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Delta’s first Airbus A350 is coming! Oh, no, wait… it’s here? Yup — yesterday, with absolutely no fanfare, the first US carrier to operate Airbus’ latest wide-body jet took possession of its first aircraft in Toulouse, France.When Singapore Airlines took delivery of an A350-900 at TLS last year, airline executives, partners, crew members and journalists flew in, including TPG and myself, with some journeying from as far as Australia. There were several days of tours and events, culminating in a nonstop flight to Singapore (SIN) on the factory-fresh plane....

Hilton announced a promotion for Carlson Wagonlit Travel customers that’s kind of like an airline elite status challenge. Travelers stay four times within 90 days of registering for the promotion to get HHonors Gold Status. Update: Some people have reported getting the upgraded status within minutes of signing up - I have Hilton Silver and my status has not changed since signing up, so it’s very likely you can’t have elite status in order to get the Gold....

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with the latest information.Your credit score is a critical metric for your ability to receive a credit card and score a lucrative sign-up bonus. Knowing your score — and how to improve it — is a fundamental of the points-and-miles hobby.Before 2005, you would have probably had to pay to check your credit score. But since then, you can check your credit score for free from each credit reporting agency once every 12 months....

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.Saturday’s loyalty program merger has been more than two years in the making. As part of the Marriott Rewards-Starwood Preferred Guest integration, various websites, apps and booking platforms will go offline throughout the day, making booking or changing a stay all but impossible at times....

Like many other airlines and hotels, Marriott offers an invitation-only level of elite status above the ones it offers publicly. Platinum Premier is offered to the top few percent of Marriott customers who spend the most money and nights at the chain’s hotels, though exactly how much you need to spend and stay to be invited isn’t publicized.Historically Platinum Premier hasn’t offered much more than standard Marriott Platinum status. Recognition of the status varies tremendously from property to property, with some Marriott hotels treating Platinum Premier customers like royalty while others don’t even recognize the status at all....

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.Norwegian Air Shuttle’s CEO, Bjørn Kjos, has big plans for his airline. In the last few months alone, the carrier’s shared plans to start service to Newburgh, New York (SWF), open a flight attendant base and international service in Providence, Rhode Island (PVD) and begin domestic flights in Argentina (yes, you read that right)....

In the fall of 2017, Delta introduced its first Airbus A350 into commercial service on flights between its hub in Detroit (DTW) and Tokyo-Narita (NRT), which was significant for a few reasons. First, Delta became the first US carrier to operate the new A350, and perhaps even more exciting was that it was Delta’s first aircraft to feature the Delta One Suite — its newest iteration of business class, featuring enclosed suites with sliding doors at each seat....

TPG reader Jim asks:“How do you guys always book those multi-segment awards for the low mileage amounts? I use Expert Flyer and can find the segments I want, but If I try to book it, it seems like it will charge me for each segment individually and not as a single 25,000 domestic or 40,000-60,000 international. The same question applies to the milage runners who will find these tricky routings for a low price....

Uber’s license to operate in Massachusetts is under review after the ride-sharing company charged customers surge pricing during a state of emergency declared for a nor’easter blizzard in the state earlier in 2018.During the early March snowstorm, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency. As part of those measures, the state’s Department of Public Utilities, which oversees ride-sharing operations, sent notices to all ride-sharing companies alerting them to suspend surge pricing during the storm....

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.Typically, passenger airplanes try and stay as far apart from one another as possible to avoid collisions. But when an aircraft manufacturer wants to show off its fleet of beautiful airliners, it’s willing to take some (albeit incredibly minor) risks....

Update: This product is no longer available.If you are (or were) a fan of the Hilton HHonors program, then you are probably already familiar with the Citi HHonors Reserve Card that came out in the middle of 2012. If you are like me, you are also curious about what impact the recent HHonors changes are on this card since some of the benefits are tied to hotel categories that have now changed....

Update 7/21/17 12:05pm: You can now sign up to be the lucky winner on this one-in-a-lifetime flight. To enter for your chance to win a seat on the flight to see the solar eclipse, visit alaskasolareclipse.com.For the first time since 1918, the United States will see a solar eclipse that spans from coast to coast. “The Great American Eclipse,” as it’s being called, will take place on August 21, 2017, and will be visible in some form or another from the entire continental US....

Update: There are three more quizzes, one for 300 points and two for 100 points each, for a total of 500 points, bringing the total to 2,000 possible bonus Priority Club points.Priority Club has a fun little promotion going on at the moment where you can rack up to 1,500 Priority Club points by taking 3 different quizzes. The only thing is, you have to take each one of them 3 times to get all the points, but you can do it in two minutes, so you might as well take advantage of the free points....

5 nights in paradise flew by and on Sunday, we were ready to get back to Paris to watch the World Cup championship with friends. Our flight was at 9:15am, so we left the hotel around 7am, just to give us time in case driving across the mountain threw us any curves, which thankfully it did not. As seen here, the turns are sharp and the scenery is breathtaking- it took a while to learn to NOT look at the beautiful landscapes when taking sharp turns....

Back at American Airlines’ Media & Investor Day last September, we got a clue that American Airlines was working on enhancements to Main Cabin Extra. Referencing a larger announcement later in the day — which never came — it was teased that Main Cabin Extra passengers would get free drinks and “enhanced bin access.“In the four months since, there’s been an eerie quiet on the matter — leading me to wonder if that idea had been pulled....

This weekend I’m not traveling - which means I’m at home jealously looking at my friends’ Facebook pictures of their holiday weekend jaunts. It also means I’m booking trips for myself, or at least researching good fares and uses of miles (like my Aer Lingus JFK-DUB I just booked yesterday).I’m planning a trip to South America this December and I was just able to book some pretty competitive business/first class fares for peak season in December - $2,500 for roundtrip business class on American (and I’m desperately in need of elite miles/points!...

One of the latest casualties of the Great Squeeze in Economy is the airplane bathroom. On American Airlines’ new 737 MAX — and now being installed on AA’s 737-800s — the economy bathroom measures just 24 inches from wall to wall. The bathroom is so small that a passenger grumbled on the inaugural American Airlines 737 MAX flight that there’s barely enough space to turn around inside.Economy bathroom on American Airlines 737 MAX....

If your American Airlines flight attendant looks a little red, it might not be from being out too long in the sun. It may be due to the new uniforms AA rolled out in September. In total, about 70,000 American Airlines employees — including pilots, flight attendants and customer service employees — received new outfits in the uniform overhaul. Since then, the carrier has received a slew of complaints from flight attendants that these new uniforms have been causing health issues....

We concluded our family spring break trip to Maui with a much anticipated award flight sitting in the “good seats” on an American Airlines 767-300. Hawaii is always worth it, but that doesn’t take away from it being pretty darn far away and from having a time zone that is rough for us both coming and going. Factor in having a seven year old and one year old to take care of no matter how tired you are when you land, and it can be a little painful....

Today TPG Contributor Nick Ewen continues his series The Weekly Wish, looking at flaws, shortcomings, and room for improvement in the world of travel and loyalty programs.There’s no doubt that we live in a connected world. With smartphones, tablets, laptops, and all the other ways we communicate, access, and share information, it’s oftentimes hard to go even five minutes without an active Internet connection. For a while, we had to endure this very thing on flights, though more and more airlines are now adding Wi-Fi to their planes....