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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Some airlines just have more family-friendly policies and attitudes in their DNA than others, and JetBlue is one of those airlines that meets the needs (and wants) of traveling families more than most. Living north of Houston, I don’t get to fly them anywhere nearly as much as I would like, but when I lived in New York City, they were my go-to airline a number of times....

The coronavirus pandemic is doing strange things to commercial aviation. One of the most evident effects of the crisis is that airlines fly only a fraction of the flights they ran before the pandemic erupted — and that’s clear at a glance when looking at flight-tracker sites. On Wednesday morning, Flightradar24 showed that there were only six Airbus A380s airborne in the entire world. The biggest passenger jet ever made has almost disappeared from the skies....

Thursday morning, United CEO Oscar Munoz traveled to Los Angeles to show off the airline’s latest Polaris Lounge, which opens its doors to flyers this Saturday.But while Munoz was happy to chat about the amenities and this week’s 787-10 Dreamliner launch, there was clearly something else on his mind: the federal government shutdown.Given Munoz’s concern, I asked him to explain how the shutdown is impacting the travel industry. We stopped to chat as we toured the airline’s latest wide-body plane — which, fortunately for United, narrowly escaped landing a spot in FAA limbo:Soon entering its 20th day, the shutdown has begun to impact countless agencies, including many that are absolutely crucial to our nation’s ability to safely carry out commercial airline operations....

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.Many airlines around the world offer customers an opportunity to pre-select special meals on certain flights, including vegetarian, gluten-free and Kosher options. It’s often a crapshoot as to what you’ll actually get, though. Frequent flyers may know what to expect on certain routes, but airlines rarely offer anything more than a vague description, often leading to disappointment, especially on a long-haul journey where there isn’t anything else to eat....

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 all the positive ways award travel has affected their lives. That being said, while I love hearing about your successes, I think there’s also a lot we can learn by sharing our mistakes, and I’m calling on readers to send in your most egregious and woeful travel failures....

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.On Monday, WhatsApp — a messaging app owned by Facebook and used by many travelers to communicate internationally — announced a cybersecurity breach that left many of its smartphone users vulnerable to malicious spyware.CNN reported that the encrypted messaging app has since fixed the vulnerability, preventing any hackers from further exploiting the system....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Mark sent me a message on Facebook to ask about reciprocal elite benefits:“Does Marriott Platinum status get you any status with United Airlines? If so, where do I sign up?”One perk of elite status is that you can leverage it to earn even more elite status elsewhere. Status matches and challenges are a common example, but you can also score reciprocal status or benefits thanks to partnerships between loyalty programs....

TPG Managing Editor Eric Rosen has a background as a food and wine writer and has covered wine regions all over the globe including Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria and many of those in his native California, so we decided to launch a new #WineWednesday series where every week we give you a brief snapshot of wine regions all over the globe and insight on how to get there, where to stay and a couple places you might want to visit while there....

Last month, TPG reported on mounting civil unrest in Hong Kong as the autonomous city’s legislature mulled a bill that would allow for accused criminals to be extradited to the Chinese mainland for trial.The New York Times said that on Monday night, hundreds of protestors in Hong Kong gained access to the legislative offices as riot police backed away from a potential conflict. Although the officers had threatened to use force against the demonstrators, when it became apparent that the crowd was poised to enter the legislative complex, the police largely disbanded....

The Points & Miles Backpacker is a weekly column appearing every Monday. TPG Contributor Brian Biros, who has backpacked the globe for the past 15 years, discusses how to fund this adventurous, budgeted and increasingly popular form of travel with points and miles. He’ll also explore all things backpacking-related. Read his story here and his high-level approach here.On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest....

There are engineering marvels, and then there’s Delta TechOps — the SEAL Team Six of aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul. While you may brush off a repair facility as just another garage, the utterly gargantuan Atlanta base I toured as part of a behind-the-curtain look at Delta Air Lines’ operations demands the attention of any self-respecting AvGeek. Or, to be honest, anyone who has even a remote appreciation of modern air travel....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.It’s important to remember that winter weather is as hard on airline staff as it is on airline customers. Achieving a good outcome during a storm means threading the gap between overtaxed automated systems and overstressed personnel in a way that maximizes the limited capacity of both.Keep in mind that airlines handle weather delays and cancellations differently, albeit in subtle ways....

View this post on Instagram Delta’s new A350 “flagship”, due to enter passenger service on 30 October ✈️ A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Oct 18, 2017 at 3:49am PDT View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram Delta’s new A350 “flagship”, due to enter passenger service on 30 October ✈️ A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Oct 18, 2017 at 3:49am PDT

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.Amtrak is currently having a four-day flash sale for routes up and down the Northeast Corridor. Now through August 17, book a coach class ticket on one of the Northeast Regional routes starting at just $19 one-way for travel between September 5 through November 15, 2018....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.After teasing flyers last week with the impending announcement of a new route to the US (the possibilities were Boston, Miami, Newark or Seattle) of the big pieces of airline industry news this week is that Cathay Pacific announced a new route from its hub in Hong Kong (HKG) to Newark (EWR) that will start March 1, 2014 and will be the fifth daily flight from Hong Kong to New York....

United Airlines is canceling more flights to China as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread.The airline will suspend operations from U.S. airports to Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai in mainland China and to Hong Kong until April 24. Previously, United’s flights to Hong Kong were canceled between Feb. 8 and Feb. 20, and its flights to mainland China through March 28.In a Wednesday statement, United said it will continue monitoring the outbreak and working with the CDC and other public health experts....

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.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....

Hertz is handing out vouchers for a month of free inflight Wi-Fi with iPass on qualifying car rentals. TPG confirmed directly with Hertz that the offer isn’t targeted and is available to all customers.While the public offer page requires a rental of at least five consecutive days, TPG’s Executive News Editor Scott Mayerowitz, a Hertz President’s Circle member, received an email offer which only requires a rental of three consecutive days — so keep an eye on your inbox....