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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Nancy asks a question about the possibility of a merger between US Airways and American Airlines:“With the possible upcoming merger of US Airways and American Airlines, is now a good time to get both a US Airways and American Airlines credit card to take advantage of the bonus from each before one potentially goes away?“A merger is a long way off – even if one is announced it’s going to be a while before the credit cards and miles are consolidated....

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.Following the success of TPG UK’s four-class review of the same British Airways flight, the team set out on another mission to do another comparative review that would be useful for flyers. Since so many Brits (and Americans) fly the three major Middle East carriers (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways) and their ideal geographical positioning to access Asia, India, Australia, Africa and more from Europe and North America, we figured it’d be logical to review each of the airlines on a flight from their respective hubs – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha – to London....

View this post on Instagram Azul’s first, just delivered, @embraer E195-E2 baking under the Brazilian sun here. It’s the largest commercial airplane Embraer has ever developed. #avgeek #aviation #airlines A post shared by Jon Ostrower (@jonostrower) on Sep 12, 2019 at 7:48 a.m. PDT View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram Azul’s first, just delivered, @embraer E195-E2 baking under the Brazilian sun here. It’s the largest commercial airplane Embraer has ever developed....

2019 is less than a week old, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Cathay Pacific’s incredible mistake fare will go down as the deal of the year. For a brief window of time on New Year’s Eve, Cathay Pacific was selling round-trip business class tickets between Vietnam and the US for about ~$700, and first class tickets were pricing at $1,000 or less. These tickets normally retail for around ~$30,000, meaning that anyone who was able to book this deal scored a sweet $29,000 discount....

We’ve been hearing more and more about the massive toll single-use plastics is having on the planet. Some cities and countries are taking steps to curb plastic use along with businesses, airlines and hotel chains. These are steps in the right direction, but the majority of the world is still not prioritizing this problem. It’s even difficult to convince Americans we have a plastic problem when we are able to throw it in a bin, put that bin out once a week, and have that plastic disappear from our lives forever....

(Photo courtesy of Christopher Postlewaite / NYC & Company)Do you love to travel as much as we do?The Points Guy is on quite a run. We’ve just moved into our new headquarters and we just finished an amazing second annual TPG Awards. Our team has grown to more than 100 people and we need even more help to keep bringing you the travel knowledge you need to succeed, so we just posted for several full-time positions....

The only Airbus A380 in the world flying for a charter airline is going on a delicate mission on Friday: evacuating 350 people from the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in Wuhan, China.For complete coverage of the outbreak please see: Guide to the deadly coronavirus-type diseasePortuguese charter operator Hi Fly is sending its sole A380 to Wuhan to bring back evacuees from European Union countries. The biggest passenger jet in the world has the capacity and the range needed for the mission, an evacuation reminiscent of the airlift of U....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available – View the current offers here.The Starwood Preferred Guest program has been in the news this week, with a great deal on buying Starpoints, as well as a 10,000 Starpoint referral bonus for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. We thought we’d continue the Starwood theme of this week and give away 15,000 Starpoints for this week’s Thursday Giveaway....

May the Force be with… Virgin Atlantic. The British carrier on Wednesday became the latest airline to outfit one of its aircraft in a Star Wars-themed livery to celebrate the new Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge attraction at Disney World in Orlando.After having left its hangar at London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW) with its new plane wrap job, the Boeing 747 will reenter service Wednesday on a flight from LGW to Orlando (MCO)....

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.Last month, TPG UK’s Emily McNutt and I had an opportunity to cover the 2019 Paris Air Show. It turned out to be a big event; despite the ongoing 737 MAX grounding, Boeing managed to land a gigantic aircraft order, for a total of 200 of the flawed narrow-body jets....

In case you missed it, Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc is joining Oneworld as a full member in mid-2020. This will be the first full-member airline added to Oneworld since 2012, and Oneworld’s first full-member African airline. And, for flyers looking to travel to or from Africa, this is a big deal.Easier Connections to AfricaCurrently, American Airlines doesn’t have any flights to Africa, and Oneworld’s Africa route network is limited to what is provided from British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Undoubtedly, the best $69 my family spent at Disney World this summer was to participate in the Early Morning Magic program within Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom.Beginning precisely at 7:45am, for $69 ($59 for kids ages 3 to 9) you can get over an hour of unlimited access to a trio of rides, in addition to a buffet breakfast at Pinocchio Village Haus that can be enjoyed at any point before 10am....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.American Express Membership Rewards a 50% bonus on transfers to British Airways Avios points until May 31, 2012. The bonus is hard coded into the transfer ratio, so 1,000 Amex points = 1,500 Avios points and they transfer instantly. The most recent Amex transfer bonus to Avios back in November was just 30%, so this is the biggest bonus to BA that Amex has run since last summer’s 50%....

Brazil will soon eliminate visa requirements for visitors from the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia, although firm timelines have not yet been announced.The nation’s Tourism Minister Marcelo Alvaro Antonio said on Wednesday that the decision came from the newly-elected Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, as part of the Foreign Ministry’s effort to boost the country’s lagging tourism industry.“The [previous administration] treated the United States as an adversary, but not our government,” Antonio said....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Today I ran across an interesting article about credit card rewards that probably won’t be super surprising to many of us, but it was still an interesting read. The Forbes article linked above points out that in 2016, for the first time, Chase outpaced American Express in their annual spending on credit card rewards. Not coincidentally this is also the year that Chase literally ran out of the Chase Sapphire Reserve and its metal card shortly after the card and its then 100,000 point sign-up bonus were introduced in the second half of the year....

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.Today, I want to share a story from TPG reader Connie, who missed out on a valuable travel benefit after a delayed flight. Here’s what she had to say:Last summer my family and I booked a trip to Hawaii. We were spread out on different flights due to schedule differences — my mother and I arrived earlier, while the rest of my family took a later flight the following day....

View this post on Instagram Checking out Air Canada’s first A220-300 ✈️ #avgeek A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Jan 15, 2020 at 5:48am PST View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram Checking out Air Canada’s first A220-300 ✈️ #avgeek A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Jan 15, 2020 at 5:48am PST

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Update: Discover Deals is no longer available as of November 1, 2018.This page includes information about Discover products that are not currently available on The Points Guy and may be out of date.With the holiday season now over, Discover has added the option to earn 5% cash back on iPhone 7 purchases — plus most other Apple purchases, including iPads, Mac computers and Apple TVs, as well as accessories for Apple devices — all the more incentive to keep right on shopping!...

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Last week I wrote about the Global Entry - the government’s expedited immigration program for frequent travelers - $100 fee being waived by American Express for Platinum Cardholders. Even though I paid for my Global Entry application before the benefit went into effect, I was still happy to see Amex adding benefits to the Platinum card. While the card does have a $450 fee, if you are a somewhat frequent traveler you can easily get many more times that amount in benefits because the Platinum card gives you valuable perks like lounge access to American, Delta, US Airways, Alaska, a bunch of international independent lounges (and United/Continental until September 30, 2011), $200 in airline fee rebates, Starwood Gold status, Hertz benefits, hotel upgrades, concierge service, the above-mentioned $100 reimbursement for Global Entry and much more....