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In yet another (albeit relatively mild) case of travelers behaving badly on planes, a passenger on a flight in Japan demanded a window seat — and received a stunning response from a flight attendant.According to a local Tokyo-based news site, Sora News 24, the unidentified man, who was seated in a window seat without a window, blurted out, “Give me a window seat!” at the flight attendant who came around with the beverage cart....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.For this week’s Thursday Giveaway, in celebration of merger of the US Airways and American Airlines frequent flier programs this weekend,we are giving away a $500 American Airlines Gift Card that can be used anywhere American flies.If addition, if you’re looking for ways to increase your AAdvantage mileage balances, you can earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months with both the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard and the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard....

We recently asked our TPG Lounge readers to share their best tips and go-to ways for traveling to Africa with points and miles. Here’s a look at some of our favorite answers. (Some responses have been lightly edited for style and clarity).Taking Advantage of Airline AlliancesMany of our TPG Lounge members are savvy enough to know how to make the various airline alliances — whether it’s Oneworld, SkyTeam or Star Alliance — and corresponding frequent flyer programs work best for them....

Ever wonder what it would be like to explore a beautiful ice castle like the one in “Frozen?” This winter season, you can visit one of six ice castle locations throughout North America and summon your inner Elsa (or Olaf).(Photo courtesy of Ice Castles)Since 2011, the company Ice Castles has been creating interactive experiences made out of thousands of icicles hand-placed by professional ice artists. The company was cofounded by Brent Christensen, who created the first ice castle in his own front yard for his kids in Utah, and Ryan Davis, who acts as CEO....

If your summer travel plans include Europe, you might want to take precautions against the heat.In France, temperatures reached 114 degrees Fahrenheit, causing schools to close and vacations to be delayed. People jumped into the fountains near the Eiffel Tower to get some relief from the heat. In Spain, the heat caused a major wildfire reported to be one of the worst in Catalonia.The unusually high temperatures can be life-threatening for vulnerable people, especially the elderly, small children and those with pre-existing health conditions....

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.Since Congress passed the short-term funding measure Friday, the government has been temporarily reopened for the next three weeks. While it’s unclear if the government will again be partially shutdown after the measure expires on Feb. 15, the reopening was a relief to many of the federal employees that had been working without pay for 35 days straight....

You really, really don’t want to come in last in this upcoming race.That’s because, while the winners get flown home in style on a Gulfstream G550, the losers have to stay behind.In Antarctica.“On the one hand, you get to ride in a $50 million jet brimming with everything you need,” said Patrick Woodhead, CEO of White Desert Antarctica. “On the other, you have to stay at the camp in Antarctica overnight at minus 10 to 12 degrees centigrade....

Traveling solo is a freeing sort of feeling, as it leaves you open to be completely flexible and go where the day — and destination — take you, with the added perk of not having to consult on every little decision with a traveling companion. While one-person vacations are on the rise these days, there are certainly a few drawbacks — safety being one of them, particularly for solo female travelers....

The four friends met up for a lighthearted chat over drinks and laughs during a challenging few weeks worldwide. But they didn’t meet up in person – they weren’t even on the same continent.Get Coronavirus travel updates. Stay on top of industry impacts, flight cancellations, and more.The cancellation of a well-planned trip might prompt a rain check on scheduling future plans for some. But for these friends, it meant rethinking what real-world connection looks like: chatting over wine in two countries and taking silly photos....

The cost of doing business is going up in a COVID-19 world thanks to everything from additional PPE required to a meat shortage raising food prices.The most notable example so far is a Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Lounge in southern Missouri that added a COVID-19 surcharge to a receipt, which was promptly shared on Twitter:Dentist offices are adding $10 surcharges to visits and hair salons have started adding a $3 sanitation charge....

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....

If you’re a regular TPG reader, you’d pretty much have to be flying without Wi-Fi this month to have missed our posts about Pride month, and all the incredible giveaways we’ve arranged to celebrate the occasion — like your chance to win the Trip of a Lifetime planned by The Points Guy using up to 1 million Chase Ultimate Rewards points.CLICK HERE TO ENTER TO WIN: $10 minimum donationThat grand prize includes a trip to New York City to plan the ultimate trip of your dreams, with the help of The Points Guy himself, Brian Kelly....

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been updated with additional information from Wheels Up.Over the past few years, we’ve seen many companies pop up with the goal of making private jets more accessible and affordable to the public. Some have fared better than others, but Wheels Up has undeniably become a major player in the space since its launch in 2013.Delta announced recently that it would be selling its division that owns and operates a fleet of private jets to Wheels Up....

The day many of us having been waiting for is finally here: a Google Flights filter for basic economy fares!Google Flights is a TPG favorite for ease in searching for flight prices, schedules, aircraft types and more. But, one annoyance that we’ve had in the wake of basic economy expanding to most domestic airlines was that Google Flights didn’t have an option to filter out these fares. Even when Google Flights updated its interface this January, that option still wasn’t added....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available – View the current offers here.I had the opportunity to go on the trip of a lifetime to the Maldives last December after finding a brilliant combination of availability and discounted awards at the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort. I had already been to the Maldives back in 2013 — I stayed at the Conrad Maldives on Rangali Island on that trip — but figured it was a good time to go back and visit the beautiful and remote island nation....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.I decided to split my time on a recent trip to Amsterdam between two very different hotels: the ultra-contemporary W and the Waldorf Astoria, a paragon of old-world elegance. Whereas the W makes its home in two early-20th-century office buildings — one, a bank and the other, a telephone exchange — the Waldorf Astoria, which opened in 2014, was converted from six grand 17th- and 18th-century canal houses and has the charming quirks to prove it....

You may not have seen a HondaJet Elite at an airport yet, but if you do, there’s no mistaking it. The tiny airplane, seating up to seven, is the smallest business jet available, together with the Embraer Phenom. And it also may be the cheapest, with fractional-ownership operator Jet It offering it at $1,600 per hour for their owners — a sizable chunk of money, yes, but a bargain in private-jet terms....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Update: The content displayed in this video is now expired.As a business owner, points can help you improve your bottom line. Business spending adds up quickly and there are a lot of different ways to use points to drive your business.Amex OPEN recently reached out, asking us to help one of their best customers. I said I would do it, but only if they gave him a million points — which they agreed to do....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The $550 annual fee (See Rates & Fees) on The Platinum Card® from American Express is one of the highest among premium travel credit cards. The card offers many benefits that, when maximized, can easily provide more than $550 in value — but the key is that you have to actually use these benefits to get the value....

Royal Caribbean just launched its 25th cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, the largest in the world at 1,188 feet long and 226,963 gross tons. As Business Insider points out, the gigantic cruise ship is about as long as five 747s stacked end to end and is stealing the title from its sister ship, Allure of the Seas.Harmony of the Seas will start out with several short trips in Northern Europe before sailing for its base in Barcelona and kicking off the summer season with 34 seven-night western Mediterranean cruises starting June 7....