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On Friday evening, a TPG reader had a miserable experience checking into an American Airlines flight from Philadelphia (PHL). By the end of the check-in experience, he would have his phone thrown on the ground and his ticket cancelled.From speaking with the passenger and American Airlines, here’s what we understand happened. The passenger, who asked to remain anonymous, arrived at the PHL Priority check-in counter 75 minutes before the departure of his flight to Boston (BOS) Friday night....

The CEO of Aer Lingus said that Alaska and Irish carrier Aer Lingus will be forming a new partnership to serve travelers this spring.In an interview with The Seattle Times, Aer Lingus CEO Stephan Kavanagh announced the partnership, which comes on the heels of the airlines’ plans to expand in the US. Starting May 18, Aer Lingus will start year-round service between Seattle and Dublin.But, the most exciting bit of news is that Kavanagh met with Alaska CEO Brad Tilden recently, and the airlines plan to “announce a formal partnership before flights commence in May....

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.Business frequent flyer programs can be a great way to double dip and earn even more miles every time you fly that you can redeem for award tickets, upgrades, Admirals Club day passes and memberships and more. So I’m always curious when airlines launch promos through their business programs like American’s Business ExtrAA’s current Triple Points promo....

One of the most hectic scenes at an airport can be seen from looking out your window down onto the tarmac. People zipping around directing pilots, cars yielding to oncoming aircraft and catering orders being filled. But among all the chaos and movement, there is order and organization, and thanks to United’s Big Metal Bird series, we have an opportunity to understand everything that goes into turning a plane.Previously, we’ve looked at the inner workings of flight attendants, and now we can see the tasks of the ground crew....

With a whopping 30 or so brands in the combined Marriott-Starwood portfolio, it can be difficult to tell what really sets them apart. (I couldn’t tell you the differences between a Renaissance and a Le Méridien if my life depended on it.) But outside of the ultra-luxe brands like Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis, there’s always been one brand with an unmistakable identity: W Hotels. From my first stay with them, at the W Retreat & Spa - Vieques in Puerto Rico, I was instantly hooked on the brand’s brazen blend of modern luxury finishes and psychedelic lights and sounds....

Just like the planes that serve them, some airports are in better shape than others. Today, TPG Contributor Jason Steele shows us some U.S. airports that are undergoing improvements, and a few more that should be.America gets a lot of criticism for having outdated airports. Certainly not every city offers the equivalent of Singapore’s Changi Airport (which has won dozens of awards for being the best airport in the world), but some of our airports are now undergoing dramatic renovations and expansions that will allow them to handle additional passengers with greater convenience and better amenities than ever before....

Passengers traveling through Miami International Airport (MIA) now have a new way to get through the US Customs and Border Protection process upon their return to the US much faster — and simpler. The airport announced the new feature of its official app, MIA Airport Official, Thursday at a press conference along with US Customs and Border Control agents.At first glance, the app itself looks very similar to that of Mobile Passport....

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.Today I’m going to Frequent Traveler University, which is a day-long workshop with the top minds in the frequent traveler space. I’ll be attending sessions by Rick Ingersoll, The Frugal Travel Guy, on tips for maximizing credit card applications as well as sessions by Boarding Area bloggers Ben from One Mile at a Time and Gary from View from the Wing....

Google announced Monday that it will officially be shutting down the Google+ social media platform over the next 10 months. According to The Wall Street Journal, the tech giant suffered a massive data breach in which developers may have had access to Google+ users’ profile data between 2015 and March 2018. Google did not disclose this news, out of fear of “draw[ing] regulatory scrutiny and caus[ing] reputation damage.” Now, in response to the breach, Google said in a blog post that it’s shutting down Google+ for consumers....

If you’ve ever been confused by the complexities of your travel loyalty programs, you’re not alone. Half of all people enrolled in frequent flyer programs have no idea how to earn or redeem rewards.That is what marketing data firm JD Power found in its 2018 Airline Loyalty Program Satisfaction Study, which it released Wednesday.The study results showed that “about half” of all airline loyalty program members said they didn’t know how to earn or redeem their points and miles....

For US travelers, China can be an intimidating destination on immigration grounds alone. The world’s most populous country has some of the most stringent visa requirements of any nation in the world. But what if you purchase a connecting flight through Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, all airports with lots of international connections? Will a US or European citizen be allowed to transit the airport? Can they access airport hotels?The short answer is yes....

In October Iberia Airlines announced it would be adding a premium economy cabin to its long-haul flights starting in 2017, which meant it was only a matter of time before we’d see a set of award prices for these new seats. Those new prices have now arrived… but they’ve brought along a few eye-opening surprises with them.First, let’s take a look at the new Iberia Avios award charts which are distance-based like its British Airways cousin, using Madrid as the origin (the distance bands are in parentheses)....

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.Priority Club is in the process of changing the number of points needed to redeem for free nights (read: they are increasing the amount of points needed to book many hotels). 40,000 used to be the maximum amount of points needed for an Intercontinental, but as of today many are now at 50,000....

Update 1/17/17 2:00pm: Reuters is now reporting from additional sources that while Lufthansa and Etihad are discussing code sharing and catering cooperation, a financial stake between the airlines “is out of the question at the moment.“Could another airline mega-merger be in the works?Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported today that Etihad Airways and the Lufthansa Group are in discussions for Etihad to purchase a 30-40% minority stake in the German airline, with potentially a complete merger to follow....

An Australian man is suing American Airlines for being squished by two “grossly obese” passengers on a long-haul flight. Michael Anthony Taylor, 67, is seeking more than AUD 100,000 (~$74,000) in damages from AA, claiming he suffered injuries when he was forced to contort his body in order to sit next to two overweight passengers.On the December 2015 American Airlines flight from Sydney (SYD) to Los Angeles (LAX), Taylor was sitting in a window seat in economy on the Boeing 777-300ER....

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I had a… unique experience at Miami Airport last night. As I wrote about last week, a blog reader generously gave me a 4 night stay at the Four Seasons Provence, so I used 50,000 United miles to book a one-way business class award on Swiss from Miami to Nice via Zurich. I’ve had a lot of success using United miles on valuable Star Alliance awards, like my recent Lufthansa first class experience....

The Delta first officer had just landed her Embraer E175 Regional Jet at LGA. It was an unremarkable landing, one of hundreds every day at La Guardia—except for one important fact noted by the captain.As the plane was taxiing to the gate, the captain announced over the PA system, in his perfect captain’s voice:“Congratulations to First Officer Carolina Larsson on her first landing in a real plane!”It was a moment to remember for the newly-minted Delta regional pilot....

Adele, Beyonce, U2, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Maroon 5 have a common denominator: Ryan Tedder produced each of those superstars. When Tedder, 37, isn’t behind the board working with those residing in pop music’s stratosphere, he’s fronting his own band, OneRepublic, which is currently on a tour sponsored by American Airlines and Mastercard. In other words, he’s the perfect guy to talk to about travel.Here, Tedder, who is out with his band promoting OneRepublic’s latest album, “Oh My My,” reveals why points are a huge part of his Christmas each year and what you should be aware of when booking your next trip to Lake Como....

June’s been a mixed month at the TSA, with its agents making news for the odd stuff they let fly (a massive lobster), and for one agent who attempted to steal one passenger’s cash. But with the end of the month upon us, it’s time once again to take a look at some of the agency’s wackiest finds. Taken from the TSA’s semi-regularly updated Instagram page, these items stand out for their creativity, craziness and other totally arbitrary adjectives....

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.With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, significant others around the country are hurrying to book that reservation or trip to a romantic hotspot. For those still searching, OpenTable has some geographic intel with its list of most romantic cities in the country....