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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Dan tweets:@thepointsguy– “Can you still earn an additional 1pt/$1 by booking travel via AMEX’s online travel center?Paying for travel with a credit card can be very lucrative. I really try to discourage people from going directly to airline and hotel websites because you rake in tons of extra points by booking through online travel agencies and shopping portals as well as through credit portals themselves....

Canada is gearing up to get its very own ultra-low-cost-carrier (ULCC) in 2019, expanding inexpensive flight options in North America.Enerjet, an existing Canadian carrier, will be rebranded and molded into a low-budget option, which will differ from the way the airline has functioned since it began operations in 2009. The new airline is set to be up and running around this time next year. The new airline is projected to have “an extensive network of destinations across Canada and into the US,” according to the Enerjet press release....

The best awards are sometimes (but not always) the hardest to find. Today, TPG Contributor Richard Kerr examines availability for some of the most sought after domestic seats to see which airlines come through for award travelers in premium cabins.On May 2, 1923, two US Air Service lieutenants took off in a Fokker T-2 from Roosevelt Field on Long Island. They landed in San Diego 27 hours later, having used nothing but a compass and railroad maps for navigation....

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 Expedia, which allows you to cancel flights without penalty by 11:00pm 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....

Today I want to share a story from TPG reader Max, who transferred points into one airline program rather than use the miles he already had:I’ve recently been able to get a good return from the 40% transfer bonus from American Express to Avios.First, I had some time in September between leaving my old job and starting my new one, and decided to surprise my dad in Alaska for his birthday while he was in the midst of a six-week road trip from the lower 48....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Tomorrow, March 1, Hyatt is executing the highly publicized shift in loyalty programs from Gold Passport to World of Hyatt. For some Hyatt loyalists, however, it’s been a scary first couple of months in 2017. As February 28 approached, they saw the day they’d lose Diamond status and the day the new top-tier Globalist status becomes out of reach....

Missed the Super Blood Wolf Moon last month? You’re in luck — another super moon is headed your way on Tuesday, Feb. 19.Dubbed the Super Snow Moon (or sometimes the Storm Moon or the Hunger Moon), this one won’t be red like last month’s supermoon, but it will be just as big and perhaps even brighter. In fact, it’ll be the biggest supermoon of the year, according to EarthSky.Supermoons occur when the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit (perigee) and because this is a full moon, it will seem even bigger and brighter than usual....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.With many airports shut down across Florida, Hurricane Irma has already caused thousands of flight cancellations. FlightAware’s cancellation tracker counted 1,276 cancellations in the US on Friday and another 2,327 cancellations Saturday.As Irma neared landfall on the southwest Florida coast shortly after 3:00pm Sunday, flight cancellations reached the 3,000 mark for the day. Five airlines have cancelled more than 40% of their schedule on Sunday: interCaribbean Airlines (87%), Spirit (44%), Allegiant Air (44%), Seaborne (44%) and JetBlue (40%)....

Just a couple of weeks after increasing the redemption rates on 548 properties, IHG has launched a new promotion offering award nights in New York City with up to a 25% discount.In order to get this discount, you must book and stay by April 30, 2019. And this discount is limited to the following participating NYC properties:Hotel Indigo Brooklyn: 40,000 ⇒ 30,000 points per night (25% discount)EVEN Brooklyn: 40,000 ⇒ 30,000 points per night (25% discount)EVEN Midtown East: 45,000 ⇒ 35,000 points per night (22% discount)EVEN Times Square South: 50,000 ⇒ 40,000 points per night (20% discount)Hotel Indigo Lower East Side: 55,000 ⇒ 45,000 points per night (18% discount)At current TPG valuations, IHG Rewards points are worth 0....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the most lucrative airline benefits out there. With it, you can bring one companion (friend, family member, neighbor, coworker, whomever) for almost free on any Southwest flight you take — you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees like you would on an award ticket. What makes it even more rewarding is that you can use it on both paid and award tickets....

At the beginning of last week, United took delivery of its very first Boeing 787-10, making the airline the first carrier in the world to operate all three Dreamliner variants. Since then, the first United 787-10, registered N14001, has been undergoing modifications at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), where I visited today for our very first tour.The -10 is by far the largest version of Boeing’s efficient wide-body plane, and it represents a huge Dreamliner upgrade for United — it’s the first 787 to offer the airline’s new Polaris business-class seat, as well as Premium Plus....

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.Come Wednesday, United’s long-standing Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs) and Regional Premier Upgrades (RPUs) will be no more, with the airline rolling out a new system called PlusPoints, instead.As a result of the upcoming change, United will be suspending the ability to make a new upgrade request from 11 p....

Last week, the report of an incident involving at 737-500 departing from Madrid highlighted how pilots struggled to fly the aircraft manually when the autopilot system became unavailable. According to investigators, the aircraft departed with one autopilot inoperative, leaving another autopilot system still available for use.Aircraft are designed to fly safely without a full complement of systems. Most systems will have a backup, and the more important ones will have a backup to the backup....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.In big cities like Los Angeles, Airbnb’s latest in-app feature, which lets you book tables at local restaurants, can be useful to first-time visitors who might be unfamiliar with the city. Home to Hollywood hotshots, historic landmarks and fine arts, it’s no wonder why LA is such a big tourist destination. And although there’s an abundance of hotels in the City of Angels, there are times when it’s more fun to escape into the various West Coast communities and stay among the locals....

American Airlines will add new seasonal service from its Phoenix hub to two cities in the US heartland plus New Orleans this winter.The Oneworld Alliance carrier will add daily service to Cedar Rapids (CID), Iowa; New Orleans (MSY) and Wichita (ICT), Kansas, from on Dec. 18, reports the Phoenix Business Journal and confirmed by American. The first two routes will operate through April 6 and the latter through May 6.American will use Airbus A319s for the New Orleans service and Bombardier CRJ900s for Cedar Rapids and Wichita....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Travel blogger Ryan Gargiulo of Pause the Moment recently spent a year as an ex-pat in Playa del Carmen. We asked him to share his insider knowledge on the best spots to eat in this bohemian Mexican city on the Caribbean Sea. Stay tuned in the coming days for more stories in Mexico.With an average of 240 days of sunshine per year, its proximity to Cancun International Airport (CUN) and the fact that it’s directly on the edge of the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean, Playa del Carmen is truly a destination that can’t be missed when traveling to the Riviera Maya....

Each Saturday, we round up the top miles, points and travel news that you might have missed on TPG this week. Here’s what you need to know:Airlines Collected $4.9 Billion in Bag Fees Last Year. Here’s How to Avoid Being Part of That StatisticThere’s one airline — and a few cards — that’ll spare you that cost.Watch Now: The Points Guy Launches Official Vlog SeriesPeople always ask what it’s like to be The Points Guy....

There are many phenomenal first-class products out there, but many of the best are hard to book using points and miles. There are, however, some notable exceptions, and Etihad’s renowned First Apartment is one of them. And if your 2020 travel plans involve a return flight from the Middle East to the U.S., you’ll want to listen up. We’re seeing an incredible number of dates with two premium-class award seats from Abu Dhabi (AUH) to New York-JFK for next year — plus an array of first- and business-class availability on other routes....

[tpg_rating tpg-rating-score=“72” ground-experience=“8” cabin-seat=“15” amens-ife=“12” food-bev=“17” service=“20” pros=“Wi-Fi available, and both alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks were generous.” cons=“Seating felt cramped and uncomfortable, with tight pitch and inconvenient recline.” /]My first Dreamliner experience wasn’t particularly dreamy on a recent KLM flight between Amsterdam and New York (JFK). The pitch was tight, and the recline of the seat in front of me made me acutely aware of every minute of my seven-hour flight....