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Airport security is a complex machine on the best of days. Thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees show up at the nation’s airports to screen passengers each day. When those employees stop showing up for work, it can quickly affect the security experience.Under normal circumstances, TSA staffs enough employees to cover any temporary shortages in staffing. Enter the government shutdown.As we enter the second week of the government shutdown, most federal employees have been divided into two categories....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Panama-based Copa Airlines has made its name connecting destinations in the Americas through its Panama City hub with a sizable fleet of Boeing 737s. It serves 80 destinations, all in North, Central and South America, including 13 in the US; it’s profitable and growing; and it’s a member of Star Alliance like United Airlines, meaning you can earn and spend United miles on its flights....

Booking for All Nippon Airways’ A380 service between Honolulu (HNL) and Tokyo’s Narita airport (NRT) just opened on Thursday.Starting May 24, ANA will launch the highly anticipated route. Its new A380s will feature a first-class cabin and business class, as well as ANA COUCHii in Economy class, a product similar to Air New Zealand’s Sky Couch.ANA has been widely promoting the new A380 service. The route’s aircraft will even be decked out in special liveries....

The new year brings new opportunities to earn elite status with your favorite airlines. In fact, many TPGers already have plans set to hit their elite status goals in 2020. If you are hoping to maximize Qantas elite status this year, you should check your inbox for a new targeted offer.Select Qantas flyers received an email with an offer to earn 50% bonus elite status credits on service to and from Japan....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.A technical issue has grounded all American Airlines flights operated by regional operator PSA Airlines, leading to 275 flight cancellations so far Thursday evening. American Airlines confirms its regional partner “experienced a technical issue that has caused them to cancel their flights for the remainder of the evening.“According to a statement from an American Airlines spokesperson:Our team, in coordination with PSA, is working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and take care of our customers by accommodating them on mainline flights or other regional carriers....

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.The contest to redesign Chicago’s OHare International Airport (ORD) Terminal 2 just got even more intense. The just city just narrowed down the competition from 12 teams to just five.The competition was set in motion to find a new design for the outdated Terminal 2....

If you’re a pet parent, you know the only thing that feels better than being able to take your beloved four-legged friend on the road with you — and lots of hotels will accommodate you these days — is to see his or her fuzzy face upon your return. But when your own pets can’t be with you, there are plenty of airports that understand the therapeutic nature of a quick pet on the head of a friendly pup — or, say, pig....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you may have missed from the week before, including several that already appeared on The Points Guy, and some more that we haven’t covered yet. If you’re an avid TPG reader, scroll down for the new stuff. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you may have missed this week:Learn about this month’s top credit card offers....

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.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....

For many of us at The Points Guy, our parents were the first people to give us a taste of what the travel life could be like. And those family trips often morph into traditions. This Father’s Day, TPG staffers reminisce about their most meaningful travel experiences with their dads.Brian Kelly, The Points GuyI always call my dad the original Points Guy, because his stash of points and miles made it possible for me to plan an epic Caribbean vacation for our family of six back in the 1990s....

Joining us for episode two of ‘TPG Talks’ was TPG’s Director of Travel Content Summer Hull. We went through several loyalty programs that provide tremendous value yet still continue to fly under the radar. If you want to fly to Hawaii for 7,500 miles or find hotels bookable with points almost anywhere you travel, you want to be sure to catch the replay of this week’s episode.Show notes:6:55 - Turkish Miles & Smiles Program16:20 - All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club Program28:05 - Iberia Avios Program37:15 - Choice Hotels Program45:50 - Other Programs to ConsiderFollow on reading and important links:Turkish Miles & Smiles: Why you should care about the hottest frequent flyer program of 2020Maximize Amex transfer bonus for incredible business and first-class redemptions to JapanOne-Way Awards on American Airlines Bookable Using Iberia AviosSign up for a free Choice Hotels elite status matchBottom LineBe sure to catch all the future TPG Talks webinars live by registering for your spot....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.I know a lot of you got in on the one-day 100,000-point sign-up bonus on the American Express Platinum Card last week – and good job doing so! – so I wanted to write a Top 10 list outlining some of the great perks and benefits of this top-shelf card so you can hit the ground running when yours arrives in the mail....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.While I love accruing and using miles for extravagant vacations just as much as the next mileage junkie, I recently used them for last minute emergency travel for a relative and they saved me a ton of money. Unfortunately, for so many people who face unexpected deaths and other emergencies, the sky-high cost of last minute airfare can be another huge blow in a time when you are already suffering....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.While Las Vegas is known for its super-luxe hotels, grand casinos and incredible nightlife scene, the city has yet to call a professional sports team its own — the T-Mobile Arena opened earlier this year, however the venue has mostly been used to hold concerts and musical competitions so far rather than play host to its very own sports team, which it hopes to do starting next year....

We’re partnering with Capital One on our Purposeful Travel Hub. If you have unique ways you like to pay it forward when you travel or just love exploring new places with family and friends, we want to hear about it. Share your most treasured travel moments and purposeful travel tips with us using #MeaningfulMoments.One of the most popular destinations for oenophiles in the world, California wine country comprises the neighboring regions of Napa Valley and Sonoma County....

Hyatt and M life have a pretty neat reciprocal elite status program that can be used to create elite status in one of those programs if you have it in the other. For example, on March 1st of this year my husband lost his Hyatt elite status as he didn’t have very much paid travel in 2016, but as soon as that happened, he matched his M life status to Hyatt and became a second tier level Hyatt Explorist with four club access certificates that he has used this year to secure lounge access in places like the Grand Hyatt New York....

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with more recent information on credit card scores. It was originally published on Oct. 2, 2015.Earning points and miles through lucrative credit card bonuses can open up amazing travel options. But to really work this hobby to your advantage, you need a solid credit score. Today, TPG Contributor Michelle Lambright Black goes back to basics with a look at several things that you may not even realize are influencing this all-important number....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI inaugurated Morocco’s first high-speed rail line, known as the LGV. Although South Africa’s Gautrain and Kenya’s Madaraka Express already feature fast train service in other African countries, the new LGV in Morocco is Africa’s first true high-speed rail line.The new LGV high-speed rail line now connects the economic hubs of Tangier and Casablanca in two hours and ten minutes....

View this post on Instagram First Class Alaska Airlines new interior #alaskaairlines #virginamerica #n628va #recaro #firstclass #a320 #iamalaska #mostwestcoast A post shared by Alan (@alan__diaz) on Jan 14, 2019 at 2:34am PST View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram First Class Alaska Airlines new interior #alaskaairlines #virginamerica #n628va #recaro #firstclass #a320 #iamalaska #mostwestcoast A post shared by Alan (@alan__diaz) on Jan 14, 2019 at 2:34am PST

Reader Questions are answered twice a week by TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Ethan Steinberg.Here at TPG, we often sing the praises of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club as one of the most underrated and high-powered frequent flyer programs out there. However, just because it’s valuable doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to use. TPG reader Cindi wants to know which Virgin Atlantic partners she can book online …[pullquote source=“TPG READER CINDI”]I’m searching for Hawaiian Airlines awards but nothing comes up on the Virgin Atlantic website....