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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit CardUntil now, the public offer on the Chase AirTran Visa has been 16 A+ Rewards credits when you spent $1,000 in 3 months and two single-segment business class upgrades with your first purchase.Now, however, Chase has increased the sign-up bonus on the public offer for the card (this offer was previously available to targeted consumers) to 32 A+ Rewards credits when you spend $2,000 in 3 months as well as two single-segment business class upgrades with your first purchase....

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 goes without saying that building and opening a new airport is no easy task. One of the biggest challenges is finding the space for it. After all, commercial airport runways are typically at least 1.1 miles long — usually more....

Airbus and Boeing have a new competitor growing in China. The state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. recently unveiled its new twin-engine C919 jet, which is expected to take on the 737 and A320 aircraft. This narrow-body jet will hold about 168 passengers, a similar capacity to the other planes.The C919 hasn’t taken flight just yet, but the Commercial Aircraft Corp. has reportedly received more than 500 orders from 21 customers. The plane was originally planned to enter service in 2016, but that’s been delayed to 2019 due to production setbacks....

If it seems like everyone around you is sick, it might be because according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) we are in peak flu season, and one which started earlier than normal and has brought with it a particularly nasty strain of the H3N2 virus — especially for children and senior citizens.The virus has been so bad this season, it’s being labeled an epidemic and has caused school cancellations in five states across the country....

From recognizing mileage milestones to apologies for a recent delay, Delta’s customer service is about to get a lot more personalized. The airline just improved its Guest Service Tool on flight attendants’ “SkyPro devices” to give flight attendants a heads up if they need to congratulate — or apologize — to you.Delta will mine the data in its systems to compute a “prioritized list of customers to recognize on each domestic flight based on details like Medallion status, achieved milestones, recent flight interruptions and standing as a corporate traveler....

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.United’s specifically targeting back-to-school shoppers with its latest Mileageplus Shopping promotion. With it, you can earn up to 3,000 bonus MileagePlus miles for your purchases, depending on how much you spend through the shopping portal.The promo begins today, July 21, and lasts through August 18, 2017....

Flying Blue, the loyalty program of SkyTeam members Air France and KLM, offers significant potential value for your transferable points. On round-trip award itineraries, it’s been possible to add a stopover for no extra miles or taxes and fees. However, I began receiving Twitter messages and emails from readers saying during their recent attempts to book a stopover on a round-trip itinerary, phone agents told them stopovers were no longer allowed....

I love a fancy lie-flat seat, but I’m also an unashamed advocate of the ultra low-cost air carriers that can get you and your family from Point A to Point B for a ridiculously low price. At least every month or two, I write about a $14 or $19 Frontier Airlines fare sale that simply baffles my mind each and every time. Being able to book tickets and then fly thousands of miles for about the cost of a lunch at Panera, literally opens up the sky to families who would otherwise remain grounded....

If you fly in first class between Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Boston (BOS), you might be lucky enough to be served by a living legend. Bette Nash is the oldest and most experienced flight attendant in the world. And, today, December 31, 2017 is her 82nd birthday!For over 60 years, Bette Nash has charmed passengers. Her fascination with becoming a “stewardess” started when she was 16 and saw a TWA crew pass her family in the terminal of Washington National Airport....

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’s no question that airfare will increase with rising fuel costs. However, high fuel prices aren’t the only thing airlines are worried about. Demand for air travel is growing quicker than infrastructure could handle, and that is threatening the growth of the industry....

While British Airways was able to avoid a Christmas Day strike, it looks like Korean Air wasn’t as lucky. For the first time since 2005, Korean Air pilots have gone on strike — and they’re staying on strike until at least December 31.The union is calling for a 29% increase in pay, but the airline has only offered a 1.9% raise, saying the “pilots’ demands are nonsense.” Currently, Korean pilots average ₩150,000,000 (around $125,000) per year in compensation....

After 45 days of heightened political turmoil, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen finally lifted the state of emergency declaration enacted on February 5, and extended on February 20.Yameen imposed the government lockdown after dissension between his office and the Supreme Court. A court ruling led Yameen’s administration to arrest a number of key political figures in opposition to the current president, including former president Mohamed Nasheed, as well as a majority of the Supreme Court judges....

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin reportedly spent almost $1 million in military flight travel at taxpayers’ expense last year.According to a report obtained by Washington watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Mnuchin racked up the pricey travel bill with eight trips between spring and fall 2017 on military aircraft.The group noted that Mnuchin utilized the military flights for both domestic and international travel opposed to commercial aircraft:“The public still has no reasonable explanation for why Secretary Mnuchin apparently has never used commercial aircraft, while his predecessors did; why his travel is not designed to minimize costs by, for example, scheduling confidential calls when he is not on a short domestic flight; or why he needs military aircraft that can accommodate 120 passengers when his travel manifests contain far fewer names,” the report said....

I’ll be speaking at three upcoming events about maximizing miles and points, and I’m on the nomination committee of The Freddies, so I wanted to personally invite TPG readers to each. I really enjoy meeting readers in person, and I could use your support, so please consider attending any or all of these events. There are a few updates about times and registration, so please read carefully to make sure you can attend any/all that you are interested in....

Starting April 4, Washington, DC restaurateur and real estate leasing agent Andy Seligman will launch Royal Sprinter, a luxury van service that will travel between DC and New York. Joining Vamoose, Amtrak and the Bolt Bus, this is just the latest in a fleet of options for frequent travelers up and down the I-95 Corridor.The interior of the Royal Sprinter (photo by Terry Minix)Royal Sprinter will initially roll out in two customized 14-foot Mercedes vans, each with eight diamond-quilted leather seats in a staggered layout designed to keep passengers from rubbing elbows....

While I was in Cape Town last week, my friends took me to check out one of the hottest restaurants in the city, The Pot Luck Club. The restaurant is located on the 6th floor of The Silo in the Old Biscuit Mill, which is a small former industrial complex that has been reinvented with new merchants, night markets, office space, restaurants and designer stores, so it makes for a cool spot to hang out before or after your meal....

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.On Monday we published our latest data-based travel report on “The Best Hotel Loyalty Programs in the World.” As always, reports like these, which rank companies, always provoke some debate. But based on the feedback we’ve gotten thus far, readers do not seem to think that we misrepresented any specific programs....

Airline pilots always appreciate a tip of the hat from passengers at the end of a successful flight, but starting in the new year, KLM pilots won’t be able to return the gesture.KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, founded in 1919, is eliminating its age-old tradition of caps for pilots, ending nearly a century of formal headwear in the cockpit and outside of it.“Pilots have worn caps since the earliest days of KLM’s existence,” the Amstelveen, Netherlands-based airline said in a statement last week....

Although it’s been in the making for quite some time, this week marked the start of the first foray into international travel by Southwest Airlines. With routes to Punta Cana, Mexico City, Cancun and Montego Bay, the airline is slowly inching it’s way to become a global presence. Well, that might be a stretch- but the more routes the better!Southwest Airlines is now International!This week, in honor of the new routes, we are giving away a $500 gift certificate for use on Southwest!...

For one flight only, Virgin Atlantic is operating UK’s the first-ever “Pride Flight” — an on board, in-air extravaganza to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride all the way from London to New York. It’s operating as a standard revenue flight, and tickets are on sale right now.The Pride Flight is intended to be an all-out celebration of “celebration of queer culture 38,000 feet above the Atlantic.” All crew on board the Pride Flight are members of the LGBTQ+ community — from the cabin crew to the pilots....