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Super Bowl LIII is this week, and if seeing Maroon 5 play at half time isn’t enough of a party for you, you should consider buying tickets to Shaquille O’Neal’s pre-party in Atlanta: Shaq’s Fun House.Described as “part carnival, part circus and part music festival,” Shaq’s Fun House debuted at Miami Music Week last year, during which New England Patriots’ tight end, Rob Gronkowsksi, took a ride on O’Neal’s shoulders.Photo by Tin Lazar....

Throughout the past few weeks, frustration has plagued US airports in response to unnecessarily long security lines brought upon by the current government shutdown. However, travelers aren’t the only ones affected by the shutdown as it enters the day 31, officially the longest on record. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents nationwide are being forced to work without pay while the shutdown persists.Despite the fact that agents will be compensated for the hours worked when the government reopens (with some airports even offering overtime pay for agents who show up to work), the lack of compensation has caused financial distress for several TSA agents for the time being, even causing many to search for other jobs that will provide immediate financial relief....

The family of a Florida woman is searching for her after she went missing on a trip to Costa Rica to celebrate her birthday.Carla Stefaniak, 36, was supposed to fly home from Costa Rica last Wednesday. According to Stefaniak’s sister-in-law, April Burton, the woman never boarded her return flight on Wednesday night. The last time anyone heard from Stefaniak was when she texted Burton at 8pm on Tuesday saying that it was raining and the power had just gone out....

Frontier is known for insanely low fares and has also become synonymous with crazy deals, including $9 flights and its Kids Fly Free promotion. However, Frontier might be offering the airline’s craziest and most lucrative promotion yet: Today only, members of the airline’s discount club, Discount Den, can travel with their friends for the price of a single ticket. Here’s how.First, you must join Frontier’s Discount Den club, the airline’s discount program....

Aer Lingus is slated to launch what will likely be the most premium intra-European business class next fall. The Irish Times is reporting that in the second half of 2019, upon taking delivery of the airline’s new Airbus A321LR (long-range), Aer Lingus will launch a new European business class product. The A321LR will feature the airline’s newest business class seats, which are lie-flat seats launched aboard the much larger Airbus A330 in 2015....

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:Starpoints transfer to Marriott Rewards at a 1:3 ratio, which opens up fantastic options at some Marriott properties worldwide....

British Airways’ new Club Suite business clss is heading to New York. As of Wednesday, Oct. 9, the airline will begin flying its first retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft with the new Club Suite between London Heathrow (LHR) and New York (JFK).Photo by Nicky Kelvin/The Points GuyThe aircraft will continue to fly the route on a daily basis through the rest of the winter season — through March 2020. It is set to operate on the following schedule:BA173 London (LHR) 11:20 a....

British Airways released details of its first-class soft-product upgrades on Thursday — and there’s reason for passengers to get excited. Beginning March 31, passengers can expect to start seeing new bedding, amenities and menus. The airline, having been criticized for how slowly it rolled out soft-product enhancements to its Club World business class in recent years, has committed to completing the roll-out of these changes within a week. By April 7, British Airways says that all passengers flying first will experience the new soft product....

Czech Airlines, a member of SkyTeam along with Delta Air Lines, plans to modernize its fleet and potentially expand its route network. On Wednesday, the carrier announced that it had ordered four Airbus A220-300 aircraft and upsized its previous order of three A320neos to the bigger, longer-range A321XLRs.The aircraft will join Czech’s existing fleet of six A319s and one A330-300. Czech will feature 149 seats on the A220 in an all-economy configuration....

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 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....

Delta recently announced they are adding two new partners to the SkyBonus program. Members will now be able to earn and redeem points with Virgin Atlantic, and Delta is also adding Korean Air to the program but currently only for redeeming points for travel. Currently businesses can earn and redeem points with Air France, KLM, Alitalia and Aeromexico.SkyBonus is Delta’s rewards program for small and mid-sized companies. The program allows companies to earn points on travel expenses with Delta much like the SkyMiles program does for individuals....

TO THE POINT: United’s really stepped up its game with Polaris, which will only improve with the airline’s seat retrofit and 777-300ER rollout. The pros: much improved bedding, higher-quality food and beverage, pajamas and other amenities. The cons: the first-class experience is almost identical to business, so you’re essentially paying more for a slightly bigger seat.From Asiana and Singapore to Lufthansa and Swiss, United Airlines faces some very stiff competition when it comes to long-haul premium-cabin travel — even from its own partners....

Compared to some of its Oneworld partners, American Airlines was late to adopt premium economy. But, it was the first US-based airline to introduce a true international premium economy product, and quickly went all-in on the product. In just under two years from AA’s premium economy product debut, the airline installed over 3,000 premium economy seats on 124 wide-body aircraft.However, it wasn’t until January 2019 that AA added premium economy AAdvantage awards....

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 Hawaiian Airlines flight Sydney, Australia (SYD), returned to its airport of origin, Honolulu (HNL), after takeoff due to a suspected mechanical problem on Sunday.About an hour into the normally 10-hour flight, the Airbus A330 turned around because there was a possible problem with one of the aircraft’s three hydraulic systems, an airline spokeswoman told the AP....

Ride-sharing has come a long way since Uber first launched in 2010. Surely, the company has gone through its ups and downs — from being the largest of the ride-share apps with more than 40 million monthly riders as of October 2016 to its rough issues to start off 2017.In fact, 2017 has started off so poorly for Uber that many of its users are now boycotting the ride-sharing service and instead turning to alternatives....

I’m thrilled to introduce “Sail Away,” our latest TPG monthly series providing you with everything you need to know to make the sailing lifestyle a reality. Today, TPG Contributor Shayne Benowitz takes us inside San Francisco Bay’s OCSC Sailing School with its founder Anthony Sandberg. A sailor herself with countless hours on the water in New York Harbor, Key West and along the California coast, Shayne spoke with Sandberg about what it takes to become a confident sailor and some of his favorite destinations worldwide....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.As you may or may not have read, the cost for an annual membership for the United Club is increasing beginning in January 2013. The previous cost for a one-year membership was $475 for a non-elite member and the new cost will be $500. Memberships with a spouse are going by as much as $100. A $25 increase for an individual membership isn’t terribly substantial by itself, but it does bring about a good time to talk about the different ways you can access the United Club for a more affordable rate....

Singapore has long been a popular tourist destination, even before its newfound Crazy Rich Asians fame. But there’s no question that the city-state has become even more appealing in recent years, especially to tourists from the East Coast, who can once again fly nonstop from Newark (EWR) to Changi Airport (SIN) on the world’s longest flight.Singapore is also an especially popular destination among members of the TPG team — from reviews of one of the top first-class products to deep dives on the city’s most popular hotels, there are no shortage of opportunities for us to experience the country’s diverse culture....

Last year, Qatar Airways dazzled the public with renderings of the airline’s brand new business class product, QSuites. Qatar Airways QSuites made their debut on an actual aircraft just three months after they were initially announced. A rather complex business class product, the custom designed QSuite has been slow to make its way on to other aircraft. This has meant that only a few select flagship routes have been lucky enough to see the QSuites....