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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 fire broke out at one of the Maldive’s top rated hotels this past Wednesday. The Telegraph is reporting that a fire destroyed seven luxury villas at Gili Lankanfushi Resort. Gili Lankanfushi is a popular resort located on the North Male Atoll....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Yesterday Qantas shared the start date of its new nonstop service between San Francisco (SFO) and Melbourne (MEL). The Australian flag carrier will be flying its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route and we’re currently seeing great business class saver award availability — a rare find on flights between the US and Australia.The new route will launch on September 1, and since Qantas is a member of the Oneworld alliance, you can use miles from any Oneworld airline to book this flight....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.While many hotels affiliated with major loyalty programs can seem cookie-cutter, not all properties were cast from the same mold. TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Jason Steele takes a look at some historic properties within the Hilton brand, all of which can be booked using points.Some frequent travelers get tired of staying in the same monolithic concrete tower everywhere they go, but at the same time, most would rather stay at a property where they can earn points and spend their rewards....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.I hadn’t planned to visit Cannes when I’d booked my flight to Nice (NCE) for a winter visit, choosing instead to stay with friends in nearby Villefranche-sur-Mer. But while I was doing research for another piece, I found myself on the IHG.com site and curious about which properties had moved to their newest highest-tier redemption category, Category 11....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Today I want to share a story from TPG reader John, who found a great deal on an award flight to Europe. Here’s what he had to say:I live in Atlanta, so Delta is usually my best option for travel to anywhere on the planet. I have accumulated a balance of over 300,000 SkyMiles through credit card spending, a 60,000-mile welcome bonus on the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, and from being a decades-long member and traveling loyally on Delta since the 1970s....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.This weekend I’ll be hanging out in Vancouver for the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) conference. This is my first time to YVR and I have high hopes for a really great weekend. I’ve never met someone who didn’t like Vancouver and I have all Friday to explore the city.That is, if I’m not a walking zombie. I’m currently writing this post from the JFK Terminal 7 British Airways Terraces lounge at 1:41am....

The City of New Orleans and its aviation board announced Thursday that the opening of a new terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) would be delayed until at least fall 2019.In a news release Thursday, officials blamed the delay on the “complex coordination of construction activities during the final phase of this major project,” but did not go into specific detail. The new terminal was previously slated to open to the public on May 15....

6:30 p.m. update: PeaceJam blew past its donation goal of 600,000 miles in minutes, thanks to dozens of generous donors. However, you can still contribute financially to the organization here. Every dollar helps.We’ll cut right to the chase: It’s Giving Tuesday, and your United MileagePlus miles can help empower thousands of teenagers around the world. This month, The Points Guy is partnering with United Airlines on Miles on a Mission, where United Airlines will match donated miles on a 1:1 basis....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available – View the current offers hereLast week, Chase Sapphire announced it was partnering with OpenTable to offer 3X points per $1 on dining on the first Friday of each month now through the end of 2013 when you pay for a meal with your Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire cards, which normally earn 2X per $1 at restaurants. Since today is the first Friday of May, I wanted to post a little reminder to get out there and start racking up those bonus points....

Today, The Points Guy, the leading online resource for all things points, miles and resourceful travel experiences, announced Edward “Ned” Russell and Zach Wichter are joining the site’s fast-growing aviation team.Ned is joining us from industry publication FlightGlobal and Zach from The New York Times. Most of our readers’ trips begin at the airport, and Ned and Zach bring a wealth of expertise to the TPG team that will better help our audience stay on top of the quickly changing world of aviation....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.As a companion piece to Ryan Gargiulo’s post on reasonably priced long-and-short term accommodation and her own on booking rental homes, TPG International Contributor Lori Zaino offers tips to help you determine if apartment and house rentals are right for you when you travel.In lieu of a typical hotel, why not try something more original, like a treehouse in Watamu, Kenya available on FlipKey....

As travelers begin to consider flying again, airlines are eager to offer reassurance. Almost all U.S. carriers now require passengers to cover their faces onboard, and Alaska, Delta and Southwest each are capping ticket sales, effectively blocking middle seats, as detailed in my guide outlining distancing-related airline policies.A number of readers have reached out to note that United, too, is blocking middle seats, referencing an April 29 email from Chief Customer Officer Toby Enqvist, titled “We’re making changes with you in mind”:UPDATE: United to notify passengers of crowded flights, offer free changesIn the email, Enqvist clearly explains that “We’re automatically blocking middle seats to give you enough space on board,” in a section titled, “Good news for when you choose to fly....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.These days, if one major US airline implements a policy change, the others usually aren’t far behind. The introduction of basic economy was perhaps the most egregious, but United Club members likely won’t be fond of this adjustment, either.Following similar moves first by Delta, announced in 2017, and then American, detailed last month, United will allow United Club members, including those with the United Club Card, to access the airline’s lounges only when traveling on a same-day United, Star Alliance or partner flight....

January was an exciting month for the fleet of Dreamliners at United Airlines.At the beginning of the month, we saw the first “baby” Dreamliner, the 787-8, get retrofitted with the new Polaris and Premium Plus cabins. I had the opportunity to fly this plane earlier this week, and it’s a big improvement compared to the old version.https://www.instagram.com/p/B78n5AwlEjv/And on Friday, United took delivery of its first 787-9 featuring the new cabins. This plane, registered N29975, was ferried from Charleston, South Carolina, to the airline’s hub in Chicago as United Flight 2710....

If you think the flashy Gulfstream private jet in the image below says NIKE on its side, you’re not wrong. Or, well, you’re almost right. What you are seeing is the registration of the aircraft owned by Phil Knight, founder of Nike: It actually is N1KE. With the number one written like a capital I, it seems like it says NIKE.Air traffic control, and its pilots, will read it on the radio as “November One Kilo Echo” in phonetic alphabet — but to anybody who looks at it, it’s a nice marketing tool, as well as the ultimate vanity plate....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Offer Expired February 24, 2014If you’ve been considering getting a business credit card from American Express and are eligible to get one, now might be a good time to do so thanks to two decent welcome bonuses that are out there.The first is for the Business Gold Rewards card, which is currently offering a limited-time bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $5,000 in 3 months....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Keith tweeted me to ask:@thepointsguy—“If you were to start from scratch, what credit cards would you carry and why?“I currently have 24 credit cards, and narrowing them down is difficult, but there are really six cards I just can’t live without and would recommend starting with.If I had to start from scratch, these would be my top six cards....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Having the right credit cards goes a long way in maximizing award travel, as many cards earn you valuable bonus points on select purchases in addition to sign-up bonuses. Below, TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Jason Steele explains why three travel-rewards cards from Chase are especially solid options for earning and redeeming free travel.As award travel programs continue to change, the one constant remains the value of points that you can transfer to multiple travel partners....

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.Have a woman in your life that “wows” you? Well, now is a good time to show your appreciation — Wow Air is offering free flight vouchers to inspirational women for a new sweepstakes promotion. [Update, 3/28/2019: WOW Air has ceased operations....

A massive conservation project at the tomb of King Tutankhamun has finally concluded after nine years.Since the discovery of the 19-year-old pharaoh’s tomb in 1922, it has remained one of Egypt’s most legendary and popular attractions, luring travelers to the Valley of Kings to see the remarkably intact chamber, complete with illustrious wall paintings and a quartzite sarcophagus and wood coffin containing the original mummy of King Tut.But over time, researchers became concerned about the obvious damage from tourists, which came in the form of dust, abrasions and microbes....