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TPG Reader Adam B. recently posed this question to the rest of the TPG Lounge:“What are your favorite points hotels that don’t feel like points hotels? I’m talking about places with history that don’t say Marriott or Hilton or any hotel brand name anywhere. A few of my favorites are Hotel del Coronado (Curio Collection by Hilton) and Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa (Autograph Collection by Marriott).” — Adam B.Here’s a look at some of our favorite answers from our well-traveled TPG Lounge audience....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The SPG Luxury Card is now the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. See this post for information on what counts toward the $300 credit on the Bonvoy Brilliant.The Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card opened for applications just two weeks ago and is a solid option for Marriott and SPG loyalists. TPG reader Jonathan wants to know what purchases are covered by the new card’s yearly hotel credit…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Jonathan”]Does the $300 annual credit cover the cost of a room or only anything else you’d spend in the hotel?...

The inaugural TPG Awards is taking place on December 4, and you can take part in our “10 Days of Travel” contest in connection with the awards. In case you missed earlier posts, all you need to do to enter is vote for winners in our Readers’ Choice categories. As soon as you complete the secure Google poll, you’ll automatically be added to the list to win that day’s prize and all future prizes, culminating in an incredible giveaway on November 1: a first-class flight on Emirates!...

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here: Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit CardEach 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:Thai first class was a totally luxurious experience, and one of the best redemptions around....

In a fiasco reminiscent of Aeroplan’s recent award site disaster, Avianca’s LifeMiles website also appears to be completely inaccessible as of Sunday.TPG reader Jacob M. wrote in saying that the site has been down for him for three days, with no way to make, modify or even view reservations. A commenter in the TPG Lounge said he was having similar issues.To verify, we headed over to the LifeMiles website to see for ourselves....

British Airways announced on Thursday a firm order for 18 Boeing 777-9 aircraft, with an option for a further 24 variants of the aircraft in a multi-billion-dollar order.At list price, the full order comes at a cost of almost $20 billion, although airlines usually receive a deep discount for large orders like this.The new aircraft, to be delivered from 2022, will replace 14 of the airline’s existing Boeing 747 jumbo jets as well as four older Boeing 777-200s....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.We’ve upgraded our “Sunday Reader Question” series! Our new “Reader Questions” are answered three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — by TPG Senior Writer Julian Mark Kheel.A number of TPG readers have been asking questions about Chase Ultimate Rewards and the Southwest Companion Pass, such as this email that arrived from Douglas…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Douglas”]You mentioned that one cannot use Chase points to earn a Companion Pass....

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 there’s only one rule you follow when it comes to travel rewards credit cards, it’s that you should never carry a balance. The massive interest rates banks charge — especially on travel rewards cards — will quickly strip away any value you may earn from points and miles....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.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, which allows you to cancel flights without penalty by 11pm Eastern Time within one day of booking. Remember: Fares may disappear quickly, so book right away and take advantage of Orbitz’s courtesy cancellation if you’re unable to travel....

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.After I launched a post yesterday reviewing the (gorgeous) St. Regis Punta Mita, I received multiple emails asking me how to earn more SPG points. This isn’t exactly surprising because the reality is, as I pointed out in that post, they are one of the harder types of miles and points to earn unless you naturally have lots of paid SPG hotel stays....

Last week Fiji Airways announced it would be acquiring two Airbus A350-900s later this year, and now we know where the airline will fly. Routes Online reports that starting January 1, 2020, Fiji Airways will fly its new aircraft between its hub in Nadi, Fiji (NAN) and Sydney (SYD) and Los Angeles (LAX).Flights between Sydney and Nadi will occur once per week whereas LA will see six weekly frequencies from the new aircraft....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Starwood Preferred Guest is offering a great little side bonus this fall: between September 10 and December 9, 2012 you can get 3,000 Aeroplan miles when you stay 3 nights at any SPG hotel, 5,000 miles for 5 nights and if you stay at a Canadian SPG hotel for 3 of those nights you get an extra 3,000 points, for a total bonus of us to 8,000 Aeroplan miles....

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.Authorities closed Hanover Airport (HAJ) in northern Germany on Saturday around 3:30pm local time after a man drove a silver BMW with Polish license plates through a passageway and onto the tarmac. The car then began following an Aegean Airlines flight that had just landed....

Hong Kong airlines is looking to cut as many as 10 aircraft from its current fleet as public doubt over the financial viability of the company continues to mount. Government regulators are pushing for the airline to turn over financial statements as the government has again strongly stated doubt over the health of the airline.The battle between the airline and government regulators has been raging for months as the airline attempts to challenge the idea that it could at any moment go out of business....

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Oct 30, 2020 at 5:03am PDT View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Oct 30, 2020 at 5:03am PDT

It’s official: the 737 MAX is grounded in the US as well as pretty much everywhere else in the world. US-based airlines have some of the largest 737 MAX fleets in the world, with Southwest, American Airlines and United having a total of 72 between them.Combined, these airlines have around 2,500 aircraft in their active fleets. So, 72 grounded airplanes might not seem like it’d have much of an impact. However, those 72 aircraft were scheduled to operate more than 2,000 flights per week....

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.It turns out, Marriott — which, among being one of the most well-known hotel brands in the world, is perhaps one of the most used terms to ever grace The Points Guy — isn’t pronounced how we thought....

Since leaving my accounting job in September 2016 up until mid-December 2018, I’d flown 624,998 miles – including 309,306 miles in economy and another 73,955 miles in premium economy – on 46 different airlines.For most people, that’d already be way too much flying. However, I found an “issue” when counting up my miles for 2018. So, I tossed it out to the internet:OK, maybe the choices were a little skewed. Unfazed by the multiple choice options, some TPG readers made their opinions heard:Others reached out to check if hitting 300k would get me any additional status or benefits:Sure enough, I’d already hit almost exactly 150,000 American Airlines Elite Qualifying Miles – and taken an unnecessary connection to do so....

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Airport Architecture (@airportarchitecture) on Mar 2, 2018 at 11:18am PST View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram A post shared by Airport Architecture (@airportarchitecture) on Mar 2, 2018 at 11:18am PST