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After four years in a row, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has been ousted from its No. 1 spot as the busiest airport in the United States, as ranked by total number of flights.Reclaiming that title is Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), which last held the distinction in 2014. According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released Monday, good ol’ O’Hare processed more than 903,000 arrivals and departures in 2018 — a number it last attained in 2007....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Want to see the latest flight and hotel 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.Now’s a great time to start planning your trip to New York City. On Tuesday, we spotted discounted JetBlue Mint fares — many of which are still available — that’ll get you to the Big Apple in style and on the cheap....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.After I’d secured an Auckland (AKL) for just $361, I started looking around for places to stay. I wanted to maximize my time in there by checking out as many of the city’s hotels as possible, so in the end, I tried out the Crowne Plaza Auckland and the Langham Auckland.I’d heard of Langham hotels before, but never actually stayed in one....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.As many of us in the hotel-credit-card game know, getting a free-night award is only half the battle. Finding a good place to use it before it expires is a whole other matter. With so many programs shuffling desirable properties into categories that are out of reach, the sweet spots are few and far between.Fortunately, I came across a very sweet spot to use my Chase Hyatt free-night certificate, an anniversary perk for paying the $75 annual fee on my Chase Hyatt Card, when I booked a trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam....

This month, I had planned to book a number of trips I’m hoping to take later in 2020 and early next year, assuming we’re able to travel again soon. Since fares are low, I originally intended to pay cash, making use of United’s flexible booking policy for March — and then I read the terms and conditions.Since I’d forfeit the remaining value if I change any of my paid bookings to a lower-cost flight, that option is essentially off the table....

Brussels Airport appears to be next in line to join the United States’ “Preclearance” program, the addition of the Belgian capital confirmed by U.S. authorities on Monday.The program, run by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), puts U.S.-bound travelers through customs and immigration and security at their foreign airport of departure. Once cleared, flyers are sent to board their flight and then arrive in the U.S. essentially as domestic passengers....

Beginning Friday Jan. 17, passengers arriving from Wuhan, China to three U.S. destinations will undergo extra screening by staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The agency has deployed about 100 employees to New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX). Those three airports receive most of the visitors arriving to the U.S. from Wuhan, though only JFK and SFO have direct flights.Sign up for the free daily TPG newsletter for more airline news....

It’s only every once in four years that Leap Year babies get to celebrate their birthday and 2020 just so happens to be one of those lucky years.To make this quadrennial celebration special, Hilton is offering those born on Feb. 29 a complimentary night stay on their birthday at the Conrad New York Downtown when staying two or more nights. Stay dates must include Feb. 29 and Mar. 1, and like most deals, this is subject to availability....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.One of the most interesting benefits of the British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase is that when you spend $30,000 on it in a calendar year, you are given a “Travel Together” Companion Ticket that is basically like getting a half-priced award redemption. The way it works is, you redeem your Avios for one award in any class, and then you get the second award seat without having to spend any more Avios....

For the last several years, I’ve been attending the TED conference in Vancouver. It’s a week-long “bootcamp for the brain,” where some of the world’s most innovative minds in Technology Entertainment and Design (get it?) come and speak about their work. Being asked to give a TED talk on the main stage is a major recognition of your impact on the world, and I can only hope to one day have made enough of an impact in a certain area to have that opportunity....

Update 8:27pm: A Hyatt spokesperson has responded to clarify that it doesn’t plan to move Hyatt-branded hotels to a new Category 8. However, some Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties will be listed as new Category 8 properties. Here’s the full statement from the spokesperson:Thank you for flagging! Let me first assure that we have no plans for any Hyatt-branded hotels or resorts to move to a new Category 8....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Ever wanted to stay overnight in a sandcastle? Well, now you can, at two pop-up properties in the Netherlands. The Zand Hotels are entirely made of sedimentary materials and designed to celebrate the sand festivals in the Dutch towns of Oss and Sneek.The castle-hotels will be dismantled when the festivals in each city conclude — the last week in September for Sneek, and the first week in October for Oss — but no ocean waves will be employed in the process....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View other current offers here.Two hotel promotions - from Starwood and Club Carlson - are now open for registration, so be sure to get in on both and earn bonus points for your hotel stays this winter.Starwood Preferred Guest Power UpRegistration is now open for SPG’s Power Up Promotion. From January 15 - April 15, 2013, you can earn up to 18,000 bonus Starpoints across all hotels and resorts in the SPG program....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Here’s a quick recap of the interesting points and miles news from the week.Reminder: My 50,000 Marriott Points Giveaway Ends Tomorrow!This is just a quick reminder that I’m giving away 50,000 Marriott Rewards points, but in order to get in on the contest, you have to play Marriott’s “What’s Your Travel Type” Facebook game where members can win one of six grand prizes tailored to their personal travel tastes and preferences and then leave a comment on my giveaway post....

Sri Lanka will soon offer free visas to visitors from more than 30 nations, which can save the average tourist between $20 to $40 in visa fees.Travelers can obtain their free visa to the island nation upon arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) starting May 1, 2019. Lonely Planet reports that countries with the new free visa access include the US, the UK, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and more....

In a hearing with a Senate subcommittee Wednesday, Federal Aviation Administration officials said they would change the regulatory body’s aircraft oversight procedures following two deadly crashes of Boeing’s 737 MAX 8.The two crashes, one on Lion Air and one on Ethiopian Airlines, happened about five months apart and had striking similarities. Following the fatal accidents, aviation oversight organizations around the world grounded the 737 MAX until further investigations could take place; the FAA was the last to do so....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Back in January, we kicked off the year by highlighting some of our readers’ travel goals for 2018, with the intention of keeping tabs on their progress. Well, we’ve checked in with the readers we’re following, and have updates to report from three of them below. Note that some reader quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.Fern M....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The Caribbean has had a escaped the hurricanes unscathed and, with tourism a large source of income in the area, are ready to welcome visitors back. Today TPG staffers and contributors are sharing our ideal award itineraries to the islands — from Aruba to St. Kitts.A Premium-Class Getaway to ArubaA JetBlue Might flight to Aruba? Yes, please.I’m dying to use my TrueBlue points to fly Mint from JFK to AUA....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Just as the US Airways 100% Share Miles Bonus promo comes to an end, the airline has launched a 100% Bonus on Purchased Miles promo from November 1-30, 2012.There’s no need to register, since this isn’t a targeted promotion, and you’ll receive the bonus automatically on the Buy Miles page. However, there are a few rules:1. You must be a Dividend Miles member for at least 12 days, so sign up now if you are not and want to take advantage (sign-up here for a free account)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.“Reader Questions” are answered three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — by TPG Senior Writer Julian Mark Kheel.TPG reader Jordan recently sent us a Facebook message with a question about his new Business Platinum Card® from American Express…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Jordan”]I just applied and got approved for the Business Platinum card. Do the benefits disappear at some point or are they grandfathered in for the life of the card?...