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I’m a big fan of original, creative promotions and Wyndham certainly takes the cake with their My Horrible Holiday Gift Contest:“For those fearful of an ugly sweater, tasteless fruitcake or other lackluster item gracing their holiday gift pile this year, Wyndham Rewards® is offering up “My Horrible Holiday Gift,” a new contest that gives members a chance at trading in their less-than-desirable gift for two million Wyndham Rewards points or other valuable prizes including $50 and $100 gift cards....

Qantas made history in March by flying the first passenger flight between Australia and Europe using one of its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. But, before that flight launched even launched, I got to take the the brand-new aircraft for a ride on a domestic training flight from Sydney (SYD) to Melbourne (MEL) in premium economy and again from Melbourne (MEL) to Perth (PER) in business class.Here’s my take on the business-class product on the Qantas’ latest and greatest aircraft....

Last week was good for miles and points bonus promotions.For those of you who missed it, I thought I’d do a quick recap of each promotion and whether it might be worth it.1. 50% Transfer Bonus on Amex Membership Rewards to British Airways Avios: One of the best parts of the Amex Membership Rewards points program is the lucrative transfer bonuses they run from time to time with partners such as Delta and British Airways, including this current offer running now through May 31, 2012, of a 50% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to British Airways....

Today through December 6, 2014, American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn up to 100,000 bonus miles for taking a maximum of four eligible round-trip flights on any of AA’s new non-stop routes between the US and Asia. Register prior to travel using promotion code ASIA2, purchase a qualifying First Class, Business Class or select Economy Class fare ticket, and complete travel by December 6, 2014.Earn up to 100k AAdvantage bonus miles on eligible, non-stop US>Asia routes on American....

Conde Nast Traveler is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with a huge gala on the evening of Tuesday, September 18 at 6pm, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City to honor the 12 “remarkable global citizens” doing extraordinary things across the world detailed in this issue’s “Visionaries 2012” feature. I’ll be attending the black tie-optional event and I have an extra ticket to give away and I want to take one of my readers with me to enjoy the evening’s festivities....

American Airlines currently offers the lowest business-class award rates to Europe of any of the major US carriers, but that doesn’t do you any good when there isn’t any availability. Well, right now there is! Currently, AA is offering at least two business-class award seats on many of its flights to Manchester, including nonstop options from New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.Award seats are available from February through the end of the schedule in November 2016....

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.Avianca’s LifeMiles program has been getting considerable attention lately, and now the program is running a promotion that let’s you score a pretty great deal on purchased miles. From now through November 27, 2017, you can buy them with a 145% bonus — no matter how many (or few) you buy....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here - Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MastercardThis week, Icelandair announced that it will add four weekly nonstop flights between Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Keflavik International Airport (KEF) starting in March 2016. Available year-round with service on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, these flights will connect to more than 20 destinations in Europe.New nonstop Icelandair flights from ORD-KEF will begin in March 2016....

Could jet lag affect the performance of Major League Baseball players? A study released by Northwestern University suggests traveling through time zones could do more than increase drowsiness and overall discomfort.In reviewing more than 40,000 actual games played between 1992 and 2011, the research team discovered that traveling across time zones had a direct effect on how baseball players performed on the field. In particular, teams playing at home immediately after a road trip produced less offense, while away teams traveling in performed better....

Last night, we shared an outrageous business-class fare on flights operated by Qatar Airways, with travel originating in Vietnam priced from just $555 round-trip. Flights to the US came in around $700, which is a fantastic fare as well. In fact, to give you an idea of just how good a deal this was, some of the same itineraries are now pricing at more than $4,700 round-trip.Like many TPG readers, I was thrilled — I’m a big fan of Qatar’s business-class product, and I figured this itinerary would give me an opportunity to fly the airline’s new Qsuite business class to New York once that launches “in September....

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.MegaDo, one of the largest annual aviation events, is quickly approaching. Each year, the event gives AvGeeks an all-access look at the inner workings of airport operations, hangar parties, private chartered flights and much more. It truly is a week of any AvGeek’s dreams....

Singapore Airlines will soon become the first operator of the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. When the carrier takes delivery of the first of its 49 787-10s on order, it will operate it on the route between Singapore (SIN) and Osaka (KIX).Singapore Airlines announced on Thursday that its first Dreamliner route between SIN and KIX will commence in May 2018. Singapore expects to take delivery of the first of its stretched Dreamliners, the largest version of the 787, in March....

Robert Sumwalt, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), gave a brief update Wednesday afternoon on the investigation into Southwest Flight 1380.Sumwalt spoke at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) for about 20 minutes, explaining that preliminary data shows the plane’s vibration increased after the engine blew, and that the aircraft did an uncommanded right bank roll at 41 degrees. He praised the pilots’ presence of mind in bringing the Boeing 737-700 safely to ground at an airspeed of 190 mph, 34 mph faster than the usual landing speed....

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.While I may not be the luckiest person when it comes to contests, almost every time I post about them I end up getting emails from TPG readers who end up wining. Last year one TPG winner won big in the Southwest 10 million point giveaway and recently a TPG reader emailed me that he had won one of the free British Airways tickets to Europe!...

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.The Wall Street Journal’s Middle Seat column reported recently that the TSA is considering rolling out an expedited security program for frequent flyers. This was music to my ears because I think our current “one size fits all” security system is out-dated, over-worked and clunky....

Uber announced that it will start obscuring riders’ exact pickup and drop-off locations in its drivers’ logs with a new pilot feature in the app launching soon.Instead of pinpointing your locations, the app will display a more general location as the pickup/drop-off point.Under the current version of the app, Uber drivers are given a record of the exact drop-off and pick-up addresses of their riders in their trip history. Even more invasive, riders’ addresses are stored in a driver’s trip history indefinitely– even if a rider deletes their account and data from Uber....

A United Airlines flight landed safely at Denver International Airport (DEN) on Monday night, after two of the tires on the Boeing 737 blew out after touching down.United flight 448 from Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS) landed at DEN before the flight crew discovered the issue with the tires, the airline told the AP. According to United, the tires flattened after landing, and the aircraft was stopped on the taxiway. The 165 people on board were evacuated from the plane and bussed the rest of the way to the terminal....

Passengers aboard Delta flight 302 had quite the experience on Wednesday. Their 737-900 took off at 12:52PM local from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York JFK packed full with 173 travelers — the last flight out of SJU before Hurricane Irma’s full force hit the island. It had landed just 40 minutes earlier, weaving its way through the hurricane’s outer bands, after many other flights had diverted to other airports rather than try and land in San Juan....

Delta’s Boeing 747 farewell tour has been drawn out for what seems like an eternity. But on Wednesday, on its actual final flight to Pinal Airpark (MZJ) near Tucson, Arizona, those on board are witnessed a special occasion in addition to the already special last 747 flight — a couple said “I do” while on the flight.According to social media reports from those on board, the couple that got hitched have a very special connection to the 747....

At the Paris Air Show today, Airbus announced that it’s working to make the flying experience more comfortable for passengers. The company said today that the A320 will be joining the Airspace family, meaning the interior of the A320 will undergo a major refresh.After the A320 gets the Airspace treatment, both crew and passengers will see the benefits. The crew will find cockpit ergonomics similar to that of Airbus wide-body aircraft, and passengers can expect a more comfortable ride....