Posts

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.“Reader Questions” are answered three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — by TPG Senior Writer Julian Mark Kheel.It’s not a stretch to say that the free checked bag is one of the most valuable benefits available on a co-branded airline credit card. So TPG reader Paul wants to know if there’s a certain way you have to buy your ticket to get the perk…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Paul”]In order to take advantage of a free checked bag, do I need to purchase the ticket on the airline’s website?...

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TO THE POINT: Hotel Nacional makes for a memorable stay whether it’s your first or fifth trip to Havana. The pros: great location overlooking the malecon seawalk, cinematic history and beautiful grounds. The cons: dated rooms, strange blue carpeting and expensive Wi-Fi.Note: Each Cuban Convertible Peso, or CUC, referred to in the review below, is equivalent to 1 US dollar....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Up until this year, Costco only accepted credit card payments from one card issuer: Amex. That exclusive deal ended this March, the same month that the big box giant announced that it would be moving its lucrative co-brand card to Citi. That left American Express looking for a new partner.Well, it seems that Amex has found a new home with Sam’s Club....

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.If you’ve been hankering for some new stamps in your passport, this may be your lucky year. Airfare price prediction website Hopper forecasts that flights to a number of international destinations may soon get cheaper, with fares dropping as much as 46% from their current prices....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Danny writes:“I can’t get a straight answer from Starwood to save my life. Like a lot of other folks in the points and miles game I have a Platinum AmEx, a personal Starwood AmEx and a business Starwood AmEx. The Platinum card grants Gold status from SPG (as I learned originally from your blog - thanks for that!...

While traveling, there are few things worse than a flight delay, but fortunately, a delicious cocktail can help ease the pain of a long layover. For travelers who are fans of a good tipple, TPG Contributor Spencer Spellman of travel/cocktail site Whiskey Tango Globetrot shares some of the world’s best airport cocktails—and where to find them.Célibataire cocktail at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel. Photo by Spencer SpellmanCélibataire—Jetside Bar, Vancouver Airport (YVR)More hotel bar than airport bar, Jetside is located in the upscale Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, set inside YVR’s international terminal just steps from the check-in counters....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.A few weeks ago I posted about the unexpected Financial Review that American Express required my mom (aka Grandma Points) to go through if she wanted to keep her Amex account open. It was unexpected to us as she is not a real card churner, has only one Amex card, does not use it heavily, doesn’t make any unusual purchases, etc....

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.The Queensland, Australia-based Qantas Founders Museum is allowing visitors to climb aboard a restored 1953 Lockheed Super Constellation “Connie” aircraft. This iconic plane was the airline’s first that was pressurized.(Photo courtesy of the Qantas Founders Museum)The Connie flew on Qantas’ popular kangaroo route from Sydney to London, a 12,000-mile flight that took 96 hours to complete....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.One of the things I love most about being The Points Guy is getting to hear stories from readers about how award travel has affected their lives — the exotic vacations they’ve planned, the trips they’ve made to be with family and friends, the premium seats and suites they’ve experienced and so much more, all made possible by points and miles....

A week after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed just six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges noted “clear similarities” on Sunday between the flight and Lion Air Flight 610, which crashed just 12 minutes after takeoff in October 2018. Both flights were operated with the now-grounded Boeing 737 MAX.In the full statement, Moges went on to say that the “similarities” between the two crashes “will be the subject of further study during the investigation....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.When’s the last time you got excited about eating a fresh, delicious and reasonably priced meal at the airport?Sure, there are some obvious exceptions, like a trip to Lufthansa’s Wining and Dining facility or Etihad’s uber-exclusive Residence lounge at JFK, but for the most part, passengers only end up eating in the terminal if they don’t have any other choice — be it a long layover, a flight delay or a lack of options at an airport hotel (like that one time I got a gate pass to visit Tortas Frontera at Chicago O’Hare)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.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. However, if you’re using The Platinum Card® from American Express, you’ll need to book directly with the airline or through the Amex Travel portal to get 5x MR points....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.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. Remember: Fares may disappear quickly, so book right away and take advantage of Orbitz’s courtesy cancellation if you’re unable to travel....

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....

Having trouble getting in touch with an airline agent over the phone? In many cases, there’s a fantastic alternative; a number of major U.S. carriers have been great about providing customer service via social media, including handling reservations changes, processing refunds and more via Facebook and Twitter.That’s no longer the case with Delta Air Lines, though, despite it coming at a time during which it would be more helpful than ever....

Early Monday morning in Indonesia, Lion Air Flight 610 lost contact with air traffic controllers and crashed into the Java Sea, presumably killing all 189 people on board.Although pieces of the plane, passengers’ personal belongings and at least six bodies have been recovered from the sea, much remains unclear about the circumstances of the commercial flight’s crash. Namely: What caused the wreck and could it have been prevented?What Investigators Know So FarThe aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 that was delivered to Lion Air in August, departed just after dawn on Monday from Jakarta airport’s runway 25L for Pangkal Pinang, an Island about 285 miles to the north to Jakarta, according to the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre....

Check-in was bright and early for the most festive United Airlines flight of the year. But you couldn’t buy a ticket or cash in miles to grab a seat, no matter what level of status you had with the airline.On Saturday, over 100 children and their families who are part of the Children’s Hospice International network showed up at Washington-Dulles Airport (IAD) for one of the program’s annual Fantasy Flights. But you won’t find this flight on the departure boards: These special girls and boys were about to embark on the trip of a lifetime on flight Snowflake 1 to visit the North Pole (official airport code: NTP)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.My traveling partner and I recently spent two weeks in Asia, starting the trip with a comfortable first-class Cathay Pacific flight from New York City (JFK) to Hong Kong (HKG), with a stop at The Arrival Lounge and a stay at the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel. The next stage of our trip was four days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where our nights would be spent at the Park Hyatt....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Earlier this month, I had the privilege of joining United’s final 747 flight, which took me and TPG Assistant Editor Nick Ellis from San Francisco (SFO) to Honolulu (HNL) on November 7. Then, a few days later, I needed to be in Dubai (DXB) for the launch of Emirates’ fantastic first-class suite, followed by the Dubai Air Show....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.My wife and I recently took an early summer vacation to Maui. After spending the first half of our trip at The Grand Wailea, we headed to West Maui for two nights at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas. Not to be confused with the nearby Westin Maui Resort and Spa or the new Westin Nanea Ocean Villas next door, this Starwood property offers comfortable vacation residences on a beautiful strip of beach at reasonable award prices....