Yesterday, while enjoying my day in scorching hot Las Vegas, I got a very unpleasant email from Delta. Basically, as of August 15, 2011, you can no longer change award tickets within 72 hours of departure. This even applies to Platinum and Diamond Medallions, who can change award tickets for free- but are now locked in like everyone else within 72 hours of departure.This is a huge devaluation of Delta miles....
View this post on Instagram Delta’s new A350 “flagship”, due to enter passenger service on 30 October ✈️ A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Oct 18, 2017 at 3:49am PDT View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram Delta’s new A350 “flagship”, due to enter passenger service on 30 October ✈️ A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Oct 18, 2017 at 3:49am PDT...
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Mount Etna, located on the Italian island of Sicily, erupted on Monday, leading to multiple tremors across the island and spewing ash from the fracture site. Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, is home to over 5 million people or just over 8% of Italy’s total population but receives upwards of 15 million visitors annually. 10,912-ft Etna is Europe’s most active volcano, but the aftermath of Christmas Eve’s eruption has been relatively mild with volcanologists noting that, though impressive, the eruption likely poses little threat to the island’s residents....
On Wednesday, Fiji Airways officially began operating as the first global airline partner on the new Oneworld Connect platform, first announced back in June.The Oneworld Connect platform, connected to the Oneworld alliance which includes American Airlines and British Airways, allows select non-alliance airlines to share certain Oneworld services and benefits with their customers. In turn, passengers get to enjoy a more seamless travel experience. In order to qualify as a Oneworld Connect partner, an airline must be sponsored by a minimum of three Oneworld members....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.LifeMiles, the mileage program of Colombian-based airline Avianca, frequently offers sales on discounted miles. But, the sales aren’t usually this good. Until November 12 at 11:59pm GMT-6 (which is Central Standard Time), targeted customers can buy LifeMiles with up to a 140% bonus.As with most programs, the standard rate for buying LifeMiles isn’t necessarily a good deal, but if you maximize this sale the cost drops to just 1....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TO THE POINT: Emirates’ 777-300ER business-class product is a decent, albeit outdated option for a long-haul journey. The pros: a bright cabin, extremely friendly service and great food. The cons: a less-than-desirable 2-3-2 configuration and angle-flat seats.Last month, after an incredibly inspiring trip to Cape Town, South Africa for my very first PeaceJam Conference, I needed to fly back to the Big Apple....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.As 2017 was drawing to a close, I wasn’t planning on booking another trip for January, but in December I saw flights on United from my home in Los Angeles to Taipei via San Francisco for only $402, and I couldn’t help myself. I had ended 2017 earning United Premier Platinum Status and the prospect of starting the new year by earning so many Premier Qualifying Miles for so little spend was irresistible....
Headed to New Zealand? Don’t forget to apply for entry and pay a fee first. As of Oct. 1, 2019, the New Zealand government requires travelers from a list of 60 countries, including the United States, to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) prior to entering the country. The NZeTA waives the need for a visa, but must be requested and approved before the traveler enters New Zealand — even just to transit through to another destination....
Southwest Airlines is popular with traveling musicians, who often find more available overhead bin space for their instruments with the budget carrier than on other airlines. But the LUV carrier may no longer be a fan favorite with this professional violinist.Professional violinist Emmanuel Borowsky claims he was forced to deplane from a Southwest flight departing from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) to Baltimore (BWI) after he refused to check his $80,000 violin....
In a surprise development at the Paris Air Show, Boeing announced that it has received a huge new order for its troubled 737 MAX aircraft. That came from International Airlines Group (IAG) CEO Willie Walsh, who announced late Tuesday that his organization intends to purchase 200 737 MAX jets.According to a statement, the two companies had already been in discussions about the order and signed a letter of intent for the order at the air show....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Here at TPG, we spotlight stories from our readers — fantastic travel made possible with some savvy tips and tricks. In our new lounge on Facebook, TPG Lounge member Shana Gainey shared her tips on maximizing reward travel — her points and miles took her far! Do you have any tips to share? If your story catches TPG’s eye and we publish it, we’ll send you a gift to jump-start your next adventure....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.I haven’t flown on Korean Air (KAL) in several years. I don’t have elite status on any SkyTeam airline and I never pay for an airline lounge day pass. So how did I end up in the KAL Lounge recently while waiting for a flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Munich (MUC) on Lufthansa? Just one more perk from my new go-to credit card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve....
In order to book the perfect award trip, you need to find several things: saver award availability, seats on the best aircraft type, a flight at a convenient departure time — and (of course) all of this for the lowest number of points or miles. You’ve probably used the usual — and perfectly adequate — tools like the United, American or Delta award search engines. You may even be at higher level and utilize the Alaska Mileage Plan site, explore ExpertFlyer or delve into a route map or two....
Footage of a catering cart spinning out of control at Chicago O’Hare airport made the rounds on social media earlier this month.While ground crew looked on, powerless to intervene, the cart, which had its accelerator stuck, was getting dangerously close to a parked airplane. It took a quick-thinking ramp worker, who jumped in another ground vehicle and rammed the runaway cart, to save the day, and probably an airplane.That got people to notice ground vehicles, the unsung heroes of airport operations....
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.May 7 is just around the corner, and you know what that means.It’s time to subscribe to Brian Kelly’s (official) YouTube channel.TPG is launching his own vlogging series, “Being The Points Guy,” very soon. Viewers will finally get an up-close-and-personal look at what it’s like to travel the world as a points and miles expert — from everything to the food, the hotels, the flights and beyond!...
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Over the weekend I gave a talk at Frequent Traveler University in Tysons Corner outside Washington, DC called “The Points Guy’s Credit Card Thunderdome.” As you might guess from the title, we had a lot of fun debating the relative merits of the various travel credit cards on the market at the moment and putting them up against one another in a points death match....
This new cruise amenity might be going a little, um, overboard.When Virgin Voyages launches its debut ship, the Scarlet Lady, in 2020, she’s going to be equipped with the industry’s first seaworthy tattoo parlor.In a statement, Tom McAlpin — Virgin Voyage’s president and CEO — said the tattoo shop, called Squid Ink, is a nod to the “time-honored seafaring tradition” of tattooing.At Squid Ink, sailors can receive a tattoo (made with World Famous Tattoo vegan ink) or a piercing from one of two resident artists selected by tat master Lou Rubino Jr....
Last Wednesday, travelers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport experienced a sudden interruption during a news report regarding the Ethiopia Airlines 737 MAX crash investigation. According to Business Insider, as soon as the CNN newscaster began to provide an update on the crash, the screen was changed to a viral cake frosting video made by Refinery29.Despite the interruption, closed captions from the original report played over the cake frosting video for several minutes....
Undeterred by below freezing temperatures? On Saturday, Jan. 5, the world’s largest ice and snow festival officially returns to the Heilongjiang Province of northern China. Basically a winter-themed Disney World, the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival — now in its 35th year — features illuminated ice castles, fireworks displays, exhibitions, sleigh rides and more.An image from the 17th annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. (Photo via Shutterstock)The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival began in 1985, but was inspired by the area’s traditional ice lantern show, which started decades earlier....
While New York City may not normally be conducive to stargazing, people here and elsewhere along the Eastern Seaboard may soon have the chance to see some exciting celestial activity.Early Friday morning at precisely 4:23am, NASA will launch its Antares rocket. And even if you can’t make it to the NASA Visitor Center on Wallops Island in Virginia to witness the event in person, you could still catch sight of the spectacle....
