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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The 2018 version of the U.S. Travel Association’s Daily Getaways deals kicked off this Monday with a bang. The Universal Studios Express Tickets sold out quickly on Monday, and the two largest Choice points packages disappeared in seconds on Tuesday — despite the purchase rate being higher than in past years.Today’s deal gives points collectors an opportunity to stock up on IHG Rewards points....

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.A pilot for Chinese airline Donghai was recently suspended for six months and fined $1,750 for letting his wife enter the cockpit of the plane he was flying not once –but twice.Mr. Chen, the pilot for the Shenzhen-based airline, was flying from Nantong, Jiangsu province, to Lanzhou, Gansu, with a stop in Zhengzhou, Henan, and then from Lanzhou to Beijing on July 28 when the incident happened....

Fort Lauderdale based Spirit Airlines has prided itself on becoming the first “ultra-low cost” airline. Spirit led the pack with fees: starting with baggage and also evolving into beverages and even middle seats. Spirit was in the news this year mostly for beginning a fee on carry-on baggage- a first of any US airline.Fees aside, Spirit operates 31 Airbus A319/320/321 aircraft to destinations in the US, Caribbean and Latin America and has plans to double its operations in the next couple years....

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.Hotel chains often offer limited-time promotions, perhaps incentivizing customers to stay multiple nights, or at a certain brand within the portfolio. Outside of online travel agencies like Rocketmiles, however, it’s less common that we see promos offering bonus points in another company’s program, as with Hyatt’s new offer with American....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.In late-January, TPG Contributor Katie Genter completed an Austin (AUS) — Johannesburg (JNB) — Houston (IAH) mileage run in her quest to earn AA Executive Platinum status by June. For the third long-haul leg, she flew on a British Airways A380 from JNB to London-Heathrow (LHR). Here’s her review of British Airways’ World Traveller Economy product. (All photos are by the author)....

You’ve arrived for your annual work conference and pull up to your hotel only to be disappointed by a dated, cookie-cutter property that only wants to gnaw at what little soul you have left.You sit through seemingly endless workshops and speakers, all conducted in drab, run-of-the-mill meeting rooms with uncomfortable chairs and minimal flair.At the end of the conference, you want to enjoy what little time you have on your trip, but with a mediocre hotel restaurant and no other on-sight activities, you’re forced to venture out into the city....

Have you been craving a shower in the sky? Are you flexible for last-minute bookings, and maybe have an extra 50,000 Amex Membership Rewards hanging around? Well, then you’re in luck, as Emirates makes its very first trip to Cairo with an A380 this October.As first reported by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, the airline is planning on operating a one-off A380 roundtrip from Dubai to Cairo on October 2, with hopes that the route will become permanent....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Families love Southwest Airlines thanks to its open seating policy, family boarding time, the Companion Pass, ability to redeposit or change award flights without penalty and more. You can instantly transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio to book award flights directly with Southwest, but there are situations where you’re better off using your Ultimate Rewards points at a fixed value to book the flights via Chase’s travel portal, thereby earning toward your Companion Pass, A-List status and more....

Passengers traveling through Paine Field airport will soon have access to two new hotels as well as additional airport parking options. Paine Field, which opened in March 2019, is located in Everett, WA, roughly 24 miles north of Downtown Seattle. The terminal, while modern and passenger friendly, lacks convenient lodging and affordable parking. That is set to change in a matter of months.According to the Everett Herald, SMJ Management, which operates other hotels in the area, plans to construct two new Marriott hotels just minutes from the passenger terminal....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Offer Expired: April 19, 2013There are many cards and ways of maximizing your airfare purchases, but I choose to put all of mine on my American Express Premier Rewards Gold card because it gives 3 points per dollar spent on airfare and also a 15,000 point bonus if you hit $30,000 in spend within a calendar year.The Premier Rewards is my primary Amex workhorse card for those reasons and is how I build up my Membership Rewards balance so I can take advantage of periodic transfer bonuses to the program’s airline and hotel partners....

Travelers who are planning a trip to the United States and need to complete the online nonimmigrant visa application to enter the country will find a new section on the DS-160 form. As of Friday, an updated version of the form now requires applicants to include all of their social media accounts.DS-160 Social Media Section.The form allows for applicants to add multiple accounts from multiple social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Youtube....

Within hours of a dramatic helicopter crash that left the pilot dead atop a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, there were calls for helicopter to be banned from flying over New York City.“It’s a tragedy that keeps happening and an even greater tragedy that’s waiting to happen,” said John Dellaportas, president of Stop the Chop NYNJ, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending helicopter traffic over and around the city. “There is no excuse on God’s green Earth why any nonessential helicopters should be flying anywhere in the New York City metropolitan area, over buildings, over land, over water....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Chris asked me on Facebook:“The US Airways Premier World MasterCard says my account must be open for miles not to expire. If I pay the annual fee, earn the bonus, and then cancel the card shortly thereafter, will I lose my miles?“Wording on credit card applications and marketing material can be confusing, and I’m constantly getting questions like this one....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.While Category 4 Hurricane Florence is grabbing all of the headlines, there are also two hurricanes bearing down on popular vacation destinations: Hawaii and the Caribbean. As Hurricane Olivia (Hawaii) and Hurricane Isaac (Caribbean) move closer to landfall, airlines are releasing waivers to allow travelers to rebook — either to get out of the way of the storm early or delay their trip to the affected area....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.It was recently reported by Matthew at UPGRD, that Aeroplan awards were pricing at incorrect levels. And this time around, the error was in favor of the passenger - basically you can get business class for the price of coach and First class awards for the price of business class.Aeroplan is an instant transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, so if you have any award travel in your future, you should definitely check out this deal....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Delta’s offering SkyMiles members the option to use their miles to travel for cheap to South America. For its latest award flash sale, Delta’s promoting travel to various South American destinations from 36,000 SkyMiles round-trip.In order to take advantage of these reduced award rates, you must book by 11:59pm ET on March 14, 2018, and travel between August 15 and October 31, 2018....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Earlier this month, we told you about how you could earn bonus United miles when shopping through the United MileagePlus Shopping portal with its increased offers. Although those increased offers at select retailers ended last week, there’s good news — United’s announced that there are additional bonus offers through nearly the end of the month.As a reminder, with these increased offers, you won’t only be getting bonus United miles, but with every purchase, you’ll also have the opportunity to win a grand prize of 100,000 award miles and $2,500 cash, or one of three first prizes of 20,000 miles each....

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 Orbitzor 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.I’ll be honest — I was dreading this flight. For the first time in over a decade, I found myself without elite status on United, and therefore in regular economy on a long-haul flight. The aircraft was also a newly configured United Polaris 777-300ER, and while the carrier has made a big deal about its dreamy Polaris experience in business class, it very casually crammed another seat across in economy....

Fractional jet ownership is nothing new these days. However, one of the newest fractional ownership companies, Jet It, is hoping that its slightly different business model will draw more customers as they focus on an underserved market segment.While companies like NetJets sell ownership based on the number of hours you need the aircraft in a given year, the Jet It model bases ownership on days. This means that Jet It owners can book their aircraft for the day and not worry about the number of hours used....