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An Airbus A321 traveling from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (SSH) to St. Petersburg, Russia (LED) crashed about 20 minutes after departure, killing 217 passengers and 7 crew members. The plane, which was similar to the one pictured above and operated by Russian airline Metrojet, also known as Kogalymavia, departed just before 6:00am. It first entered service in 1997 and had flown with the airline for the past three years, beginning in May of 2012....

For travelers who love animals, “Thank God it’s Friday” has taken on a whole new meaning at LaGuardia Airport.Since Thanksgiving Week 2017, the New York airport has partnered with Bideawee, a local animal welfare organization, to bring therapy dogs to the airport every Friday afternoon.LGA’s Terminal B has been undergoing a $4 billion redesign since August 2017. It’s the first airport rebuild in the United States in more than 20 years — and while it will eventually help with the congestion at LGA, the ongoing construction has added chaos and stress for travelers....

The current state of the airport serving Missouri’s second largest metropolitan area is quite dismal, to say the least. Kansas City International Airport (MCI) serves just over 11 million passengers per year and serves a metropolitan area of around 2 million. By no means a large airport, Kansas City International Airport still sees a substantial number of connecting passengers thanks to Southwest Airlines. Even without connecting passengers, Kansas City International Airport is quite inadequate with the original three horseshoe terminals constructed in the late 1960s....

American Airlines moved quietly Tuesday to increase bag fees for Basic Economy passengers on transatlantic flights.Those travelers will now have to cough up $75 for their first checked bag. (The previous $60 fee will apply to existing reservations; the higher fee is only in effect for new bookings.)Sign up for the free daily TPG newsletter for more airline news.The fee change was first reported by AwardWallet.American said it was changing the price to help bring more uniformity to its European airline partnerships....

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 Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) broke ground Oct. 25 on an extension of Chicago O’Hare’s Runway 9R/27L, the airport’s busiest. The $334-million project will add 3,000 feet to the runway, which will allow O’Hare to handle additional larger, long-haul jets and help with on-time departures and arrivals....

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.After Delta announced a great award sale for flights to Asia yesterday, the airline is now discounting award tickets to select destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico.You can fly from many destinations across the US to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS), San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ) and Cancun, Mexico (CUN) from just 12,000 miles round-trip....

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....

Editor’s note: At TPG, our top priority is providing our readers with the information needed to make educated decisions about travel. This is not the best time to travel, domestically or internationally. But we are sharing this information to provide value for future travel once coronavirus concerns have subsided.Even as the world slowly begins to open up again, vacations won’t look the same for some time. The best getaways will allow travelers to continue practicing safe social distancing, and this June 2020 golf package from the Fairmont Chateau Whistler in British Columbia, as first reported by Frequent Flyer Bonuses, does just that....

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.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 – The Hyatt Credit CardUpdate: Click here to register for this promotion.Earlier this year, Hyatt offered a promotion that allowed Gold Passport members to earn up to 75,000 bonus points, but that ended on June 30. Good news — it’s back! The Hyatt Gold Passport “More Points, More Play” promotion begins tomorrow, September 1, and will run through November 30, 2016....

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.Emirates has been making changes to who can take advantage of its chauffeur service. The travel perk, normally available to anyone flying in First or Business class, has been restricted to only paying passengers. The airline announced that from March 1, 2019, the service would no longer be available for passengers who were flying on reward redemption tickets, or if you had used miles to upgrade to a higher class of service from a coach ticket....

By now, you’ve likely heard about HotelTonight, the last-minute booking app that helps you find hotels in different cities around the world. The app is useful for those travelers who like to wing it, or even for those who don’t but find themselves stranded and in need of a place to stay ASAP. Think of this as a great way to score cheap deals on hotel stays last minute — whether or not those are voluntary stays....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Last month I went to Las Vegas on a last minute whim while I was in Los Angeles and on my way back east. My stay ended up coinciding with Superstorm Sandy’s trouncing of the East Coast, so I ended up extending my stay a couple days while I reworked my schedule since my NY plans were upended....

Even if your team was sent home way too early in the tournament or your bracket is officially busted, chances are if you’re an NCAA basketball tournament fan, tuning in for the Championship Game is on your to-do list.The good news is that for those who find themselves 30,000 feet up in the air for tipoff, you’ll most likely be able to catch the end of the March Madness action from the comfort of your own seat on the plane (depending on what product you’re flying, of course)....

Younger travelers who’ve caught the points-and-miles bug got some good news this week out of the Princess Cruises headquarters in Santa Clarita, California: They finally can join the line’s Captain’s Circle loyalty program.Until now, the four-tiered program only was open to passengers ages 18 and older.The change means younger cruisers who travel a lot with the line will be entitled to such Captain’s Circle perks as complimentary laundry service and discounts in shipboard shops....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Earning via the traditional method (actually staying in hotels) is just one way to accumulate points toward your next free night. Fortunately, hotel chains make it relatively easy to accrue points without traveling, whether through credit card offers or by utilizing shopping portals and dining reward programs. You can also purchase points directly from the hotel.If you’re looking to book an upcoming stay with World of Hyatt points, Hyatt wants to sweeten the pot if you buy points in the next few weeks....

Alaska, North to the Future, The Land of The Midnight Sun, The Last Frontier, the location of one of our favorite family trips of all time. While we absolutely used hotel points to keep the cost of the trip to a minimum, we weren’t about to go to the Last Frontier and only stay in traditional chain hotels. There is a time for hotel points, and there is a time for a log cabin....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Update: As of April 2013, Chase Ultimate Rewards has added Virgin Atlantic as a new airline transfer partner.Today, Chase Ultimate Rewards announced today that it has added a new transfer partner, Ritz-Carlton Rewards. Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold cardholders will be able to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Ritz-Carlton at a 1:1 ratio and then redeem those points towards free nights....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.On last week’s Top 10 Tips for Saving on Car Rentals, one of the commenters suggested checking out a site called Zalyn that aggregates discount coupons for all the major (and some minor) car rental agencies sort of like Autoslash does, though Zalyn supports some agencies Autoslash does not, such as Hertz.The site actually does a few things including collecting car rental coupons, running a coupon analyzer, and comparing the best ones for individual customers based on where and when they are renting cards, as well as whatever other possible discounts they might be eligible for based on memberships in clubs like AAA and Costco....