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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Over the last few years, credit card issuers have been pulling out all the stops. Programs like Visa Signature and World Elite Mastercard have continued to widen the range of discounts and benefits available to cardholders in order to attract new business and keep existing customers.On that note, Visa recently updated its Visa Offers program, which is a collection of discounts and benefits available to Visa cardholders from travel, retail and other partners....

As aviation and travel enthusiasts, we understand just how much goes into getting from one place to another. At times, it can be the most crucial (and, sometimes, our favorite) part of going on a trip. But sadly, not everyone has access to air travel — and some people, despite whatever limitations are holding them back, really need it.That’s why we were so excited to learn about the Experience Camps program....

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....

October 6 will mark the end of the lucrative stopover era on United award tickets, leading to the elimination of some excellent award options through the current system. TPG Contributor JT Genter explores 13 examples of how you can utilize the current system for bookings before the change.On October 6, United is “enhancing the way you book MileagePlus awards.” In reality, there are no real enhancements. United is decimating the current stopover system that — while complex — is incredibly rewarding for those who understand it....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MastercardTPG reader Rahul wrote in to share an email he received offering AAdvantage Gold status after spending $1,000 per month between now and August 6, 2016. If he meets the requirements he’ll earn AAdvantage Gold status through February 2017, which we value at $1,155 (if you fly AA often)....

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 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....

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.Ever since it launched its SkyMiles Deals page, Delta has consistently offered some pretty great sales on award tickets. This time, it’s offering discounted domestic flights with pricing starting at just 10,000 miles round-trip....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Standard rooms at Hilton properties can go as high as 95,000 points per night, but you don’t have to spend that many Hilton Honors points to book a family-friendly spot to rest and relax on your family vacations. Many Hilton properties, even within the United States, can be booked for 50,000 points per night or less. Zeroing in on these mid-range properties will allow you to stretch the Hilton Honors points you have....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Chase Sapphire Reserve, The Hyatt Credit Card, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Chase Sapphire PreferredEarning via the traditional method (actually staying in hotels) is just one way to accumulate points toward your next free night. Fortunately, hotels make it relatively easy to accrue points without traveling, whether through top credit card offers or by utilizing shopping portals and dining reward programs....

Few planes have a more appropriate name than the Airbus Beluga. If you’ve seen one, you’ll know: It looks exactly like a beluga whale, with an enormously bulbous forehead. Google “the weirdest jet in the world,” and it will show up among the top results.But the Beluga isn’t just a crazy-looking machine: It’s a major player in the global economy.For two and a half decades, Belugas have been the logistical backbone of Airbus....

Travelers tend to fall into one of two camps when it comes to inflight Wi-Fi.There are the road warriors who hope to never fly without it, so accustomed are they to using the din of an airplane’s engines as the perfect white noise backdrop for logging on and crushing work.Then there are the travelers who look forward to the cocoon of the fuselage to shield them from the need to be constantly connected to those on the ground....

Most major hotel chains offer a best-rate guarantee of some sort in order to allow the customer to feel confident that they can book a stay directly with the hotel and still get the best deal. Hotels want customers to book directly, as they then get to keep a larger share of the night’s revenue in their own pocket, rather than paying a portion to a third-party booking site. Customers who love their points do better booking stays directly much of the time, as they can then earn and use points....

After having canceled a multi-billion dollar airport construction project in November, Mexico’s new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is making more aviation cuts. This time, the reductions concern the official presidential jet.Fulfilling a campaign promise, Obrador is selling off the presidential Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that his predecessors ordered in 2012 and took delivery of in 2016. The luxurious widebody is worth about $218 million, according to Reuters. Obrador, who ran on a platform of ending purported government corruption, has criticized it as an ostentatious symbol of government excess....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.I can’t believe it’s April already. 2012 has been going by in a blur, so I thought I’d do a little wrap-up on all my travel for the first quarter of 2012 and discuss my personal strategy for the rest of 2012.Mileage: 75,034 actual miles flown. Destinations visited: Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, San Francisco, London, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, Kauai, Dublin, Singapore, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Hong Kong....

Both an art form and a gamble, flying standby requires patience, flexibility and the willingness to smile in the face of adversity. Like any gamble, volunteering to travel standby —essentially serving as seat-filler for unsold or unclaimed airline seats—could yield rewards like complimentary upgrades to first class or the crushing disappointment of being stuck at an airport for hours on end. Still, according to TPG Contributor Liana Lozada, the gamble is worthwhile, as there’s money to be saved—sometimes a lot of money....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Update 2: The Uber Commute Card will be available for purchase through July 29.Update: The original version of this post indicated that the two-week July passes were sold out. However, a Gilt City rep reached out and clarified that was just for presale passes. As of this update, there are passes available in the two-week, four-week and eight-week categories for both July and August....

Last week, Delta announced that it would begin utilizing “empty legs,” or unused capacity from its Delta Private Jets division to provide upgrades to SkyMiles Medallion members for a fee.Last Friday, an Ohio couple was the first to take such an upgrade, on a leg from Cincinnati to Atlanta. They were SkyMiles Medallion members, as is required as part of the upgrade program, although Delta has not said how much the upgrade fee was....

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.A Jet2 plane was evacuated upon landing in Prague on Sunday night after a bomb threat was discovered while the passenger jet was mid-air.The flight’s captain told passengers a “threatening note” had been found on board the plane while it was flying from Manchester (MAN) to Prague (PRG)....

Update as of Sunday, March 24, 11:30am ET:The evacuation of the Viking Sky cruise ship has been suspended. According to CNN, 479 passengers were airlifted off the vessel with 436 passengers and 458 crew members remaining on board. The ship’s power has been restored to three of the four engines on board and the boat is making its way to Molde harbor with the assistance of a tug, accompanied by two supply vessels....