Posts

Did you know North American airlines account for almost one-quarter of international air travel? And, believe it or not with oversold flights making news in the US, that flights on European carriers are more packed than the US?On Thursday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released international air traffic stats and trends from August. While only true aviation nerds would want to read the whole thing, there are some fascinating stats and trends discussed in the data....

In between all the barbecues and beaches of this past Labor Day Weekend, it’s easy to disconnect a bit from social media to spend time with your friends and family as summer winds down. But, something caught our attention online — and it wasn’t just Chiara Ferragni’s wedding, or any of her gorgeous dresses.Instead, it was the fact that Ailitalia, a bankrupt airline, sponsored part of it.But first, a little background: Chiara Ferragni is an Instagram influencer behind The Blonde Salad, a massively popular fashion blog....

Alaska Airlines is in hot water after separating a gay couple seated together in Premium Class (Alaska’s version of premium-economy) to make room for a straight couple who wanted to sit together. To make matters worse, the alternate seat offered was for standard economy.David Cooley, founder and owner of the West Hollywood bar The Abbey, was flying from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) with his partner on Sunday when the incident occurred....

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.More post-Brexit changes are coming to British Airways. Following last month’s cuts to food service in the Club World cabin, the carrier is making more service adjustments — this time in economy. If you’re flying on a transatlantic flight under 8....

When major news hit, such as the recent official merger of American Airlines and US Airways, I talk to major news outlets all over the place. When reporters are looking to pull quick quotes and soundbytes, though, it’s often difficult to give the full context of what I am explaining or detailed advice.That’s why, when the editor of the LA Times Travel Section asked me to pen an article to complement my appearance at the LA Times Travel Show last week, I jumped at the chance to give a full picture of what I do day-to-day here on the blog - not to mention the opportunity to write an article for a national newspaper like the LA Times....

A LaGuardia Airport (LGA) cleaning crew made a gruesome discovery on board an American Airlines plane that was parked in an airport hangar. A deceased fetus was found in the plane’s lavatory on Tuesday morning.AA Flight 1942 had landed at LGA on Monday night, flying in from Charlotte (CLT). The Airbus A321 — registration N199UW — arrived at LGA’s Terminal B at 10:44pm on Monday. The discovery was made before 7:00am Tuesday, according to NBC New York....

One of the more interesting airline partnerships is that between Alaska Airlines and Emirates. Neither is in one of the three major alliances, and Alaska is the only US carrier whose miles you can earn and redeem on Emirates. In fact, it was by redeeming Alaska miles that I flew Emirates’ famous first class suites aboard an A380 last year from Dubai to New York.On the earning side, Alaska has sweetened this partnership by extending full elite-qualifying mileage earning to all its partners including Emirates, so if you are paying for an Emirates flight, sending those frequent flyer miles to your Alaska Mileage Plan account is a great option to have....

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.Hyatt and American Airlines have teamed to offer travelers bonus AAdvantage miles on your next eligible Hyatt stay. Through June 30, 2018, you can earn 1,000 bonus AAdvantage miles per qualifying stay at any Hyatt Place or Hyatt House property around the world....

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.Looking to bolster your Virgin America Elevate wallet? The airline recently launched a new referral promotion that will reward members with 500 points for each friend you can get to sign up for the Elevate rewards program. Unfortunately, the promotion caps you at 2,500 points (worth up to $57....

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.Navigating through unknown airport terminals can be a nightmare; you don’t know which way to go, where your gate is or if there’s a change, or where the restrooms and restaurants are. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines wants to change that and make your trips a little bit easier this summer....

When people talk about binge-watching Netflix shows I can’t relate. I don’t even have my own shows that I watch, not to mention no concept of how you can come up with hours to lay around and watch a show. I mean, it sounds absolutely glorious, I just can’t relate. I can, however, tell you all about shows on Nick Jr. and Disney, or even branch into discussing a few kid-appropriate shows that don’t involve cartoon characters, but I don’t have a single show of my very own that I occasionally watch, much less binge-watch....

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.Continental/United just loaded a ton of dirt cheap fares to/from Chicago and San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, San Jose, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Phoenix, Ontario and Salt Lake City.For example, Chicago to San Francisco from August through November has a base roundtrip fare of $120 and comes to a whopping $141 total roundtrip....

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.Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow, Sunday July 31, 2011, is the last day to take advantage of the American Express to British Airways transfer bonus. I’ve highlighted the British Airways Executive Club program details in a 10 part series and compared it against Delta, but if you have any lingering questions that are keeping you from pulling the trigger, feel free to comment below and either me or other savvy TPG readers will chime in to help you make your decision....

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.TPG reader Garrett writes:“I’m about to get Hyatt Diamond and was wondering what their amenity policy is on award stays. Based on what I’ve read from your posts over the last year, it seems like the amenities are usually given on award stays like room upgrades (not always a suite) and club access or breakfast....

When it comes to air travel, for consumers, it’s usually all about the fare and the experience. But what about the people behind the scenes running the show and determining what that experience and those fares looks like? Well, behind each of the largest US airlines is a CEO at the helm — and they earn a lot of money. But how much do each of them earn exactly, and who makes the most?...

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 NFL Sunday, which means yet another opportunity to earn 1,000 free Marriott Rewards points as part of the hotel chain’s “Extra Points Sundays” promotion. The new football trivia question is now up, and as always, you’ll want to tweet your answer by 8pm EST this Sunday, December 17....

Frontier Airlines is giving 1,000 free points for signing up for their free frequent flyer program. Frontier is based in Denver and is an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner, but if you never have any intention of flying them, you should still get the points, because they can be converted to other programs (see list below).All you need to do is sign up for an account here.Then get a points....

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) became the first airline in Scandinavia — and among the first airlines in Europe — to introduce the world’s most fuel efficient single-aisle aircraft, the Airbus A320neo, to its fleet. I joined Airbus and SAS during the delivery of its first A320neo. In case you were wondering, the “NEO” stands for “new engine option,” which has recently been updated to mean “new environment option” — but both cases still apply....

Some people love April Fools Day, while others can’t stand it. Regardless of your feelings on the matter, it’s a holiday that’s become tough to avoid, especially in recent years as companies have gotten in on the joke with their own online pranks.With April 1 falling on a Sunday in 2018, we didn’t see quite as many airlines and hotels pulling April Fools jokes as we did last year — a fact that some folks will greatly appreciate....

There are some unique frequent flyer programs out there, and most of them — with the exception of a few, including Delta and JetBlue — have expiration policies in effect. In order to keep those miles alive and safe from expiring — one of the most costly and wasteful things that can happen in the points and miles hobby — there are several strategies to keep in mind.Expiring miles took a different meaning with Alitalia’s MilleMiglia program, where everyone’s miles expired on a set date....