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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MastercardWere you busy traveling to exciting locations yesterday (on points or miles, of course)? Never fear — we’ve got your back with a recap of the previous day’s top stories, including news, reviews and more.Credit Cards That Offer Rental Car Elite Status in 2015TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Nick Ewen takes a look at cards that offer status with the top rental car agencies, including Hertz, Avis, National and Sixt....

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.My love for deals is not limited to the travel world. I like expensive clothes, but I hardly ever pay full price for them thanks to sites like Gilt Groupe. And now I’m about to go on a spending spree, because they are offering 1,500 United/Continental miles for simply signing up and then making a purchase and then you earn 5 miles for every dollar spent for the first 6 months....

For many people, travel is already stressful enough. As of this week, it’s become a lot more complicated too, in the wake of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new electronics ban, which changed the rules surrounding carry-on devices on flights to the US from 10 airports in eight countries, including major hubs like Istanbul and Dubai, among others. While the ban, which seemed to happen in an instant, has left travelers with loads of questions — some of which we’ve already attempted to answer — the biggest query seems to be: What’s the best way to ensure that checked devices make it to their destination safely and securely?...

When TPG asked if I’d take his place at the Star Alliance MegaDo, I didn’t even pause to check my schedule. I’ve been dying to join this event for as long as I can remember, but from scheduling conflicts to high costs, there were always plenty of excuses to put it off. Now that I’ve been, though, I’m not sure how I’ll ever be able to miss one again.Without further ado, here are the five things I’ll never forget from this week’s truly once-in-a-lifetime aviation super-event....

Halloween is that that time of year when everyone starts globe-spanning for ghosts and hauntings. This week, Google released a map of the most haunted places in America, making it that much easier for paranormal enthusiasts to seek out the scary. Many of these places are enveloped in tragic history, with ghostly lore passed down for centuries. We’re equally obsessed with all things haunted and scary, so we rounded up the most haunted places not only in the US, but in the world....

Just like an airplane, music has the ability to transport you to a totally different time and place: Shut your eyes. Take a breath. And off you go.This year, TPG is celebrating the confluence of travel and music with the release of The 2018 Points Guy Sound Tracks, focused on artists from global destinations where TPG hopes to make a difference with charitable works and content programming this year.We’re launching our new initiative with a private party in New York on January 23, the week of the Grammy Awards....

Update 7/3/18: Just a day after this report, United has confirmed that ice cream sundaes have returned to its flights from the UK.Yup, in-flight sundaes are back in the news. Last year, broken glass prompted United to temporarily scrap its made-to-order dessert service for about 10 weeks — while some flights got pre-packaged frozen treats, on other routes the suspension meant no ice cream at all, with flight attendants serving mousse, instead....

It seems the future is still unclear for the Boeing 737-700 that was involved in the fatal incident on board Southwest Flight 1380 in April.After being released from federal investigators at the end of April, the 737 flew to Paine Field (PAE) in Everett, Washington, which is home to a major Boeing manufacturing outpost. Southwest had confirmed that the aircraft, registered N772SW, had flown to PAE from Philadelphia (PHL), where it was forced to make an emergency landing after one of its engines exploded and sent shrapnel through a window, killing passenger Jennifer Riordan....

It’s been a while since American Airlines last redesigned its website. However, after big changes to its mileage program and Basic Economy fares reportedly launching this year, the carrier needed to refresh how it sells flights online — and you’ll see the difference the next time you head to AA.com.Overall, the changes look cleaner: The search process and viewing the results pages should be easier for the casual traveler — while also including additional features for advanced users and Executive Platinum elites....

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.Here’s the dilemma: You want to see the country, but you’re struggling to figure out how you’ll stay connected enough to accomplish what’s needed on the job front. Two curious bedfellows, AT&T and Airstream, have come together to create a plan that not only solves that, but opens up loads of new potential for cross-country RV dreams to become reality....

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.To all appearances, this has been a bad year for Emirates — between the electronics and travel bans, among other factors — and that’s now been confirmed. The airline said today that its profits fell by more than 80% to $340 million (from $1....

International travelers landing in Toronto this summer can expect to wait up to an hour before being allowed to deplane, thanks to a shortage of border agents at the US-Canada line, according to leaked Air Canada and government memos.Drivers coming into Canada via southern Ontario can expect similar waits, as Ontario’s border and customs agents are pulled away from their current stations to work in processing centers in Quebec — thanks to what Ottawa expects will be a deluge of asylum seekers trying to get into Canada illegally....

American Airlines is in the midst of a premium economy overhaul. Starting October 2016, AA launched its new premium economy seating on its brand new Boeing 787-9. After getting a few of these aircraft into service and some (welcome) delays, AA finally launched its premium economy class of service on May 4.Now, AA is turning its premium economy efforts to retrofitting its existing long-haul aircraft, starting with its Boeing 777-200s. However, the other aircraft don’t have to wait long, as the retrofit project is supposed to be finished by June 2018....

Last month some (negative) changes were made to the Air France/KLM frequent flyer program, Flying Blue. In fact, my favorite coverage of the new program was an article by Richard Kerr in which he basically just tries to explain the program in screenshots as there was no apparent rhyme or reason to when or why things price the way they do. However, don’t write the program off just because it is wonky....

What’s it like to depart from the same airport as a plane attacked by terrorists just weeks before? TPG Contributor J. Keith van Straaten passed through SSH to find out. All photos are by the author unless otherwise noted.On October 31, 2015, 224 people were killed when an explosion disintegrated a charter flight from Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport (SSH) to St. Petersburg, Russia. ISIS claimed responsibility as a terrorist attack. Since then, reports emerged about the lax security at SSH, prompting Russia and the UK to suspend all direct flights to the resort community on the Red Sea and KLM to forbid passengers from checking luggage on a flight from Cairo....

Hotel “resort fees” could very well qualify as the eighth wonder of the world in that they’re mandatory yet largely invisible — and leave you wondering exactly what that extra $25 per night actually bought you. Long the scourge of travelers everywhere, now the Federal Trade Commission seems to be coming over to our way of thinking.In the midst of an ongoing rise in resort fees, The Washington Post recently reported that the Federal Trade Commission is considering making a change to the policy it established back in 2012 stating it was okay for hotels and resorts to charge these fees as long as they were disclosed before booking....

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.Marriott is giving away free Gold status for all Air China PhoenixMiles members (or anyone else who registers through this link). The Gold status will last for 90 days, but if you stay 12 nights within those 90 days, the status will exted to February 2012....

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.Several hotel loyalty programs have discounted award nights, which are rotating lists of hotels that will let you redeem free nights for a fraction of the points needed regularly. Priority Club just updated their list, so I thought I’d list include the others as well:Priority Club PointBreaks: Free nights for only 5,000 Priority Club points....

Danielle returns to cover Pan Am episode 5…It’s another high-flying episode of adventure and espionage (and romance!) for the ladies and gentlemen of Pan Am this week as the crew flies to London and Monte Carlo. The stakes are certainly raised in “One Coin in the Fountain,” as we see not one, but two, of our characters engage in some dangerous liaisons!As the crew’s first flight takes off (to LHR), Dean and Ted receive a visitor to the cockpit - the enticing, self-titled “interloper passenger,” Ginny....

I nearly forgot to select my gift for staying 5 stays between July 1 and December 31, 2010. Link. Your choices will depend on your elite status and activity at the time the promotion was generated. My choices were:4,000 bonus StarpointsWith Free Night Awards starting at 2,000 Starpoints® at Category 1 properties, you’ll already have enough for a night away.$50 Award CertificateRedeem for on-property indulgences during your next stay, including spa treatments, room service and more....