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Following the mysterious deaths of three Americans at the Grand Bahia Principe hotel in La Romana in the Dominican Republic, a couple from Colorado now claims that they fell ill at the very same resort in June 2018.ABC News reported that Kaylynn Knull and her boyfriend, Tom Schwander, began feeling ill on their vacation after smelling a strong fume-like scent in their hotel room. “As soon as we came back to the room, we noticed it smelled like somebody had dumped paint everywhere,” Knull told ABC Denver affiliate KMGH in a recent interview....

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....

View this post on Instagram “The aircraft never let me down in 27 years,” Captain Jim Hamilton told me ahead of Delta’s final MD-88 flight on June 2. #avgeek A post shared by Ned Russell (@airbus777) on Jun 3, 2020 at 7:58am PDT View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram “The aircraft never let me down in 27 years,” Captain Jim Hamilton told me ahead of Delta’s final MD-88 flight on June 2....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Delta and American Express are targeting some holders of their co-branded cards with an opportunity to earn additional MQMs toward status. Traditionally, cardholders of the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express and the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express can earn bonus Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) after meeting thresholds up to $50,000 or $60,000, respectively....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.For the third week in a row, demonstrations across France have turned violent. The demonstrations, which began in mid-November, are the result of new fuel taxes that increased the average price of fuel across France. The first round of protests attracted upwards of 300,000 demonstrators and was, for the most part, peaceful. Now, as the anti-fuel tax movement gains support, protests have lingered into December and have grown violent....

Following the decision last month to ground the Boeing 737 MAX worldwide, airlines that operate the aircraft hoped for a quick fix. Boeing had a software update for the MAX version of the 737 in the works before the second crash of the airplane prompted the grounding, but findings from the preliminary investigation of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 have indicated that the MCAS stall-prevention system, which is widely considered to have played a part in both crashes, might require a more thorough fix....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.One of the basic assumptions you make when you book a hotel is that the property will be there when you show up. That assumption was challenged for me a couple months ago when I went to check in to a hotel in New York I had booked using points via Chase’s Ultimate Rewards travel portal.The Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Center portal is great for booking free flights, hotels and more....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Alexis emailed me to ask about a new program American launched to help elites falling short of requalification maintain their current status:“I’m currently American Airlines Gold elite, but I didn’t fly enough to retain the status for 2014 or to qualify for buying the “Boost” option. Is it worth it, in your opinion, to repurchase Gold status for $649?...

A pilot program called Fly With Breeze, or just Breeze, that makes creative use of a “ghost kitchen” – a cooking space used only to prepare food for delivery – is underway in Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Breeze doesn’t have a traditional physical presence in the terminal. Instead, it offers a menu of healthy food items that can only be ordered online, via an app, the LAX Shop & Dine site or via text and then delivered to a pick-up kiosk....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.ANA’s frequent flyer program is just one of many to be the target of a recent devaluation. Today, TPG Contributor Richard Kerr takes a deep dive into ANA’s new award charts, uncovering a few hidden gems.Over the last two years we have seen devaluation after devaluation of points and miles programs. Last November, when ANA announced that it would be joining the ranks of the award chart changers, my heart skipped a beat....

It’s no secret that hotel occupancy rates have significantly decreased in the United States and around the world, due to the novel coronavirus.Get Coronavirus travel updates. Stay on top of industry impacts, flight cancellations, and more.Hotels are finding new ways to repurpose those rooms for those who need them most, with San Francisco considering housing homeless residents to Miami-Dade County restricting rooms to medical personnel and first responders. But to make money, several hotels around the world are offering up their rooms to paying travelers wanting to self-isolate due to the COVID-19 pandemic....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.Today American Express has confirmed the rumors that an American Express Centurion Lounge is heading to the second busiest airport in the United States, LAX! This large new Centurion Lounge is slated to open in 2019 and will measure in at more than 13,900 square feet. The Centurion Lounge will be located post-security in the Tom Bradley International Terminal and accessible to those in Terminals 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8....

This morning, the deal became official: After eight months of finalizing approval, Alaska Airlines has formally tied the corporate knot with Virgin America. This is a merger that some are dreading, while many others are excited about the possibilities of the combined carrier. There’s still plenty of speculation about what this means for the future of both airlines, so let’s take a look at what today’s news means.Question: I’m team #NeverMerger....

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.Amidst whistleblower complaints of lax safety enforcement and their resulting government investigations, the FAA has decided to remove three senior supervisors from the office responsible for Southwest Airlines Co., according to The Wall Street Journal.The Transportation Department’s inspector general has been reviewing safety concerns for months, including lapses in documentation and failure to correctly calibrate luggage weight, the paper reported....

Southwest Airlines has joined its peers in pushing the return of the Boeing 737 MAX to November, a month later than previous expectations.The Dallas-based airline has removed the aircraft from schedules through Nov. 2, it said Thursday. American Airlines and United Airlines have already cut the MAX from their schedules through the same date.“With the timing of the MAX’s return-to-service still uncertain, we are again revising our plans to remove the MAX from our schedule,” Southwest says in a statement....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.The SPG and Marriott loyalty programs don’t fully combine until August 1st, but we will hit some ’last chance’ deadlines before then. In fact, we may have already passed the point of no return with some SPG and Marriott points opportunities. A perfect example can be seen in the SPG Amex credit cards now only offering statement credits as welcome bonuses right now instead of offering SPG points…though Amex says welcome bonuses of points will return at some point....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Robbie asks a great question about perks and benefits at non-points hotels:“Do you know any way to get discounts or free nights at the Four Seasons Maui? I am going for my honeymoon end of this month and would love to be able to stay at there.“There are a few different ways to get great free perks and discounts for a room like this at the Four Seasons Maui....

Hawaiian Airlines ruled the skies for the month of September, while JetBlue struggled to keep up, and Newark Liberty was arguably the worst major airport in the US, according to the latest government statistics.Scouring through the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report, compiled by the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings and Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Safety Authority, clear winners and losers in aviation emerged....

Each week in his column “The Critical Points,” TPG Loyalty and Engagement Editor Richard Kerr presents his opinion on a loyalty program, card product or recent news that he believes is overlooked, unsung or the result of groupthink taking mass opinion in a direction with which he doesn’t agree. His goal is not necessarily to convince you to agree with his position but rather to induce critical thought for each of the topics and positions he covers....