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DONATE MILES. DONATE MONEY (AND EARN POINTS!)Last week, I wrote about a cause that is saving LGBT lives around the world — the Rainbow Railroad — and I encouraged you all to donate. Now, just a few days after the post went live, I’m blown away that TPG readers have donated more than one million miles! That’s more than 50% of our goal of two million miles.These donated miles go into an Aeroplan account that Rainbow Railroad uses to book award tickets for asylum seekers....

Ever since Doha’s new Hamad International Airport (DOH) opened in 2014, the Qatar Airways first-class experience there has established itself as one of the most luxurious airport experiences in the world. I recently got to experience it for just 18,000 British Airways Avios — valued at $270 based on TPG’s latest valuations — and got a first-class flight to boot!BookingPart of what makes the experience so special is the exclusivity — only passengers flying in Qatar Airways’ first class are eligible to use this check-in area and enter the Al Safwa First Class Lounge....

Social media is increasingly becoming the method airlines, hotels, credit cards and consumers get in touch with one another about the latest news, deals and promotions. Here’s a look atthe latest interesting contests, trending topics and more on social media from the week.I’ll be combing through Facebook posts, Tweets, Instagram pics and more to find the most interesting things going on during any given week, but if I miss something you’d like to discuss feel free to:-Post on my Facebook wall-Tweet me @thepointsguy-Instagram me @thepointsguyHere are some of the hottest news stories that everyone has been tweeting about this week....

At this point I have flown more than a couple dozen flights with my youngest daughter, and likely close to (or over?) a triple digit number of flights with both daughters combined. In other words, I am certainly not new to the realities of flying with kiddos. I have flown to Hawaii, Alaska, Paris, and more with just my oldest daughter and myself on the journey, but until yesterday I had never flown with just my youngest toddler....

Every week, the TSA blogs about items (mostly weapons) that agents have confiscated at airports around the country, and the agency posts some of the crazier items on its Instagram page. Check out the 5 items that we at Team TPG think are the most ridiculous items that were confiscated this month. Once again we’re happy to see that the TSA has prevented these items from being smuggled on board aircraft with hundreds of other passengers!...

Last week I announced the TPG Spring Cleaning Contest and the findings of the national survey that I conducted through The Princeton Group to find out just how well people keep track of their miles and how they use them.TripIt is a great resource for keeping track of your points and miles.As part of the contest, I said I would give out six one-year free trial memberships to TripIt Pro to three people with the best stories about keeping track of their points and used them for great redemptions, as well as three people with the best/worst stories about losing track of their points or miles....

One of the best parts of air travel is when you finally reach a certain point and the food and beverage service begins — there’s nothing quite like taking a sip of your favorite drink, turning on a movie and settling in for the rest of your flight. While I may be partial to a glass of red, beer is an undeniably popular choice as well, so if you’re looking to kick back on your flight with a cold brew, which airline would be the best place to do it?...

For this week’s Thursday Giveaway, we are giving away a $500 Apple Gift Card in celebration of the new Apple Watch, which is available for pre-sale Friday, April 10th.We’ve written about How the Apple Watch Can Earn You Extra Points and Miles, and prices for the Apple Watch Sport start at $349, so with this gift card, you could use toward the purchase of your very own Apple Watch!To enter to win, visit our Facebook Page....

I apologize for the delay, but things have been pretty busy lately, so I am just now announcing the winners from my pre-Tokyo giveaway. In case you may have forgotten, when I was first planning my trip I reached out to the TPG community for recommendations for the best places to see during my whirlwind visit. Many of you came forward with stellar suggestions and as a thank you I promised to randomly award a few prizes....

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.Forgetting your house keys in an Uber used to be inconvenient — now it’s costly as well. On Tuesday, the ride-hailing company announced it would charge passengers a $15 fee for drivers to return their lost items. It’s a big change for the ride-hailing resident bad-press-magnet — and one that probably won’t do much to please the company’s passengers....

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.In the latest of its series of innovative updates, Uber just filed a patent application for artificial intelligence that will predict when passengers are drunk.The application, submitted Thursday, utilizes an algorithm that evaluates how Uber users typically utilize the rideshare company’s app....

This is huge news! You won’t have to wait until 2018 to fly nonstop from the US to Singapore — United just announced that it’s launching a new flight connecting San Francisco and SIN on June 1, 2016!The new flight will operate daily, with the inaugural departing San Francisco at 11:25pm on June 1 and arriving at Singapore Changi at 6:45am two days later. On the return, the flight will depart SIN at 8:45am and arrive at San Francisco at 9:15am, so it’ll be possible to make connections throughout the US in both directions....

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.Want to own the world’s most advanced fighter jet? It’ll cost you about $100 million — just for one. Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II has come under plenty of criticism for its ever-growing R&D price tag. The plane is many billions of dollars over budget, and hasn’t met performance expectations throughout its development process....

This week, TPG reader Monica sent me a Facebook message with a great question:“I’ve read several of your articles about US Airways miles eventually transferring to AA miles. Is that option getting closer? We have US Airways miles that we want to use, but the flights we can afford are on AA. When I called US Airways, they said AA didn’t open the flights up. Ugh! They said to call back every day until the awards open up, but by then they may no longer be affordable....

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 the threat of Hurricane Florence looming over 5.4 million residents, Airbnb hosts are opening their homes free of charge to those displaced by the storm and disaster relief workers.The temporary program, “Open Homes,” has already been enacted in Virginia, Georgia and North and South Carolina, with Airbnb hosts offering free stays until Oct....

Rival airlines are attempting to woo away and hire the scores of disgruntled pilots and cabin crew at Ryanair.The Dublin-based low-cost carrier currently has pilots and crew striking over pay and work conditions in four European countries: Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain.And Ryanair’s competitors smell an opportunity. With an impeding global pilot shortage looming over growth opportunities for airlines around the globe, rival carriers are rolling out the welcome mat for cockpit crew and flight attendants....

Delta’s been handing out Tumi-branded amenity kits to its business-class customers since 2013, and, just as the airline prepares to launch service on its brand-new Airbus A350, it’s rolled out the slickest sets yet — and one feature in particular had me especially excited to try out the new hard-case kit.There are three kits on offer: a hard-shell kit for Delta One passengers on flights departing the US, a soft-cover kit for flights to the US and a smaller Tumi-branded case for customers traveling in Premium Select, the airline’s brand-new premium-economy product....

You can read it here on The Points Guy first: As of August 1, 2011, American Airlines now allows penalty-free cancellation of valid, ticketed flights. At least, when it’s them doing the canceling.Yes, that’s right. Even if you make a valid, ticketed reservation on aa.com, they have now instituted a policy where they can cancel your ticket at at any time, free of charge, without letting you know.The BackstoryOkay, you may be scratching your head and if you haven’t picked up by now, I’m being sarcastic....

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.British Airways, like most European carriers, charges hefty surcharges and fees on their award tickets. A good way around this in the past, was booking a BA flight with American miles. Not any longer.American just added an additional fee for business and first class BA redemptions- a whopping $220 each way or $440 roundtrip....

Update: American will launch daily service between Los Angeles and Sydney beginning on December 17, 2015 with the 777-300ER. Additionally, Qantas will begin service from San Francisco (SFO) to Sydney on December 20, 2015.Big news at LAX today! Yesterday, we received word of an event with American Airlines President Scott Kirby — at 1pm PT today, the airline will reveal plans for its “trans-Pacific gateway hub,” and following the airline’s tweet this morning, the cat kangaroo is out of the bag....