Posts

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.Starwood just launched a fun online promotion called Take a Spin, where you can win a number of instant prizes such as free nights or Starpoints, and be entered to win the grand prize of 250,000 Starpoints.You can enter online once a day now through October 10, 2013, or you can also enter onsite at several Starwood sponsored events....

‘Tis the season, not just to jostle for a boarding position, but to be jolly – and also to be kind to one’s fellow traveler. Two separate mothers took to Facebook this week to celebrate strangers who made traveling with small children just a little bit easier.Surprise Upgrade for Family Traveling to the HospitalKelsey Zwick posted a public Facebook note thanking the kind stranger on American Airlines Flight 588 from Orlando to Philadelphia who gave up his first-class seat for her and one of her 11-month-old twin daughters, Lucy, to travel in a little more comfort....

Does common sense go out the window when people get on an airplane? We’ve seen passengers end up in jail for painting their nails, play barefoot footsie and even use the air vent to dry their underpants. There is a place where these passengers can be held up for Internet ridicule.On this week’s Talking Points, Brian Kelly — The Points Guy — sat down with Shawn Kathleen, the woman behind the hilarious and cringe-worthy Instagram account Passenger Shaming....

Qatar Airways will make San Francisco its newest destination.Beginning Dec. 15, the carrier will offer four flights a week to its hub in Doha. Qatar Airways will fly the 8,087-mile route with Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The carrier’s A350-900s seat 283 passengers, including 36 Qsuite business-class seats and 247 in economy. Flight time is listed at 15 hours, 20 minutes on the Doha-bound leg and 15 hours, 40 minutes on the return....

Decades before the famed Concorde made its first passenger flight, Chuck Yeager soared above Southern California’s Mojave Desert in a rocket-powered Bell X-1.On Oct. 14, 1947, at the age of 24, Yeager became the first person in the world to fly beyond the speed of sound, paving the way for generations of pilots to achieve supersonic flight — for decades to come.Captain Charles Yaeger with the Bell X-1. (Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images)Sadly, this aviation legend’s journey has come to an end....

In a recent security alert, the US Department of State is encouraging tourists to exercise increased precautions when visiting Mexico. The alert is due to recent reports of “unforeseen problems," including medical emergencies, drownings, unregulated alcohol and sexual assault.According to the Journal Sentinel’s investigation, unregulated alcohol has led to more than 200 reports of severe illness and blackouts preceded by often minimal intake of alcohol. Many of the reports involved theft and assault, and some victims were taken to jails and hospitals....

Yesterday, dark clouds started to build over the World of Hyatt as a new, pricier, eighth category was temporarily spotted on Hyatt’s website. There were no hotels listed in this new category, but there was a 40,000 point per night award price attached. That is 33% higher than the current max of 30,000 Hyatt points per night charged for standard rooms at traditional Hyatt hotels (ie not their all-inclusive or wellness resorts)....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Transferable points are the cornerstone of a robust travel rewards portfolio, so I asked TPG Special Contributor Eric Rosen to talk about these kinds of programs and what qualities and benefits you should expect from them.Transferable points like Membership Rewards are highly valuable for their flexibility.When it comes to travel rewards, transferable points like Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards—which you accrue in a central account and can then transfer to a number of airline, hotel and other partner programs—are among the most valuable points currencies out there....

TPG reader Kevin sent me a message on Facebook to ask about dining programs:“Dining programs list special benefits for VIP members, but don’t provide many details. Do you have examples of what extra perks one can expect?“Airline and hotel dining programs are an easy way to boost your rewards for dining purchases. Once you sign up and register your credit card, you’ll earn points or miles for each dollar spent at participating restaurants....

Lapland Safaris, one of the largest event and tour organizers in Finland, is on the hunt for seasonal employees this winter. The position? “Christmas Elf.” The company is looking for wanna-be elves that are “energetic, outgoing, positive persons with good customer skills.” Of course, you will be required to relocate to remote Lapland, Finland, for the holidays.Not familiar with Lapland? It’s the northernmost region of Finland covering 38,000 square miles yet is home to just under 200,000 full-time residents....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.It took a dozen years, but the Limo Jet is complete. If ever you’ve yearned to rent a Learjet, but didn’t want to put in the effort to become a pilot, the Limo Jet has your name written all over it. In fact, that’s sort of the point — its makers anticipate that most rental inquiries will come from businesses who’d like to show up in style....

Every credit card issuer has its own rules to try and balance out the cost of attracting new customers by offering valuable welcome bonuses with the need to separate customers with long-term value from those who are only in it for the quick points. Among the major card issuers, American Express is well known for being the strictest, with a dedicated rewards abuse team (RAT) that cracks down on any perceived violations of Amex’s terms of service....

Wednesday marked a major milestone for American Airlines and the Boeing 737 MAX.The Fort Worth-based carrier returned the troubled jet to the skies, with a mix of about 95 high-ranking employees and journalists flying on the MAX’s first public flight since its grounding more than 20 months ago.Passengers were flown on a round trip from Dallas (DFW) to Tulsa (TUL), where American has its largest maintenance facility. Now that the MAX been recertified by the FAA, the airline has started to perform the required safety updates and pilot retraining....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Let me just start off by saying that this review was supposed to be of Iberia’s premium economy service on its still-new A350 aircraft, which flies between Madrid and New York-JFK. But after a long, disorganized and stressful delay, the aircraft was switched to the A340-600. So, instead of getting to review the shiny new 350, I am telling you all about what it was like to fly the much older A340-600 in the Turista Premium cabin — was it worth all the pre-flight drama?...

There are only a few airport lounges that I’ll purposefully build-in a long layover so I can spend extra time in the lounge. One of these lounges is the JAL First Class Lounge. I’ve visited this lounge many times before and although it lacks some features you might expect in a First Class lounge, it’s still one of my favorite lounges in the world. Here’s my take on the JAL First Class Lounge in Terminal 2’s Main Building during a nine hour layover before flying to New York JFK in JAL Premium Economy....

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.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....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.This summer WOW Air will be begin operating new A330 flights to Iceland and Europe from the West Coast, with the introduction of service in Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO). WOW is known for its $99 fares from the East Coast, but now Californians can take advantage of the budget airline’s competitively priced service. The airline is one of the most cost-effective options for travel to Europe, with flights funneling through WOW’s hub in Reykjavik to other popular destinations, including Berlin, London, Paris and more....