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The captain of your flight between New York and Boston might live far away from either of these two cities. And it’s not a rarity, but commonplace in the industry. Indeed, at the time of his water landing in the Hudson River in New York, “Sully” Sullenberger lived in California, commuting across the country to work from his airline’s base in Charlotte, North Carolina, some 2,600 miles away. Others live in Puerto Rico, and yes, even Europe....

Fall foliage-philes, take note. While we’re just a few weeks into the season of cider donuts and painted gourds, the leaves are already turning at a rapid rate. In the forests of the Northeast, for example, the foliage is already reaching its peak. So if you have any plans of snapping gorgeous photos of the blazing trees, you’ll have to act fast.Based on a 2018 fall foliage prediction map, we’ve compiled an official guide on how you can best chase the autumnal leafage....

Fifty-five years ago today, my grandmother, Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, became the first woman to fly solo around the world.A flight in a Ford 5-AT Tri-Motor at the age of 7 was all it took for Jerrie to know she wanted to fly around the world (that, and ride a camel and an elephant.) Her dreams were ambitious for any child, but for “just a girl” living in a small town in Ohio in the 1930s, none of her dreams seemed likely to come true....

There are dad jokes, and then there’s this.A Kansas man is going viral for this adorable homecoming greeting. On Dec. 16, Doug Payne greeted his daughter Courtney at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) — but it wasn’t your typical welcome home. He dressed up, head to toe, in a green elf costume, lights, a hat and even the signature “elf” shoes. Doug also held up a sign with Courtney’s name, suggesting she was on “Santa’s Naughty List....

Only when conditions are anything but ideal do travelers get a glimpse of how companies respond to irregular operations. Either things happen that leave customers satisfied, or PR people are busy for days controlling the damage.Last week, New York City was brought to a halt when a few inches of snow hit the sidewalks and streets of the Big Apple. More than 1,000 flights were canceled to the city’s three major airports — Newark (EWR), John F....

Aer Lingus is growing its North American route network. Beginning in summer 2019, the Dublin-based carrier will launch nonstop service from its DUB hub to both Montreal (YUL) and Minneapolis (MSP).In an announcement on Wednesday, Aer Lingus detailed plans that beginning on July 8, 2019, it’ll launch nonstop service between Dublin (DUB) and Minneapolis (MSP). Then, on August 8, 2019, it’ll resume nonstop service between DUB and Montreal (YUL), a route that it served from 1966 to 1979....

For a number of months now, All Nippon Airways has been testing personal mobility, self-driving electric wheelchairs at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT). The test is part of the airline’s larger plan to help increase accessibility options at the busy hub.Developed through a partnership between Panasonic and WHILL, a Japanese tech startup, the robotic chairs operate in a follow-the-leader fashion to reach a destination. The chairs are also capable of detecting and avoiding obstacles, though airline employees serve as guides....

If you count a dog or cat as a family member, you’ve no doubt spent a night or two in a pet-friendly hotel, like at a Kimpton that does such a great job welcoming four-legged friends. But, have you ever booked a stay at a hotel that was designed for your pet first and foremost and you – the human – come next? Enter Best Friends Roadhouse and Mercantile in southern Utah....

A 33-year-old doctor was killed by a shark off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on Monday. This marks the third shark attack in less than two months at Whitsunday Island’s Cid Harbor, according to local reports.Dr. Daniel Christidis, a urologist and researcher at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital rented a yacht with 10 friends for a five-day cruise through Whitesunday Islands, a police inspector told the New York Post. The shark attacked after Christidis jumped in the water to give a woman a turn on a paddle board....

Just over one week after Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, crashed off the coast of Indonesia, Boeing is expected to send a bulletin to operators of the aircraft that incorrect readings from its flight-monitoring system can cause the planes to aggressively dive, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.The warning that Boeing is reportedly gearing up to send to 737 MAX operators comes after preliminary findings from last week’s crash, said the person quoted by Bloomberg, who asked to remain anonymous as details are still confidential....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here: Citi PrestigeUPDATE 6:35pm: Today’s deal is sold out, but some previous offers are still available.A hotel-heavy week 2 of the US Travel Association’s Daily Getaways kicks off with an opportunity to stock up on Best Western Rewards points at just 0.55 cents each. Not interested in Best Western? IHG points and Wyndham points plus passes to Busch Gardens and SeaWorld are still available for purchase....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.One of the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s many amazing perks is its annual $300 travel statement credit, which applies automatically to all travel purchases. Any transaction that codes as travel — from hotels to airfare to car rentals and much more — will qualify for the credit. Here’s a description of what counts as travel, from Chase’s website:Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Citi is a TPG advertising partnerLast month, we reported that Citi had finally simplified the 4th Night Free booking process, as part of its new partnership with the Aspire Lifestyles concierge service. In theory, it’s now easier to make 4th Night Free bookings, since you only need to speak to one representative to complete the entire process. 4th Night Fee is the Citi Prestige card’s single most valuable benefit, so this was big news for cardholders....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.With all of the customer service problems facing the airline industry, we can be thankful that the law requires carriers to include all mandatory taxes fees in the first price you see. But in the hotel industry, online travel agencies and rewards programs are free to hide the final price until you commit to your purchase. And in the case of hidden resort fees, you may even have to make additional payments on-site, on top of your prepaid reservations....

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today that they will not require all traveling U.S. citizens to be photographed when entering the states.This news comes just a day after we reported that the DHS posted a notice stating its intention to amend a regulation so that it can photograph all travelers — U.S. citizens included — as they enter or exit the country. The notice, first spotted by View From the Wing, was buried in the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, from fall 2019 is titled “Collection of Biometric Data From U....

Sometimes a landing is as smooth as silk. On the Airbus A380, almost every time I barely notice that the plane has made contact with terra firma — instead it’s the noise made by the reverse thrusters that lets you know. Other times, the landing is quite a bit more bumpy with a solid jolt on touchdown that you feel in your body. Very, very rarely, the landing is so hard that the plane is damaged, sometimes even beyond repair, like this United Airlines 757 earlier this year....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Expedia.com announced a new partnership with HomeAway that will mean their vacation rental properties will now be posted on Expedia. The pilot project is set to be launched early 2014 and will feature vacation rentals across the US and Mexico, and is an expansion upon HomeAway’s current business relationship with BedAndBreakfast.com.Expedia.com will soon have vacation rentals on their website through HomeAway....

If you follow the Chicago food scene, you may know restaurateur and sommelier Eduard Seitan from his contributions to popular local restaurants such as Blackbird, avec and The Publican.You’re less likely to know that Seitan is also a serious AvGeek. “I’ve been a private pilot for 12, 13 years,” Seitan told TPG. “I own a 1966 Piper Cherokee, which I bought before I had my pilot’s license. I saw this plane for sale by owner at Lansing Municipal Airport....

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.Google Flights is often one of the first sites that TPG recommends to visit when booking travel. Now, a few new features have been added to Google Flights and Google’s Hotel Search that will help to refine your experience — and the additions are coming just in time to help you finalize your spring travel plans....

Amtrak just released photos of the new high-speed Acela trains, currently being built at the Alstom factory in Hornell, New York. The new trains have been in development for a few years now, and they will be entering service on the Northeast Corridor in 2021. The 28 new trainsets will be faster, cutting ride times and offer even more amenities, from the seats to the food service. The Acela, the fastest train in service in the US, currently has a top speed of 150 mph, while the new one will be able to reach 160, according to Amtrak....