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At least five people are confirmed dead and up to two dozen are missing after a volcano on a New Zealand island popular with tourists erupted Dec. 9, according to reports.White Island is about 30 miles off the east coast of North Island and calls itself New Zealand’s “most active volcano.” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Reuters that tourists were among the several people unaccounted for. “A number” of tourists involve include passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, which is docked in a town about 50 miles away, according to authorities....

Ultra-low-cost carrier Norwegian Air announced that it will discontinue all of the airline’s flights between North America and Ireland. Flights between North America and Ireland will end next month. The airline cited its focus on profitability and the on-going grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX as factors in the decision to terminate service between North America and Ireland.Effective September 15th, 2019, Norwegian Air will cease all flights between the U.S., Canada, and Ireland....

TPG Special Contributor Eric Rosen recently had the opportunity to fly American Airlines’ new business class aboard the airline’s retrofitted 777-200 from New York-JFK to Rio de Janeiro (GIG). He flew the plane both on the outbound and return, once facing forward and the other facing the rear, to experience both types of seats. Here’s his review of both experiences, combined.In recent years, American Airlines has really stepped up its game when it comes to business class....

An Italian passenger flying European ultra low-cost carrier Ryanair with a ticket to Cagliari, Italy, somehow managed to board a flight to Bari, another Italian city hundreds of miles from his ticketed destination.The incident began during boarding at Pisa airport, also in Italy. It is unclear exactly how the mishap happened, though — as both flights required passengers to walk across the tarmac from the terminal to the aircraft — the man may have simply walked to the wrong plane....

Would you step on a scale at the airport if it could reduce carbon emissions?Well, UK-based tech start-up, Fuel Matrix, wants you to say “yes.“Weight is a huge determining factor when it comes to the amount of fuel an airline pumps into its aircraft. The heavier the load, the more fuel needs to be used. Fuel Matrix wants to fine tune this system — taking the process of calculating the onboard weight a step further....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Last week, after sharing our TPG Lounge readers’ most impressive award flight redemptions of the summer, we couldn’t help but wonder what they’d been able to do in terms of hotel redemptions. Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few head-turning awards. Here’s a look at some of our favorite responses. (Some responses have been lightly edited for style and clarity)....

The 737 MAX grounding has thrown a huge wrench in the works for airlines around the world. American Airlines and Southwest have each canceled many thousands of flights, and Norwegian has estimated a loss exceeding $50 million.The grounding has disrupted plans for countless passengers, especially those flying Southwest, since the carrier won’t rebook flyers on other airlines. United flyers have more or less lucked out, though — the airline’s 737 MAX 9 fleet is still quite small, with 14 aircraft grounded, enabling the carrier to use other planes to fill in the gaps....

Monday afternoon, I detailed United’s confusing policy of “blocking middle seats”. Essentially, middle seats are not available for passengers to pre-select, but, since the airline isn’t capping ticket sales, they may be assigned at the gate on relatively full flights, if necessary.Now, United has announced a new policy that’ll empower phone representatives, gate agents and customers to avoid a potentially uncomfortable scenario in which passengers board a plane to find an entirely full flight....

The Scarlet Lady — the inaugural vessel from Sir Richard Branson’s forthcoming Virgin Voyages cruise line — hasn’t even taken to the high seas yet. But she’s already preparing for next year’s Pride Month in style.The Scarlet Lady will host a custom seven-night voyage next May for LGBTQIA+ travelers, in partnership with the world’s largest queer vacation travel brand, Atlantis Events.As of now, details about the sailing are scant. The ship will depart from Miami on May 31, 2020, with stops in Key West, Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Now that the refreshed Citi Prestige Card is here, getting the sign-up bonus and redeeming for lucrative rewards is part of the fun. But the other part comes from how to best earn those ThankYou points in order to secure those great redemptions whenever you want. TPG has covered the card in its entirety in his review, but as a refresher, here’s what you’ll get:75,000 ThankYou points after spending $7,500 in the first three months (worth $1,125 based on TPG’s most recent valuations)Earn 3x points on travel, 2x points on dining and entertainment and 1x points on everything else$250 in air travel credits annuallyThe valuable 4th Night Free benefit, which is now bookable onlinePriority Pass Select membership$100 Global Entry fee creditAmong the other perks that come with the card, such as rental car benefits, primary rental car insurance, lost luggage reimbursement and more, the earning structure is one of the things that helps it stand out among its competitors....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Months ago, when we were booking an anniversary trip using Hyatt award nights to the Miraval Spa and Resort outside of Tucson, Arizona, airfare prices from Houston to Tucson were about $400 per round-trip. That was more than we wanted to spend on airfare for a domestic weekend getaway, so we each put 25,000 United miles to use to secure economy round-trip saver award tickets....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.We love to help our readers avoid as many fees as possible. Using credit card benefits, checked baggage fees are some of the easiest charges to avoid. However, that hasn’t stopped airlines from hitting another new baggage fee record. From April to June 2016, US-based airlines collected over $1 billion — $1,072,856,000 to be exact — in baggage fees....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.JetBlue is known for offering terrific flash sales and great in-flight service. Right now, the carrier is offering an incredible flash sale ending at midnight tonight with fares starting at just $29 one-way. There are a ton of routes available including transcontinental flights like New York (JFK) to Burbank, California (BUR) and Caribbean routes like New York (JFK) to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (BQN)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.For amazing deals like these, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.Happy New Year everyone! Per this Flyertalk thread, there are some amazing fares right now from New York (JFK) to Tel Aviv for $367 round-trip via Moscow on Transaero Airlines.You can also book New York (JFK) to Beijing, China for $465 all-in which is a great deal....

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 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 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....

Disneyland Paris is taking new measures to decrease its carbon footprint.The theme park, which is one of the most popular in the world, sees about 15 million guests a year and produces a considerable amount of waste – 19 tons in 2018 alone.Currently, the park recycles paper, glass and 18 other materials, which account for about half its waste. The park is aiming to increase this number to 60% by 2020, according to Nicole Ouimet-Herter, environment manager for Disneyland Paris....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Hurricane Harvey, now downgraded to a tropical storm, continues to devastate the Eastern part of Texas. While the top sustained winds have dropped to 45 mph, the storm continues to dump enormous amounts of rain on top of already flooded areas. Many areas have already hit record flood levels:An additional 20 inches of rain is still expected to fall across some parts of the already flooded area:The rising waters and continued rain have shut down four airports in the area, including Houston’s Hobby (HOU) airport through Wednesday morning:People battling the rising waters could certainly use a hand, and you can send money to help fund organizations providing shelter, food and drink, and even flying rescuers into the area to assist....