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In an attempt to minimize delays and maintain aircraft safety standards, the Federal Aviation Administration has rolled out a plan to recall thousands of furloughed inspectors amid a government shutdown that’s leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay.“We are recalling inspectors and engineers to perform duties to ensure continuous operational safety of the entire national airspace,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. “We proactively conduct risk assessment, and we have determined that after three weeks it is appropriate to recall inspectors and engineers....

Google’s Project Fi has long been a TPG favorite for its simplicity and wide network, giving users access to data and cell phone coverage all around the world. As of Wednesday, Google is dropping the “Project” and changing the product’s name to “Google Fi.“And, in addition to changing it’s name, Google Fi is making the product accessible on more devices. The company said that one of the most common pieces of feedback it receives about Fi has to do with working on more devices, and Google is changing that....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Take a second and imagine this: you’ve just stepped off a three-hour flight after being stuck in the middle seat. You’re tired, hungry and you’ve got another two-hour flight before you arrive in Anytown, USA, to celebrate the holidays with your family. As you enter the crowded terminal, you are overcome with that unmissable food court stench. You survey the terminal for the best place to eat....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.JetBlue is known for amazing flash sales and great customer service. While this sale doesn’t include $30 transcontinental flights, short, medium and long-haul routes are heavily discounted for fall and winter travel. Round-trip flights can be as low as $66, with one-way fares starting at just $33. Better yet, availability is pretty wide open on many routes and you can cash in some TrueBlue points for terrific value....

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.Since the beginning of the month, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express has been offering an elevated bonus of 35,000 Starpoints (compared to the usual 25,000) after you spend $7,000 in the first three months....

The official investigation into the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may have ended with a mystery unsolved, but a London lecturer says that there’s reason to lend credence to a new theory that the Boeing 777 crashed on land, not at sea as widely believed.Yijun Yu, a lecturer in computing at The Open University, said that there’s some merit to the argument that families kept hearing rings on passengers’ phones up to four days after it likely crashed....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Don’t go chasing waterfalls — unless they’re made of chocolate, of course! Venchi, an Italian gourmet chocolate company with locations all over the globe, opened its first NYC storefront earlier this week. The shop not only offers more than 200 types of chocolate, but it is home to North America’s largest chocolate waterfall, according to the brand.Chocolate addicts will literally be able to smell their way to the shop in the heart of Union Square in Manhattan....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TO THE POINT: The Michelberger is a trendy hotel for those looking for a cool, authentic Berlin experience. The pros: convenient location, sleek design and friendly staff. The cons: very few amenities, small rooms, no air conditioning and it’s not connected to any major loyalty programs.While the Michelberger isn’t technically a points-hotel option, it was still a fun place to use as a base for exploring the city on a recent trip to Berlin....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TO THE POINT: The new United Club at LAX is the airline’s biggest and best in the US. The pros: 20,000 square feet, outdoor terrace, tons of indoor and outdoor seating, fantastic bar, super-fast Wi-Fi. The cons: can be crowded at times, some higher-end drinks aren’t free.Earlier this month, United opened a phenomenal new lounge at Chicago O’Hare (ORD), with free premium cocktails, fancy shower and relaxation rooms and private seating, among other features....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.While center of the bomb cyclone has passed north of the US, effects are lingering across the east coast with continuing flight cancellations, an airport still closed and plenty of out-of-place aircraft due to diverted flights.In Boston, 13.4 inches of snow blew through the city Thursday. Nearby Providence recorded 14.1 inches of snow and Worchester saw an incredible 16....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Delta appears to have sweetened its domestic award sale, with rates now starting at just 10,000 miles round-trip. But this sale isn’t going to be around for much long — tickets must be purchased today, September 5.While the carrier only lists the following routes as being discounted, as is often the case with Delta, we’re finding that this award sale is much more extensive....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.In the past, we’ve seen opportunities to transfer points with a 25% bonus to Virgin Atlantic with Amex Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou points, and one such bonus has now returned. ThankYou points have been becoming increasingly valuable because of additional transfer partners and transfer bonuses — currently, you can transfer ThankYou points to Hilton at a 1:1....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Update 3/18/17 5:15pm: Southwest also has travel waivers in effect — you can find the complete list of cities below.Much of the US got socked with heavy snow last weekend from Winter Storm Stella, and while most of those areas are having a much nicer Saturday and Sunday, there is some additional snow and precipitation expected in parts of the Northeast and Great Lakes regions this weekend....

Upgrades on cruise ships have always worked very differently than upgrades on airplanes. In the case of Royal Caribbean, many of its ships go out at maximum capacity, which has led its most loyal cruisers to recognize the importance of paying up for the stateroom you wish to reside in. (The airline equivalent would be WFBF, or Want First, Buy First.)Interior staterooms on Symphony of the SeasTechnically, it has been possible for RCI’s top-tier elites to receive upgrades....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.To celebrate the holiday season and the current limited-time offer of up to 60,000 points on the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card, The Points Guy and Chase are partnering up to give away a cumulative 8,640,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points over the next 12 days.Between Dec. 12 and Dec. 23, 12 lucky TPG readers will be selected at random each day to win 60,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points....

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.When it comes to Canadian airlines, Air Canada is almost always first to come to mind. But WestJet is about to jump in as a major player in the international market, as it begins to take delivery of its new long-haul fleet....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.“Reader Questions” are answered twice a week — Mondays and Fridays — by TPG Senior Writer Julian Mark Kheel.With the changes Delta recently announced to its Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) waiver for Diamond status, a lot of readers have questions about rolling over Delta’s Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs). Here’s an intriguing one from TPG reader Blake about MQMs and qualifying on segments…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Blake”]I just got Silver status with Delta via segments and should end around 24,000 MQMs....

Minimize travel time, maximize work efficiency. If you need to regularly commute on one of the three busiest air shuttle routes — Los Angeles to San Francisco, Boston to New York or Washington Reagan to New York — it’s important you find the most cost-efficient and reliable carrier. Today, I’ll look at the airlines that fly these routes and compare cost, equipment and on-time performance to decide which carrier is best for each route....

WOW Air, the budget carrier whose purple livery has been seen at more and more airports over the last few years, is doing something counter to its recent expansion trend: it’s canceling one of its US - Iceland routes.[Update, 3/28/2019: WOW Air has ceased operations. Find our ongoing coverage of WOW Air’s collapse, and what affected passengers can do about it, here.]Starting April 7, WOW will “pause” service on its Miami (MIA) to Reykjavik (KEF) route....

Travelers can now follow a single 1,740-mile-long trail to visit 17 of Chile’s most stunning national parks on one unforgettable journey. Called the Ruta de los Parques de la Patagonia (Route of the Parks of Patagonia), this path originates in Puerto Montt — the gateway to Chile’s Lake District — and snakes all the way along the nation’s southwestern edge to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.The recently-opened, immense scenic route materialized after Kristine Tompkins (on behalf of the Tompkins Conservation) donated more than one million acres of land to the Chilean government....