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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.It may be a sweltering 100 degrees in New York right now — give or take a few degrees — but, according to Starbucks, it’s apparently a beautiful day to get a nice, warm, pumpkin spice latte.That’s right, Starbucks’ famed PSL came back on Tuesday, which means the fall hysteria, (a $100 million boon for the coffee chain, Forbes estimated in 2015) has officially begun....

As the travel industry reopens following COVID-19 shutdowns, TPG suggests that you talk to your doctor, follow health officials’ guidance and research local travel restrictions before booking that next trip. We will be here to help you prepare, whether it is next month or next year.The airline industry has been hit hard by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and with many travelers still hesitant to get on a plane, carriers will likely need to offer more than updated cleanliness procedures....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.In late January, TPG Contributor Katie Genter completed an Austin (AUS) — Johannesburg (JNB) — Houston (IAH) mileage run. For the second long-haul leg, she flew on a British Airways 747-400 from London Heathrow (LHR) to JNB. Here’s her experience in World Traveller Economy on this British Airways flight. (All photos are by the author.)BookingThis review is the second in a series of long-haul reviews for my AUS—JNB—IAH mileage run....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.In February, I had the unique opportunity to dine at one of the world’s most renowned restaurants: The French Laundry. Now number 32 on the list of world’s top restaurants, for years it sat in the top 3, alongside El Bulli and The Fat Duck. It’s still extremely difficult to get a reservation - you have to call: 707-944-2380exactly two months ahead of your preferred dining date at 10am PST and hope you are one of the few who get through....

Southwest just launched a cool new bag-sizing feature within its app, and TPG decided to test it out. Unlike its KLM counterpart, the bag sizer is available for any interested traveler, even without a booked flight.The feature is accessible from the app’s main menu button at the top left of the app screen. “Bag Sizer” is located toward the bottom of the menu underneath all the urgent information for booked reservations....

Life has given us all a few (or perhaps a lot of) lemons over the last couple of weeks. The entire TPG staff has been hard at work not only reporting everything you need to know about COVID-19 but also thinking about how we can take those lemons and turn them into lemonade for you, our readers.This led us to develop our new #TPGLemonade sessions: a series of 15-minute overview trainings on one loyalty program at a time....

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.If you’re new to the points and miles hobby, opening five credit cards in 24 months might seem like more accounts than you’d ever know what to do with. Those slots fill up quickly, though, and sooner or later most of us are left looking for creative ways to earn new welcome bonuses. TPGreader Jillian wants to know if she can leverage her dual citizenship to apply for new credit cards…[pullquote source=“TPG READER JILLIAN”]If I’m a dual citizen of the U....

Sooty rain brought a bit of relief to Australia on Monday, Jan. 6, but the devastating fires ravaging the country are far from extinguished.Officials, according to the BBC, warm that high temperatures could return this week. And 130 individual fires continued to rage in the hard-hit Australian state of New South Wales.Christian Kramer, general manager for TPG U.K., is currently traveling in the region. “It’s a mood and situation like I’ve never seen before," he said....

With three major airports in their metropolitan area, New Yorkers are used to hearing jet engines, if they even pay attention to them at all above the other noises of a famously loud city. But this week, they’re hearing a different, louder jet noise. It’s a persistent rumble coming from up high, deeper-sounding than the everyday jet planes coming and going from LaGuardia, JFK and Newark.It’s the sound made by the US Air Force’s F-15 and F-16 jet fighters patrolling the skies over the metropolis while the United Nations General Assembly is in session....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Full review: Thai Airways 747 first classWe value United MileagePlus miles at 1.5 cents each and Chase Ultimate Rewards points (which transfer instantly to United at a 1:1 ratio) at 2.1 cents, but you can get far more value out these top loyalty currencies than that.Take, for example, my recent first-class flight from Sydney to Bangkok on Thai’s 747-400....

[tpg_rating tpg-rating-score=“82” ground-experience=“7” cabin-seat=“23” amens-ife=“12” food-bev=“20” service=“20” pros=“Outstanding privacy, excellent bedding and amenities, Book the Cook, phenomenal beverage program” cons=“Sluggish service, hard bed, dated entertainment, awful Wi-Fi” /]Back in 2007, the Airbus A380 took to the skies on its first scheduled flight. It bore the iconic Singapore Airlines livery and what at the time was the most luxurious first-class suite commercial flyers had ever seen.Now, more than 11 years later, one of the original Singapore A380s is flying for charter operator Hi Fly, and even carried Norwegian Airlines passengers for a time....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.There’s no positive news to share with the Carolina coast: Hurricane Florence has restrengthened over the last few hours, and the storm continues to follow its predicted path toward the coast as a Category 4 hurricane. With forecasts solidifying for the timing and location of landfall, airlines have started cancelling flights, expanding weather waivers and some airlines are waiving fees to help those evacuating the area....

As pilots, your safety is our first, second and third priority. Come to think of it, it’s probably our fourth priority, too. With that in mind, we take the physical condition of the aircraft extremely seriously.Before each flight, in addition to the checks the engineers complete, one of the pilots will always conduct an exterior “walk-around” of the aircraft to ensure that they are happy with its condition.If you’re a private pilot, you may be surprised to see just how similar the preflight exterior inspection on the 787 Dreamliner is to your light aircraft....

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.Amex periodically runs 75,000-point limited time offers for the Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN using Bonus ID A3P6 prior to termination of this offer, but in no event later than January 28th, 2013, and (2) charge $10,000 of eligible purchases on the Business Gold Rewards Card in the first 4 months of Card membership....

American Airlines announced major cuts on March 12 to its European and South American schedules, a move that comes amid slumping demand and new travel restrictions aimed at the coronavirus outbreak.American said it would slash summer capacity on international routes by 34% as compared to what it had originally expected to sell during the summer season.Transatlantic flying will take a particularly big hit, with a 50% flight reduction in April. The cuts – including a number of route suspensions – were announced a day after President Trump announced restrictions on foreign travelers heading to the United States from Europe....

American Airlines thinks it serves the best burger in New York — and now, it’s trying to woo us all with its new amenity kits. Well, consider me woo’ed.The airline teamed up with brands such as This Is Ground, STATE and Athltetic Propulsion Labs; yes, APL, the sneaker company you keep seeing all over your Instagram feed. APL also does collaborations with SoulCycle from time to time and is sold in stores like Bandier, so you know they’re legit....

American Airlines revealed details of the “largest individual investment at an airport in its 92-year history” at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday morning. In a ceremonial groundbreaking with dignitaries from Los Angeles World Airport management and LA’s city government, including the mayor, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker demolished a check-in counter to mark the beginning of the 10-year, $1.6 billion project to modernize AA’s presence at LAX.This project will “re-imagine” AA’s Terminals 4 and 5, which LA City Council member Joe Buscaino described during the ceremony as an “aging relic of a terminal....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you may have missed from the week before, including several that already appeared on The Points Guy, and some more that we haven’t covered yet. If you’re an avid TPG reader, scroll down for the new stuff. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you may have missed this week:Get the 50,000 sign-up bonus with the Citi AAdvantage cards before it’s too late....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available View the current offers here - Chase Sapphire Preferred CardChase has two Sapphire cards:The regular Sapphire Card, which comes with no annual fee, but does not allow transfer to airline, hotel and train partners like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. In general, 1 point = 1 cent and points can be redeemed for airfare, hotel, giftcards and merchandise. This card has a 10,000 point sign-up bonus ($100) when you spend $500 within the first 3 months....

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....