Posts

I love Dublin - and not just because my name is Brian Kelly. It’s a charming and fun city that works as a great weekend destination from the east coast. The flight is just 600 miles longer than JFK to San Francisco, so it’s one where I can handle sitting in economy comfort if the price is right.And luckily Delta is offering fares as low as $379 total roundtrip from JFK this fall and $421 from Boston (check your city to see if low fares abound)....

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.A 24-year-old American tourist found an unexploded World World II artillery shell during her vacation in Austria, and then tried to bring it on her flight at Vienna International Airport (VIE) on Monday.The tourist reportedly found the shell while hiking, washed it off in her hotel room and asked Austrian customs officials if she could take the artifact home as a souvenir, according to DW News, a news site in Berlin....

Qatar Airways is going to start charging you to redeem your Qmiles. That’s right, the airline is getting set to start charging you a cash fee, varying in price based on cabin, for any award booking made with your miles.Beginning May 27, 2018, Qatar will start charging booking fees for both Qatar and partner airline awards. The charge is a minimum of $25 but can reach as much as $75 per ticket, based on fare class....

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.This morning, we learned about a significant program devaluation as well as the elimination of fuel surcharges on Singapore Airlines award tickets. Following that news, the airline has also shared that it will be bundling fuel and insurance surcharges into the base airfare on both Singapore and SilkAir flights when you purchase a ticket on Singapore’s site....

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.Perhaps you’ve sipped Dom Pérignon in first class on the Thai Airways A380 or sampled varietals at the Amex Centurion Lounge at SFO — heck, maybe you’ve even Uber-helicoptered it out to the Hamptons — but it’s probably safe to say you’ve never done anything that comes close to Tequila Avión’s new offering....

Shopping portals are one of the best ways to earn points and miles with your favorite airline — without even having to step on a plane. Just by making a purchase online with select retailers through a portal, you can earn valuable points and miles, which can then be used toward your next redemption.Because shopping portals are always updating, it’s a good idea to see what each of the major US carriers offers at any given time — and all in one place....

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.Snacking on a sandwich in Florence could possibly cost you €500. A new ordinance was put into effect today that bans eating on certain streets and plazas from 12:00-3:00pm and 6:00-10:00pm. Tourists and locals alike can be fined anywhere between €150 and €500 if they’re caught eating while either standing on the sidewalk or sitting on the curb....

Premium Economy has come a long way since it was invented by Virgin Atlantic back in 1992. On many airlines today, it comes close to business class, with upgraded service, meals and entertainment options. The one drawback is that you often can’t redeem miles from US programs on their alliance partners for this class of service. However, if you have particular awards in mind, you can always transfer miles from popular programs like American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest to your program of choice for the premium economy award you want on your airline of choice....

“Reader Questions” are answered three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — by TPG Senior Writer Julian Mark Kheel.TPG reader Adam sent us a Facebook message to explain that he paid for Main Cabin Extra seats on American, but wants to know what happens if he later gets upgraded…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Adam”]If you purchase a Main Cabin Extra or preferred seat and then get upgraded to first class, is the charge for the original seat refunded or forfeited?...

There are a few fun travel contests and sweepstakes going on around the web this week. Here are my top picks to win some great travel prizes!Win 50 tickets to travel the USWin 50 Tickets to Anywhere in the US: If you download Cheap O Air’s app, you could win 50 airline tickets to any place in the continental US. Once the app has been downloaded, you’ll gain an additional entry for each friend you share it with....

Does any country evoke a sense of mystery as resolutely as Morocco? From the maze of souks in Marrakech to the windswept dunes of the Sahara and everything in between, this diverse North African kingdom rocks the casbah and will spice up your Instagram feed at the same time.For those who think some of the sights risk being cliché, well, perhaps you haven’t found the right filter. The most magical thing about this country — other than the fantastic, fragrant food — is its authenticity....

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.An Aeromexico flight collided with a supply truck on a service road at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Saturday afternoon, knocking the truck onto its side and resulting in eight injuries.Aeromexico Flight 642 had just landed at LAX shortly before 2:30pm Pacific time and was taxiing near Runway 25R to its gate when the Boeing 737 struck what Los Angeles Airport Police referred to as a “provisioning truck....

Air Canada has launched a membership program for kids called Altitude Skyriders, joining a long list of airlines marketing toward young travelers.The program is for all Aeroplan members between the ages of 2 and 12 who live in the US or Canada and it comes with some fun swag: a starter kit with a luggage tag and a logbook to keep track of flights, plus badges for visiting major cities and regions and hitting milestones (like a kid’s first flight)....

American Airlines announced 11 new routes from Chicago to domestic and international destinations in a move that’s aimed at making the airline more competitive with its rival United.The carrier will be flying between Chicago (ORD) and Appleton (APW), Barcelona (BCN), Birmingham (BHM), Boise (BOI), Bozeman (BZN), Colorado Springs (COS), Greensboro (GSO), Greenville (GSP), Guatemala City (GUA), Hattiesburg (PIB) and Ontario (ONT).American will launch its Barcelona service on May 5, flying a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route....

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.American Airlines is giving its most loyal fliers one more benefit. ConciergeKey members, which is American’s invite-only, revenue-based top level of elite status, are reporting that the airline is reaching out with passes to experience AA’s Flagship First dining....

Across countless cultures, cheese has played a hearty role in the human diet, whether as artisanal, carefully ripened wheels or mass-produced, fluorescent-orange spray from a can.But the people of Asia have taken their love of coagulated milk even further, and are hoping that the US is ready for their latest, Instagrammable contribution to the cuisine: cheese tea.No, that wasn’t a typo. A typical iced tea (oolong, green, etc.) is capped off with a healthy layer of sweet or salty cream cheese thoroughly whipped to a frothy consistency reminiscent of whipped cream....

Memorial Day is fast approaching — but if your long weekend plans include flying out of an airport on the Eastern seaboard, you may want to brace for long lines and hour-long delays.According to The Washington Post, a new analysis of federal transportation data by ValuePenguin shows that New York City-area airports are likely to be two of the worst in the nation for departure delays in the days preceding Memorial Day....

This week I’ll be embarking on an epic journey to London, Dallas, Seattle and Los Angeles as part of the first ever Oneworld Mega Do. The trip, which sold out within minutes of being put on sale to the public (I was able to pre-purchase since my other site TravelCreditCards.com is a sponsor of the event), is a collaboration between key Oneworld airlines, like American and British Airways, and frequent flyer legends Randy Peterson (creator of Flyertalk) and several co-founders of new frequent flyer forum Milepoint....

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.Update: Aeroplan just reached out to confirm that the promotion below is only available to targeted customers.Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is offering you 1,000 bonus miles for completing a short online quiz. In order to get the miles, you must answer five short “Myth or Truth” questions about the Aeroplan program....

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.Hilton HHonors announced its Quarter 2 Promotion earlier this week and it’s decent, but nothing revolutionary. Between April 1-June 30, 2012, you can earn double points on all stays, and if you earn miles through double-dipping, you can opt to earn double miles instead....