Driving instead of flying? What was I thinking? We just got back from a mini-road trip that I didn’t even consider to be an actual road trip until we were in the middle of it. We were attending the wedding of a dear friend that on paper didn’t seem that far away, but it was easily a five hour drive one-way thanks to traffic and potty breaks when it would have under an hour in the air if we flew....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.A few months ago, American Express announced that the 20% rebate on Pay With Points (so that points are worth 1.25 cents each rather than just 1 cent each) that cardholders of the personal version of The Platinum Card from American Express get as a benefit will end in February.However, TPG reader Marc-Andre wrote to let me know that he recently signed up for the personal Platinum card and due to the short window that he has had the card, American Express is extending this benefit for him through October 31, 2013 so he may take advantage of it for another nine months before its gone for good....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The Mercedes-Benz Platinum, American Express Platinum Card, and Business Platinum all have many valuable benefits, which I’ve outlined before, including the $200 annual airline fee credit, that all help make that $450 annual fee worth it in my opinion. Hopefully a lot of you got in on the recent one-day 100,000-point sign-up bonus offer (when you spend $3,000 in 3 months) on the card because I don’t think anything like it is coming back soon, but everyone should keep an eye out for targeted offers....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Usually buying miles provides a terrible return on value. Standard rates for buying airline miles can exceed 3 cents per mile. Meanwhile, TPG valuations for most airline miles fall between 1.2 (Delta SkyMiles) and 1.9 (Alaska MileagePlan). Yet, it’s rare to see a mileage deal under 2.0 cents. At least until now.Barclaycard is rolling out an “exclusive new pilot” to certain AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard cardholders that effectively allows AA mileage purchases for just 1 cent per mile....
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.TPG’s Richard Kerr wrote back in April why he retired ‘SkyPesos’ from his vocabulary — and these amazing Delta SkyMiles deals have certainly reinforced his point. The airline has introduced more award sales and extended others for destinations worldwide, now lowering the price to Australia to just 48,000 SkyMiles round-trip (last week it was on sale for 50,000 miles round-trip)....
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 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....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.When news of a large carry-on electronics ban broke overnight in March, TPG knew it was going to be a big deal. With the rushed implementation and lack of clear guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security, we figured that the affected Middle Eastern and African airlines were going to struggle and we wanted to be there on the ground to report how things were going....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Sharing positive things with a friend is always enjoyable, especially when you get rewarded for it. Which is why I was happy to hear that the personal American Express Starwood and Premier Rewards Gold cards now have “Refer A Friend” promotions where you can get 5,000 extra bonus points when someone you know signs up for one of these cards through your referral link and gets approved....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.As major hurricane Lane starts its turn northward to the Hawaiian islands, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center has issued hurricane warnings for the Big Island and Maui, and the Hawaiian governor has declared a state of emergency.As of 5:00pm ET (11:00am Hawaiian), the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 155mph, making it a Category 4 major hurricane just shy of the 157mph wind speed required for a Category 5 hurricane....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Nope, these aren’t the rumored flights to Europe — not yet, at least — but JetBlue just announced another big Mint expansion within the US. Once these new flights begin, the airline will operate lie-flat business-class seats on more than 80 flights each day. And that’s before launching service outside North America.In addition to previously announced service from New York (JFK) and Boston (BOS) to Seattle (SEA), JetBlue just shared plans for two daily round-trip Mint flights between Boston and Las Vegas (LAS)....
Top-tier hotel elite status confers an array of valuable perks, and one of the most popular is the chance to score an upgraded room at check in, and this often includes suites. Within the Marriott program, for example, Platinum Elites and higher are entitled to complimentary, space-available suite upgrades at most properties in the combined portfolio (only Platinum Premier Elites are eligible for upgrades at Ritz-Carlton hotels). But if you have a special trip coming up — an anniversary getaway, an important work meeting or some other occasion you really want to remember — you might want to confirm an upgrade in advance....
After weeks of Qatar Airways threatening to leave the Oneworld airline alliance, fellow Oneworld member airline Qantas has a message for Qatar’s seemingly indecisive CEO: Leave if you’re not happy.“Nobody should be in an alliance where they believe it’s not working for them,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told the South Morning China Post this week. “If Qatar feel they do better outside of Oneworld, that is up to them.”Qatar CEO Akbar al Baker has said several times throughout October that the gulf carrier he helms will pull out of Oneworld, mainly due to issues with partner airlines American and Qantas....
After my exhausting experience at the Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui, I was more stressed out than ever before. I knew that Phuket was even more touristy than Koh Samui, but staying at SPG’s Naka Island was the best choice I could have ever made. My only regret was not staying longer — after all, I could have gotten the fifth night free using points.BookingI wanted to take advantage of the SPG Paradise is Closer promotion where select luxury SPG properties have 35% off award stays (booking and stays must be completed by March 5, 2018, so there’s still time to take advantage — TPG himself recently stayed at SPG’s Al Maha in Dubai thanks to this promo’s discounted award nights)....
Officials have ordered a ground stop at Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) Tuesday evening. No flights are going out of, or into, the airport. The one currently inbound flight is proceeding to MDW but may divert to another airport. The reason is that three workers at the air traffic control tower have tested positive for COVID-19, which resulted in the closure of the tower, according to media reports. The Federal Aviation Administration said that the tower is being cleaned....
Reports from Orlando International Airport say an off-duty TSA agent fell to his death from the balcony of the Hyatt Regency Hotel into the airport atrium on Saturday morning. The incident caused some people to flee through the nearby security checkpoints unscreened. The FAA briefly grounded flights.TSA released the following statement via Twitter:According to the Miami Herald, gates 70-129 were closed “for a few hours”. Because passengers had entered the secured airside of the airport without proper screening the airport was shutdown and passengers had to go through security again once it reopened....
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.In this week’s installment of “Being The Points Guy,” Brian scoots around and (mostly) eats his way through Tel Aviv.With the help of TPG UK Director of Content Nicky Kelvin, who used to live in Tel Aviv and knows the city well, Brian and company break their no-queuing-for-food policy at Abu Hassan, visit the historical Rothschild Boulevard and try out a krav maga class to learn a little bit about self-defense (and work off all that falafel and hummus....
Overtourism is hardly a new concept to travel, and when people think of crowded, touristy cities, destinations such as Venice and Amsterdam may come to mind. But these are just the studies struggling with throngs of visitors today. A new study conducted by the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) analyzed 50 cities across the globe, and pointed out seven destinations where rapidly increasing tourism could cause serious issues in the next decade....
The Airbus A350 XWB has established a strong presence in the commercial market ever since its first delivery in 2015. Today, airlines operate the aircraft across the globe — including the soon-to-be delivered A350s for both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.The A350 XWB (extra wide body) is a family of aircraft comprised of only two variants: the A350-900 and the longer A350-1000. Both variants share 95% common systems, part numbers and the same type rating, meaning A350-900 pilots can also fly the -1000....
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.Previously, the largest plane flying has been the Antonov AN-225. But as of 6:58am PDT Saturday, it’s been ousted as the king in the skies. Stratolaunch Systems, a company founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, flew its massive new plane for the first time today over the Mojave Desert after years of design and testing....
