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If you fancy a little vacation (or staycation) after the holidays, New York City’s upcoming Hotel Week may offer the perfect opportunity.Between January 4 to 14, more than a dozen NYC hotels are participating in Hotel Week, offering up flat rates of $100 or $200 per night for comfortable stays in some of the trendiest boutique hotels or most convenient locations around town.The Wolcott Hotel between 5th Avenue and Broadway offers one of the best deals on the roster, with rooms for only $100 per night, down from the regular rate of $250 per night....

View this post on Instagram Hopped off the plane at LAX…to this view. One of my favorite things to do is just sit back and watch some planes. With amenities and service stripped back at most airline lounges — including the @americanair Admirals Club — it’s good to know you’ll still have this awesome view of Tom Bradley International. A post shared by Chris Dong (@thechrisflyer) on Sep 2, 2020 at 5:14pm PDT...

Since I began writing for TPG in 2015, I’ve lost count of the number of loyalty program devaluations we’ve covered. While there have been many — and at times it’s easy to get discouraged — I’m not in the doom-and-gloom camp that many longtime points and miles collectors occupy. From my perch, life in the loyalty program world is still pretty good.Most of the negative changes we’ve seen weren’t surprises — they were typically too good to be true or to last....

On Wednesday afternoon, American Airlines announced it began testing biometric-based boarding for international departures from Los Angeles. On Thursday night, Katie and I happened to be booked on an international flight out of LAX on American Airlines, so we were able to experience AA’s brand-new biometric boarding process for ourselves.American Airlines is testing this biometric boarding “pilot program” on “select international departures from LAX Terminal 4.” From speaking with gate agents at gate 41, I found that this program is only set up at this gate for the 90-day test period “as American evaluates its potential expansion to more flights and locations throughout its global network....

What do U-2 spy plane pilots, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and TPG readers have in common? A penchant for the $2 bill.Photo courtesy of TPG Lounge admin Jerrod KowalskiThe Wall Street Journal divulged some fascinating facts about the least common unit of currency in America. The conversation-sparking bill, which features Thomas Jefferson on the front and depicts the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the back, is unusual, yet not rare: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve last ordered the printing of 179....

While it’s generally better to earn airline miles when flying and hotel points when staying, many airlines have partnerships with hotel loyalty programs to allow travelers to earn on each other’s program. For example, until this week, you could earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles for staying at Radisson hotels, and you were also able to transfer your Radisson Rewards points to your AAdvantage account.However, overnight Wednesday, American Airlines removed all references to its now-former hotel partner Radisson Rewards from its website....

On Monday morning, an Amtrak train traveling nearly triple the speed limit derailed outside Tacoma, Washington, killing three passengers and injuring over 100 train passengers and drivers on Interstate 5. 13 of the 14 train cars derailed when it was clocked going 81 mph in a 30 mph section of track.Amtrak co-CEO Richard Anderson — the former CEO of Delta — confirmed “Positive Train Control” was not activated on the tracks at the time of the crash....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Update 2/12/17 10:42 am: Air Canada, Southwest, and Virgin America have released travel waivers for this storm. Toronto (YYZ) has already had 177 flights cancelled today. Boston (BOS) has chalked up 155 cancellations and Newark (EWR) has 77 cancellations so far.Just days after a storm dumped up to 20 inches of snow on the Northeast, forcing the cancellation of over 3,000 flights in NYC and Boston alone, the Northeast is facing another blizzard on Sunday and Monday....

American Airlines is the first of the major U.S. carriers to restart its longest route.Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve seen airlines make drastic cuts to both domestic and international routes. Domestic travel is slowly starting to pick up now, so it’s no surprise that the airlines have in turn resumed flying some of their most premium routes.But it’s been different story for long-haul international travel. The big 3 U.S. carriers plan to just fly 40 such routes in June as travel restrictions remain in place in many countries....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.If you’ve logged in to your Barclaycard account this month, you may have seen a pop-up notification that your card’s benefits guide has been updated. Our instinct over the last year has been to brace for a devaluation with such notifications, but contrary to recent trends, this one’s a win for consumers — Barclaycard has come out with a great update to ancillary card benefits covering items like auto rental collision damage waivers (CDWs) and trip delay insurance....

The ongoing spread of COVID-19 has suppressed activity in nearly every sector of the economy. Today, in his annual letter to shareholders, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon outlined some of the steps his bank will be taking to help affected customers.For the latest travel updates, bookmark TPG’s coronavirus hub page and sign up for our daily newsletter.JP Morgan’s coronavirus relief measuresWhile we tend to focus on JP Morgan’s credit card portfolio here at TPG, the company manages over $2 trillion across a wide range of financial products including mortgages and car loans....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Business credit cards can be a great way to earn travel rewards beyond what you already enjoy from your personal cards. Even better, you usually don’t even need to have a formal business in order to qualify for a business credit card. In addition to lucrative welcome bonuses and bonus spending categories, many credit card issuers offer benefits specifically for business customers, ranging from rewards opportunities to discounts at specific merchant partners to streamlined systems for tracking expenses, all designed to give small-business owners more control over their spending....

We realized a long time ago that we were not likely to get rich in Las Vegas via our play on quarter slot machines, dollar video poker or the occasional $5 blackjack hand. We have learned, however, that during our visits to Sin City, we can enrich ourselves and expand our experiences by occasionally Leaving Las Vegas and hitting the road for day trips to nearby sights and attractions.Las Vegas day trip to the Valley of Fire State ParkThere are a number of great treasures found within a couple of hours of Sin City’s city limits....

When Delta deems your local airport a “focus city,” watch out — the airline has shown time and time again that it’s willing to put in the effort to become a go-to carrier when it senses the market calling. As Delta has done in Seattle (SEA) and Raleigh-Durham (RDU), it’s planning to put yet another meaningful stake in the ground in Beantown. We aren’t saying this is necessarily aimed directly at JetBlue, but it’ll no doubt make JetBlue loyalists reconsider who the best carrier is for their needs....

It’s Small Business Week 2019! Click here to view our content hub with business credit card reviews, points and miles tips for business owners and more.Today officially marks the start of National Small Business Week, and here at TPG, we’re kicking off our coverage by bringing your attention to a chance to win some incredibly valuable points. As you’re hopefully aware, in addition to the normal AAdvantage frequent flyer program, American Airlines offers a second program for small businesses to double dip on their rewards....

“It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Thus declared Bathsheba Everdene, the heroine of Thomas Hardy’s Victorian novel, Far From the Madding Crowd.Similarly, it’s difficult to understand what exactly to expect from the brand-new Virgin Hotel San Francisco, which named its rooftop bar Everdene after Bathsheba, and which describes itself in some lofty language. Rooms here are compared to space shuttles....

Chances are, you’ve already figured out all the best ways to maximize your points and miles earning potential when it comes to shopping habits. But there’s something even better than earning points on every dollar you spend at the mall: Scoring $5,000 worth of designer goods for free.That’s right: In addition to your chance to win the Trip of a Lifetime planned by The Points Guy using up to 1 million Chase Ultimate Rewards points, we’re also giving away a $5,000 shopping spree at fashion designer John Varvatos — just one of the incredible flash sweepstakes we’re offering this season as we drum up support for LGBTQIA+ refugees around the world....

Sunday, Dec. 13, marked a new chapter for Israel and its flag carrier, El Al, when its first Dubai-bound commercial flight took to the skies at 5:49 a.m. local time.Back in August, Israel and the UAE sent shockwaves throughout the region, when they announced they’d be normalizing ties as part of a U.S.-brokered pact. One of the key tenents of the deal was establishing commercial flights between the two previously unconnected countries....

It’s October — Happy . . . Airport Restaurant Month?Yes, you read that correctly. And if trends in airport edibles are to be believed, that’s actually something to celebrate. Airport Restaurant Month is an in-transit take on the popular Restaurant Week events that take place annually in cities across the US.This particular “foodie event” that celebrates airport dining comes courtesy of HMSHost, a $3 billion global operation that manages dining and food offerings at more than 120 airports and on highways around the world....

Earlier this month, we learned that British Airways was planning to change the redemption rates on partner award flights from May 30. However, British Airways evasively would only say that award rates were changing, but didn’t say by how much.TPG managed to piece together the new chart simply by calling the British Airways Executive Club and asking what the various routes will cost when the new rates kick in one at a time....