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Reader Questions are answered twice a week by TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Ethan Steinberg.If you need a larger seat or bigger hotel room in order to travel comfortable, it’s always advisable to book what you want instead of hoping to score an upgrade. However, it’s always nice to get the opportunity to bump yourself to a better seat or hotel room. But how flexible are these offers? TPG reader Keagan wants to know if she can negotiate for a better upgrade price …[pullquote source=“TPG READER KEAGAN”]I’m flying from Boston to Orlando on Delta this month, and Delta is offering to let me up buy up to first class for $154....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.In addition to sign-up and spending bonuses, another great feature of American Express cards is Amex Offers, which is a great source of deals. This weekend, Citi launched its own take on this program: Citi Smart Savings. TPG Contributor JT Genter explores what’s been released so far.If you have an American Express card, hopefully you’re very familiar with Amex Offers....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.With autumn officially upon us (though you wouldn’t know it by the temperatures in New York), along comes the close of Delta’s first summer flying directly from the US mainland to what many are calling “the next Iceland” – the Azores archipelago of Portugal. Azores Airlines, however, wants to remind you that there’s never a bad time to visit....

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....

Can a 20-year-old cruise ship be made new again? Carnival Cruise Line is betting $200 million that the answer is yes.That’s how much the Miami-based cruise giant has spent over the past few months overhauling one of its oldest vessels in one of the biggest cruise ship makeovers in history.The revamp of what until now has been known as Carnival Triumph was so massive — significant areas of the ship were completely gutted and rebuilt — the line basically considers it a new vessel....

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?The bad news is that America’s favorite pilot (of the week), Peter Weber, was sent home from “The Bachelorette” on Monday night, breaking hearts all across the nation. Weber, also known as Pilot Pete, flies for Delta Air Lines and was a fan favorite on the reality television show this season. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Peter Weber (@pilot_pete) on Mar 9, 2018 at 5:12pm PST...

It’s not every day that an airline executive flies on a competing airline. Even rarer is when the public gets a glimpse of what an executive thinks of the competition. However, an American Airlines executive recently took to Twitter to share her experience flying United Airlines. While airline executives are seldom vocal on social media, this AA executive wasn’t shy in sharing her experience with her United Airlines flight.Elise Eberwein, VP of People and Communications at American Airlines, shared her experience on a United Airlines flight from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here: IHG Rewards Premier Credit CardBest Western is currently running a “Status Match … No Catch” program, offering elite status matches through January 31, 2018. And, as we found, there truly is no catch.The process is straightforward: All you need to do is fill in a simple form (caution: PDF link) and provide a copy of your current hotel statement (showing status) or your current hotel elite card....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.If you’ve been waiting to merge your United and Continental miles, your time has come. Starting today, you can link your Continental and United accounts and transfer miles (both redeemable and elite qualifying) between the airlines. Note: You’ll need to designate one account that will be the primary elite status earning account (you can’t keep switching back and forth)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.I’ve recently been dealing with a rough bout of a condition I bet many of you are familiar with: points procrastination, the bad habit of putting off a booking until the last minute in the hopes of creating the perfect award itinerary with the least amount of miles possible.My SituationI am supposed to fly to Europe next week with my best friend Lori, who currently lives there and has a couple weeks off work....

In aviation, there is no shortage of horror stories from disabled passengers trying to negotiate proper accessibility with airlines.The latest iteration of these encounters comes from a paraplegic athlete on board a flydubai flight from Dubai (DXB) to Helsinki (HEL) in October. Darren Belling, a 52-year-old Australian athlete, was on board the seven-hour flight to compete in the World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Finland.About three hours into the flight, Belling informed a flight attendant he needed to use the lavatory and asked for access to the onboard wheelchair....

Earlier this year, Qantas announced that it’d be pulling its 747 from service to North America. And while that’s true, with routes being replaced by the 787-9 Dreamliner and the A380, fans of the 747 can take one last flight on Qantas’ aircraft ‘Sydney’ (VH-OEF) as it heads into retirement.On February 9, the Queen of the Skies will make her final journey from Sydney (SYD) to Los Angeles (LAX) before its final farewell....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Welcome to “The Critical Points,” a new TPG column. Each month, TPG Senior Points and Miles Contributor Richard Kerr presents his opinion on a loyalty program, card product or recent news that he believes is overlooked, unsung or the result of groupthink taking mass opinion in a direction with which he doesn’t agree. His goal is not necessarily to convince you to agree with his position, but rather to induce critical thought for each of the topics and positions he covers....

I scream, you scream … for the Museum of Ice Cream to open a permanent location in New York City.The Instagram sensation opened their first interactive exhibit in the Big Apple in 2016, and pop-ups in Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco followed shortly thereafter. Tickets for the original New York City location sold out in three days, and it’s become such a sensation that the likes of Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian have all stopped by to get their sweet tooth on, according to Fast Company....

Millions of passengers take to the skies every single day around the globe. If you have ever wondered which of those routes are making the most cash for the airlines you’re in luck.OAG has released its newest numbers for the top 10 revenue routes for airlines for 2019. Topping the list once again this year is British Airways’ route between London Heathrow and New York JFK, which OAG estimates produces more than $1 billion in revenue....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.UPDATE — November 28, 10:30pm: Google appears to have pulled the promotion for travel gift cards, although it does appear that you can still earn the $200 Fi service credit.On Wednesday morning Google “Project Fi” rebranded itself as simply Google Fi. Along with this announcement came quite a few noteworthy changes for the travel-friendly virtual phone service. Google Fi is now accessible with many Samsung, LG, Moto and OnePlus devices, as well as with iPhones....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Coffee addicts, get ready to shoot right to top-tier Starbucks status. For one day only, Starbucks is targeting select Starbucks Rewards members to earn its highest tier of status after just one purchase.On Tuesday, September 18, select Starbucks Rewards members can earn Gold status with the program after completing just one purchase. Targeted members will see the offer when they open the Starbucks mobile app — there’s no direct link to register....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available.US Airways recently announced their new Grand Slam Promotion, which encourages members to earn points on all non-flight related activity, such as hotel stays and rental cars. This is a way for US Airways to generate revenue, because every time you choose to earn frequent flyer miles with a hotel, rental car or other partner, they have to pay US for the miles....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you may have missed from the week before, including several that already appeared on The Points Guy, and some more that we haven’t covered yet. If you’re an avid TPG reader, scroll down for the new stuff. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you may have missed this week:Visit the beautiful Milford Sound on your next trip to New Zealand....

Any traveler knows that flight delays are a way of life. And any seasoned traveler can probably predict when an uncontrollable circumstance, such as bad weather, might mean a late takeoff — then there are the unforeseen situations, like a broken coffee pot, that come seemingly out of nowhere. Here are 10 of the strangest reasons for flight delays we’ve heard of so far.1. Slow-Moving TurtlesIn July, more than 400 diamondback terrapin turtles managed to find their way to New York City’s JFK Airport, with several of them actually making their way onto the airport’s runways and taxiways, leading to several flight delays....