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A company as big as Boeing is no stranger to the courtroom, but news this week that US prosecutors have opened an investigation into the design of the Boeing 737 MAX is a rare case of a planemaker potentially facing criminal charges for its engineering decisions.The global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX follows two devastating plane crashes, one in October and a second earlier this month, in which a total of 346 people were killed....

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Sands China, Ltd. announced on Tuesday a partnership that sees three new hotels in Macau join InterContinental Alliance Resorts within the next 18 months. Unfortunately, it appears that this announcement has also effectively created a new top category for award stays, as the two currently available properties are both pricing out at 75,000 points per night.Effective immediately, The Venetian Macao and The Parisian Macao are full-fledged members of the alliance, which offers perks and amenities for members at non-IHG owned and operated properties....

Beer, soda and tomato juice won’t be the only canned beverages available on JetBlue flights.The airline has partnered with Boston-based Archer Roose to serve canned Sauvignon Blanc onboard starting this month.In the spring, the white wine will be replaced with a rosé option.Archer Roose canned Sauvignon Blanc. (Image courtesy of Archer Roose.)“At JetBlue, we want traveling to be an enjoyable experience from takeoff to touchdown, which is why we’re always looking to bring new and unique products onboard for our customers to enjoy,” Mariya Stoyanova, JetBlue’s director of product development said in a statement....

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.If you’ve ever wanted to fly a plane but haven’t had the chance to hop in the cockpit, the best way to do so is via a flight simulator. And on Sunday, Microsoft announced a new iteration of its Flight Simulator, which is coming soon for Xbox and PC....

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.Today is my birthday and while I’ve already gotten myself a gift (a $260 roundtrip ticket to Madrid which I splurged and upgraded both directions, an Air Europa ticket to Barcelona, one night at Le Meridien Barcelona on points and two nights at the Westin Palace Madrid on cash and points), I thought I’d create a travel wish list....

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.Priority Pass, the 1,300+ strong airport lounge network accessible by a variety of different credit cards, is losing another Alaska lounge, with the lounge in Portland due to end its membership as of November 1, 2019. This is sad news for cardholders, as the program continues losing participants seemingly as speedily as it’s gaining them, with big names like the Timberline restaurant (in Denver) and P....

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.The rapper Drake has taken to Instagram to show off his newly acquired Boeing 767, the Air Drake. The jet is said to have two onboard bedrooms and have cost between $75 and $100 million, according to The Blast....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Silvercar, the app-based car rental company, has announced the next city in its expansion. Starting April 2, 2018, passengers will be able to reserve cars at San Diego International Airport (SAN).San Diego is Silvercar’s third location in California after Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) and its 20th in the US. Salt Lake City was the most recent city to welcome Silvercar, which began operations in Utah’s capitol in January....

If you’re looking to head to Tahiti on points and miles, you’re in luck. There’s some surprisingly good award availability in business class on Air Tahiti Nui’s brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.While the B/E Aerospace Diamond business class seats don’t provide the most privacy, the 2-2-2 arrangement is perfect for couples traveling together. And now you can travel together with a special someone to Papeete, Tahiti, in business class on numerous dates....

Super Typhoon Yutu hit the Northern Mariana Islands yesterday causing chaos and destruction in the US territory. Both of the major islands, Saipan and Tinian, were extensively damaged by Yutu. So far one death has been reported by the storm, killing a 44 year-old woman on Tinian.Yutu is reportedly the strongest storm to ever hit a US territory and the second strongest to hit the US overall. Winds reached 178 mph as the eye of the storm passed directly over Tinian....

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for the airline industry. During the first lockdown period, airlines around the world were forced to slash operating capacity as a result of the decrease in demand and strict government-imposed entry restrictions. Others completely suspended operations.Then, the summer came along. Receding infection rates and countries lifting entry requirements allowed the industry to restart to some degree....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Previously, Singapore Airlines customers couldn’t redeem their KrisFlyer miles for the airline’s new premium economy product. However, they could redeem those miles for Singapore Suites, first class, business class and economy awards. But that’s changing very soon — effective May 24, travelers will be able to redeem their KrisFlyer miles for the Singapore premium economy. In addition, customers will also be able to upgrade their seat using miles from a paid premium economy to business class or from a coach to premium economy seat starting on June 1....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Winter can sometimes summon seasonal blues. To help lift spirits – and, of course, ring in Lent and the eventual spring thaw – a slew of cities around the world kick the doldrums to the curb with their biggest parties of the year. Here are 5 Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations from TPG Contributor Kelsy Chauvin that heat up the frosty season....

Jet Airways, formerly the largest privately-owned airline in India, announced Wednesday that the airline has suspended all operations after failing to fundraise enough cash to stay afloat. Less than a week ago, Jet canceled all international flights through April 15, raising fears that the carrier was in danger of losing it all.“Since no emergency funding from the lenders or any other source is forthcoming, the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going,” a Jet Airways statement said....

British Airways has decided to experiment with inflight hygiene.Last week, BA ran a “no clean” trial between busy flights from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Dublin Airport (DUB) — the route that was previously named the busiest in Europe in 2018. The trial was to see if cutting out the usual cleaning process between flights could save time and decrease delays.The regular British Airways cabin cleaning routine between flights involves a crew of designated ground staff who board the plane after passengers disembark to tidy up for the next trip....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.On the heels of cheap flight deals from the West Coast to Asia from ~$600 and the East Coast to Asia from $550, it looks like there are even more cheap flights to Asia available this spring, early summer and fall from New York, Charlotte, Miami, Chicago and more.The easiest way to search for these flights is to head over to Google Flights or Orbitz, where you can enter your desired city pairs and dates to get a calendar view of prices....

The last few days have been full of big news for Delta Air Lines. First, the carrier announced it was buying a 20% stake in Latin America’s biggest airline, LATAM, a surprise move that shook up airline alliances. Then the news came of a coming major relaunch of the cobranded American Express card portfolio.We had Sandeep Dube, head of Delta SkyMiles and Delta Vacations, and Eva Reda, from Amex’s Global Consumer Partnerships, on Talking Points to find out what factors they considered and why they removed certain benefits like, lounge access for non-Delta Reserve card holders....

“Reader Questions” are answered twice a week by TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Ethan Steinberg.Once you’ve mastered the subtle art of points accumulation by leveraging the right credit card welcome offers and bonus categories, it’s time to turn your attention to the ins and outs of actually redeeming your points. While it’s easy enough to find the award prices for most routes, the hard part is learning the quirks of each program....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Hurricane Irma is expected to hit Miami on Sunday morning as a Category 4 hurricane, and residents and visitors in South Florida are evacuating. At the time of this writing, all of the major US carriers have issued travel waivers for travel to South Florida and a slew of Caribbean Islands. If you’re traveling to or from the affected area between now and when the waivers expire, it’s advisable to change your plans....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Premier Rewards Gold Card from American ExpressTPG Assistant Editor Melanie Wynne takes a new travel app called Hitlist, which promises to get you to your dream destinations for less, out for a spin.Fresh out of beta, a new travel app called Hitlist by Tripcommon monitors your favorite destinations and alerts you when flights there go down in price....