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Inaugural flights come in a few flavors — most celebrated is the first flight on a brand-new route, such as Qantas’ first 787-9 journey between Perth (PER) and London (LHR). But a brand-new aircraft operating on an existing route is cause for celebration, too, as United planned for its 787-10 Dreamliner inaugural on January 7.That date marks the start of regular 787-10 service between Los Angeles (LAX) and Newark (EWR) — regular service being key, since the airline ended up operating its first extended-length Dreamliner between LAX and EWR prematurely last week, due to an equipment swap with a smaller 787-8....

United Airlines pilots and cabin crew members are going to have to lay off the sauce an extra four hours before their duty clock starts, based on new rules distributed to employees this week.According to an internal email reviewed by TPG, starting Aug. 17, flight attendants will be barred from consuming any alcohol less than 12 hours before their shift starts. Previously, they could partake up to eight hours before flying....

Following Ethiopian Airlines’ request for foreign aid in investigating the data from the two black-boxes retrieved from Flight 302, France’s BEA air safety agency has confirmed that it has received the recorders from the plane.Black boxes are considered integral evidence for aircraft crash investigations. Virtually indestructible, these data recorders contain both information on flight control and engine performance (the Flight Data Recorder) as well as conversations between pilots and between the flight deck and air traffic control (the Cockpit Voice Recorder)....

If the Maldives are on your bucket list, there’s a new airline to help you island hop.Manta Air opened for business this week after securing its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) from the Maldivian Civil Aviation Authority (MCAA) and the hope is that a little competition will bring down the prices for that “last hop” to paradise.For now, the airline has two ATR72-600 aircraft leased from Nordic Aviation Capital, flying between Malé (MLE) and Kudahuvadhoo (DDD) four times a day....

Where would we be without apps on our phones and tablets? How would we stay in touch with people? When would we know what time it is to get up? How would we take photos? Admittedly these are somewhat tongue in cheek, but we can’t deny that having so much information available to us at the press of a thumbprint can make our lives easier in so many ways.This is particularly true in the world of aviation....

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.In what seems to be a pattern, American Airlines’ Elise Eberwein, Executive Vice President for People and Communications, took to Twitter to “review” her flight on a competitor’s airline. Earlier this year Eberwein provided her insights on a United flight....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Citi is a TPG advertising partnerThough Citi’s AAdvantage cards have been hovering around the 30,000-mile sign-up bonus mark for a couple months, according to this Flyertalk thread, the opportunity to score a combined 100,000 miles from applying for 2 cards is back (similar to this deal I posted about last year).Just note, the application pages do not mention the 50,000-mile bonus, but you will be awarded the miles when you are approved and meet minimum spending requirements – you can call Citi to verify once you have applied and are approved....

American Airlines has confirmed on Sunday that the airline will extend 737 MAX flight cancellations through June 5. The airline had originally cancelled Boeing 737 MAX flights through April 24 with the hopes that Boeing and regulatory agencies like the FAA would resolve the issues plaguing Boeing’s newest narrow-body. However, it appears that a quick fix might not be as imminent as previously thought.In a press release, American Airlines noted that the decision to prolong 737 MAX cancellations for the next two months was made “in an effort to provide more certainty and avoid last minute flight disruptions....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Now through November 30, 2013, American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 20% bonus when transferring points to the Choice Privileges program if you’ve got a card that accrues them, such as the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, Platinum or The Business Platinum Card from American Express OPENNormally points transfer at a ratio of 1 Amex point to 1 Choice point, which isn’t terribly exciting, but at least with this promo, you can transfer 1,000 Amex points to get 1,200 Choice Privileges points instead....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.American Express operates a fantastic network of airport lounges around the US — and if you have an American Express Centurion Card, American Express Platinum Card or the Amex Business Platinum Card, you can get in for free. While they’re all a big step up from what US-based airlines typically offer, there’s no question that some of these lounges are better than others, thanks in no small part to a larger footprint, giving guests more room to stretch out....

Marriott’s lawyers are probably having a busy day. Karl Racine, the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, announced Tuesday over Twitter that he is suing the world’s largest hotel chain for “charging consumers deceptive resort fees when booking hotel rooms.““To lure consumers, Marriott advertised daily room rates lower than the true total price for a room,” Racine stated in a Twitter thread. “Then, during booking, mandatory fees were added on top of advertised rates, which allowed Marriott to increase profits without appearing to raise prices....

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....

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, 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....

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, 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....

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.An Emirates flight attendant is accused of stealing 18,500 Dirhams (~$5,000) from a group of passengers who were in the business-class cabin.The flight was traveling from Thailand to Dubai in June, and the three victims were brothers sitting in business class....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.For my return flight following the Paris Air Show, I had planned to fly Air Canada’s new 777-300ER “Executive Pod” business class from Paris (CDG) to Toronto (YYZ) and on to New York (LGA). But, well, that’s not how things panned out. The reason? Qatar Airways was set to launch its brand-new Qsuite business class just a few days after my original departure from Paris, so I adjusted my plans to accommodate that new flight....