Posts

Southwest Airlines flight 822 from Punta Cana arrived at Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) with a reported sick passenger on board. Paramedics were on scene when the plane reached the gate. As the unwell passenger was escorted from the aircraft by medical personnel, the jet bridge connected to the aircraft experienced what BWI is calling a “partial equipment failure”. Other passengers on board describe hearing a loud bang as the jet bridge seems to have partially collapsed....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Sometimes the last thing you want to do, whether you’re on your way to a new favorite vacation spot or flying halfway around the world for an important business meeting, is spend the next few hours of your life trying to find comfort in a coach seat. Turning right is tough, especially when airlines keep cramming more and more seats into those already jam-packed economy rows....

Aside from wearing masks, one of the biggest pandemic-era changes to the travel experience has been the push to minimize touchpoints.The latest initiative, dubbed “Agent on Demand,” comes from United. This innovation is designed to help passengers get answers to day-of-departure questions without physically queuing for a gate agent.For now, the new service is available in Chicago (ORD) and Houston (IAH), and it will roll out to United’s other mainland hubs — Denver (DEN), Los Angeles (LAX), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO) and Washington D....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The first offer provides a $10 credit after you use Chase Pay three times in January at restaurants that show this offer in the Chase Pay app. Each order must be at least $5, but you can order ahead or use a QR code at restaurants shown on the Nearby app tab. This offer is available once per customer until Jan....

Virgin Atlantic pilots who are members of the Professional Pilots Union haven announced a strike for the peak Christmas travel season.The union announced Friday that its pilots would stage walkouts from Dec. 22 to 25, Dec. 30 to Jan. 2 and Jan. 4 to Jan. 7. Pilots who are members of the union proposed the demonstrations after the union was excluded from talks the airline held regarding changes to pilots’ benefits....

Back in May, we first found out about Alaska Airlines’ new partnership with Japan Airlines. At the time of the announcement, a company spokesperson highlighted that the partnership would give “Mileage Plan members more ways to earn and redeem miles for travel from the West Coast to Japan and beyond.” The MileagePlan earning chart was posted soon after, but no timeline was provided for when redemptions would begin.Well, the time has finally come....

Yesterday Singapore Airlines announced a devaluation of its award chart that would go into effect on Jan. 24. While rates for redeeming miles for economy flights would mostly stay the same, the number of miles it takes to fly in Singapore’s premium cabins went up on most routes by about 10% to 15%.Late last night, Singapore sent out another email detailing more changes to its KrisFlyer program, including modifications to milage upgrades and its award search feature tool....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Amex Offers are limited-time deals for American Express cardholders, like $200 cash back when spending $1,000 with Delta, $80 back when spending $500 or more at AmexTravel.com, or 10% off your cell phone bill. A valuable new Amex Offer just posted to certain Amex accounts: 20,000 Amex Membership Rewards when you spend $1,000 or more with Japan-based airline ANA....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Until not long ago, I’d never flown onboard an Airbus A380. As a frequent flyer and AvGeek, that’s a shameful omission. A recent trip to Singapore, however, provided the chance for me to correct that — and for under $800, it would be an easy fix, too. Even though the long trip from Seoul (ICN) to New York (JFK) was in coach class, I was eager to finally fly on the world’s largest commercial airliner....

It’s no secret that Boeing has been eyeing the commercial aviation division of Embraer. The Boeing company has been in talks with Embraer to take a huge ownership position in the company for well over a year now.Embraer’s main competitor — Canadian based Bombardier — is essentially out of the commercial aviation business after recently selling off it’s C-Series program to Airbus. Which is why it’s no surprise that Boeing is still looking to scoop up the only manufacturer with a real competitor to the new Airbus A220 line....

Technical issues plagued British Airways between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. Dozens of the airline’s flights coming to the U.K. were cancelled for delayed after the carrier reported experiencing a “technical issue”.Flights from the U.S., India and Japan were reportedly those most affected, though some flights from other locations were also delayed or cancelled.“Our teams are working hard to resolve a technical issue which is affecting some of our flights”, BA said on Twitter....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MastercardTPG reader Todd emailed me to ask:“Can I earn American Airline EQMs or points by booking tickets for others? I may have occasions where I purchase tickets for my wife and son, and want to maximize my EQMs/points if possible.“Todd, your wife and son will always earn the Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) for what their own flights....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here. Citi has announced most of its credit card benefits and protections will end on September 22, 2019, including some of the benefits or protections explored in this story. For more details, see this story.Citi is a TPG advertising partner.Citi Price Rewind is one of the easiest-to-use price protection programs offered by any of the major credit card issuers, so cardholders who utilize this valuable benefit were saddened when Citi announced a devaluation to the popular program back in April....

Le Club Accor members can earn 4x points on stays at one of Accor Hotels’ newest brands, 21c Museum Hotels.21c Museum Hotels were founded by two contemporary art collectors who decided to model the hotel with art in mind, offering guests a unique experience compared to other hotels. Each 21c Museum Hotel features galleries and installations featuring contemporary art. Each hotel also features restaurants run by a dedicated chef, serving up regionally inspired fare....

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.Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Starwood has offered SPG members some pretty valuable promotions in the past, offering SPG members double Starpoints on stays of two nights or more last year....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.This week, IHG Rewards sent out emails to targeted corporate travelers with a lucrative new promotion. Travelers can choose between a fast track to elite status or triple points — up to 35,000 bonus points — on stays now through August 15.TPG reader Steve shared the offer he received, which seems to be the same offer that’s been sent out to all targeted travelers:Earn triple points on all stays up to 35,000 points [between May 15 and August 15]Fast track to Gold Elite in 2 nights (usually 10), or Platinum Elite in 5 nights (usually 40)Both offers also include the opportunity to earn 2,000 bonus points on every Kimpton stay....

An un-grounding date for Boeing’s 737 MAX is not yet on the horizon.As Boeing works with airlines, regulators and other stakeholders to fix a flight control system suspected of contributing to two fatal crashes of the airliner, the Federal Aviation Administration found a previously-unknown flaw that it will require Boeing to fix.According to a source familiar with the situation, the software update proposed by Boeing was undergoing simulator testing last week....

For passengers with disabilities, air travel can come with challenges. Airlines offer accommodations and special assistance to travelers. For some passengers, however, these accommodations represent a bare minimum.Antonia Rodrigues da Silva, who is hearing impaired, recently took to social media to detail her experience of traveling while deaf. She detailed the experience in which the flight crew working her Lufthansa flight went above and beyond to ensure she had a pleasant flight....

Loyalty in the travel space can be a fickle thing. Toss in what is perhaps the single biggest IT integration in the history of the hospitality industry when Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs went through a difficult merger into a single program called Bonvoy, and you’ve got quite the recipe for boat rocking.While TPG’s own Nick Ewen has run the numbers and opted to stick with Marriott in 2019, others aren’t as steadfast....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The TPG team recently congregated in L.A. to celebrate the launch of our brand new TPG To Go app. We threw a lavish party at the W Hollywood and Lifestyle Editor Shayne Benowitz checked in for the occasion. Here’s her review of the property. The party obviously gets five stars!Situated on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame with its sparkling terrazzo stars gleaming from the sidewalk, W Hollywood is centrally located for a fun romp through the neighborhood....