strings attached, as do WOW’s slightly higher normal fares: you’ll pay extra for absolutely everything, from seat assignments to food....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Our rookie question of the week comes from TPG reader Joey, who sent me a message on Facebook to ask about whether his recent flight earns elite-qualifying miles:“I booked award travel using AAdvantage miles to fly from LGA-CLT-PDX, and bought an upgrade to first. I’m counting on the miles and segments from that flight to help me reach Platinum status, but I haven’t seen them reflected in my account yet....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Here’s a look at the coolest new hotels opening around the world in October, from Ritz-Carton’s Swiss entrée to millennial chasers in New York and Tel Aviv.1. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel de la Paix, GenevaLocation: GenevaNumber of Rooms: 74Three Interesting Facts: 1. Believe it or not, this is the first Ritz-Carlton property in Switzerland, a total re-do of the historic 152-year-old Hotel de la Paix, a Lake Geneva grand dame whose guest list includes Grace Kelly and Orson Welles....

View this post on Instagram Checking out Air Canada’s first A220-300 ✈️ #avgeek A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Jan 15, 2020 at 5:48am PST View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram Checking out Air Canada’s first A220-300 ✈️ #avgeek A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Jan 15, 2020 at 5:48am PST

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.American Express Membership Rewards points are already one of the most valuable transferable currencies in TPG valuations due to the wide range of valuable transfer partners. And now, MR points just got a little more valuable with the addition of a new 1:1 airline transfer partner: Avianca LifeMiles.In an unannounced addition discovered Wednesday morning by Dan’s Deals, the Star Alliance airline was added to the list of transfer partners on the Membership Rewards website:For those unfamiliar with Avianca LifeMiles, it’s worth getting to know the program for hidden gems such as:United domestic intra-region: 7,500 milesFlights to South of South America in economy: 30,000 milesFlights to New Zealand or Australia in economy: 40,000 milesFlights to Europe in business class (with no fuel surcharges): 63,000 milesFlights to North Asia in business class: 75,000 milesFlights to Middle East in business class: 78,000 milesFlights to Europe in Lufthansa first (with no fuel surcharges): 87,000 milesIn TPG’s latest valuation, he pegs the value of LifeMiles at 1....

“What was it like to be on that Project Sunrise flight?” That’s a question I’ve heard a lot over the past 24 hours.Now, I’ve been on a lot of interesting flights over the years. There have been delivery flights, demonstration flights, the first passenger flight of the Dreamliner and charters filled by frequent flyers.But I’ve received more interest on the Qantas “Project Sunrise” flight than any other in recent memory. That flight – QF 7879 – landed in Sydney early Sunday morning after completing a 19-hour, 16-minute nonstop journey from New York–JFK....

The 251-room St. Regis Princeville, situated on the north side of Kauai, is a crown jewel in the Starwood, now Marriott, portfolio. It is a property that many families have been eyeing for an (affordable-ish) award booking at just 60,000 Marriott Rewards points per night via the combined SPG and Marriott award chart. However, those who have been saving up their points and counting down to when they had enough to book rooms for 60,000 points per night will be very disappointed to learn that the property is leaving SPG/Marriott effective Nov....

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 with cheap fares, then head to Norwegian’s website to enter the promotion code and book with the discount....

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.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 Orbitzor Expedia, which allows you to cancel flights without penalty by 11pm Eastern Time within one day of booking....

Delta seems to be pulling the plug on a too-good-to-be-true flight deal.Four days ago, TPG told readers about an amazing nonstop deal from New York City to Nairobi, Kenya that expanded into an excellent deal to South Africa. These low fares, available from $242 round-trip, were bookable on Delta’s website for travel on the airline’s SkyTeam partner, Kenya Airways.I booked flights to Nairobi for $242 shortly after the deal posted and received an email with my e-ticket three minutes after booking....

The Marine Animal Rescue group is offering a $5,000 to anyone who can provide information on the individual who shot and killed a dolphin in California.The Marine Animal Rescue organization found the dead dolphin on Manhattan Beach, California, on Nov. 8, and an examination revealed that the sea animal died from a bullet wound.According to NBC News, Peter Wallerstein, the founder and president of the rescue group, contacted the National Marine Fisheries Service to open an investigation....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Recently, there have been lots of airline computer/technical “glitches” leading to massive delays and hundreds — or even thousands — of canceled flights:Delta (August 2016): Delta Power Outage Leaves Thousands of Passengers StrandedSouthwest (July 2016): Southwest Airlines’ Computer Glitch Causes FAA to Issue Ground Stop on Its FlightsAmerican (September 2015): American Airlines Flights Grounded Due to Technical GlitchUnited (July 2015): Computer Bug Grounds United Flights NationwideWith all of these outages of key systems, some may wonder if something sinister is occurring....