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One of the biggest pains of traveling to mainland China is the government’s restrictions on what websites and services you can use in the communist-run country. Websites we have come to rely on daily — from Google, Gmail and YouTube to social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — are blocked from being accessed from a standard internet connection. These restrictions are colloquially referred to as the “Great Firewall of China....

There’s a million and one posts and tips out there about how to save money at Disney World, and they are all useful to varying degrees. Heck, I’ve written plenty of posts on the topic, but now for the first time since I was a kid we are actually staying at a 100% real Disney resort as opposed to just staying nearby or at a sort-of-Disney resort like the Swan or Dolphin....

In the market for a luggage carousel or an airport check-in desk for your living room? Well you’re in luck. London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) is auctioning off all of the entire contents from the airport’s old Terminal 1, which closed in June 2015 to make room for the expansion of Terminal 2.More than 4,000 airport seats, 110 check-in desks, 15 escalators, 11 luggage reclaim carousels, as well as paintings from the 1950s, airport signage, Heathrow memorabilia and other equipment like security cameras and metal detector gates will go under the hammer during the auction on April 21....

One of my favorite aspects of the Starwood Preferred Guest and Priority Club programs is the ability to use a mixture of cash and points for award stays. Combining cash and points allows me to stretch the shelf-life of my points and I find that it’s almost always worth it to select this option over using only points for an award.I was happy to hear Hilton is launching a pilot “Points and Money” award program, but I was skeptical that the redemption value would be competitive to Starwood and Priority Club....

One of the things I love most about being The Points Guy is getting to hear stories from readers about all the positive ways award travel has affected their lives. That being said, while I love hearing about your successes, I think there’s also a lot we can learn by sharing our mistakes, and I’m calling on readers to send in your most egregious and woeful travel failures.From time to time I’ll pick one that catches my eye and post it for everybody to enjoy (and commiserate with)....

Freqeunt flyer miles would be a lot less interesting if you could only use them on one airline. Fortunately, that’s not the case, and today TPG Contributor Richard Kerr explains how you can use airline partners for award flights just about anywhere you want to go.Most frequent flyers have heard of the major airline alliances: SkyTeam, Oneworld, and Star Alliance. However, airlines across the world have many other unique partnerships you might be unaware of....

It could be risky to take a commercial flight in India, according to a new safety audit from the International Civil Aviation Organization.For the audit, which spanned from 2017 to 2018, India’s safety ranking fell from 66% to 57%, putting it in the bottom 15 countries in the world that do not meet the ICAO’s minimum target rates.According to the regulatory group, which is the United Nations’ aviation body, it would be safer to fly in Myanmar, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and even North Korea, than it would to to fly in India....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – The Hyatt Credit CardHyatt recently announced an offer promoting 20% points refunds on award stays through July 31, 2015. Current Hyatt credit cardholders have from now until March 31, 2015 to register for the promotion.This promo is targeted to those who have the Hyatt Credit Card and received the offer directly from Hyatt. However, the good news for them is that the 20% refund is good not only on regular award stays, but also for Points + Cash awards, suite upgrades, and dining and spa redemptions....

The new Hyatt promo was leaked today and to my disappointment, they won’t be running a faster free nights promotion, like they have in past years (1 free night for every 2 stays).Instead, they are running “The Great 10k” where you get 10k bonus points for every 5 nights.That means you need to stay 11 nights to get 1 free night at a top property- much less generous than FFN.It seems that all the hotel chains have watered down end of year promos....

Turbulence is a bumpy business. Besides inducing anxiety in passengers around the world, it costs the airline industry about $100 million per year because of factors like crew and passenger injuries, maintenance, operational issues and money lost while planes are out of service, according to IBM’s The Weather Company.As a result, IBM is partnering with in-flight wireless behemoth Gogo to provide pilots and other airline personnel with real-time turbulence reports in an effort to improve safety — and the airlines’ bottom line....

In a day and age when nearly everyone has a device within arm’s reach capable of recording every airplane altercation and gator runway crossing, privacy lines can easily be blurred.The most recent example comes to us courtesy of Rosey Blair, who asked a woman behind her to switch seats on Alaska Airlines Flight 3327 from New York to Dallas so that Blair could sit next to her boyfriend. The woman agreed and took her seat next to a male passenger, and the two struck up a conversation....

In March of last year, Madeira Airport (FNC) revealed the bust of world-renowned Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo – and it went viral for all the wrong reasons. Now, more than a year later, the airport has unveiled a new statue of Ronaldo upon his request, and most would agree that the new sculpture captures his symmetry and charm much better than the original.The original bust was revealed to commemorate the renaming of the airport to honor the superstar athlete, making it what it’s called now, Cristiano Ronaldo Airport....

A California mother was “appalled” when she was asked to provide proof of her relationship to her son when boarding a Southwest flight out of Denver (DEN).After a successful past of flying with her son, Lindsay Gottlieb was shocked when a Southwest gate agent asked her for additional evidence showing that her son, who is biracial, was actually hers as she was boarding flight 1808 from DEN to Oakland (OAK) on Monday....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – The Platinum Card from American ExpressTPG reader Yuki asks:“I applied for the AMEX Platinum Card in October 2012, got approved and received the card in less than 24 hours. I spent the required $2,000 in three months but have not received the 25K bonus points. I contacted them a couple of times on the phone and received this elusive ‘you are not eligible because the offer is not in your account’ reply....

Just-canceled flights can be such a drag — especially when it means you’re suddenly facing several Netflix-free hours to fill gate-side. To make the best of this unwanted pause in your travels, nothing quite soothes the spirit like a stiff drink savored amid a lively atmosphere. While such appealing joints are certainly scarce at airports, luckily for travelers, there are several around the country that stand out from the rest. Maximize untimely connections by hunkering down at one of these five booze-fueled oases and watch your flight-delay woes immediately dissipate....

United has officially killed its controversial plan to offer employees a lottery-style incentive after much backlash from employees.In a memo sent to some 90,000 United employees, Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations Kate Gebo said that the airline’s existing quarterly operational incentives bonus program will remain as such for the rest of 2018.The current bonus program rewards most United employees up to $300 per quarter when the airline hits its performance metrics....

The next question is close to my heart, as it concerns my experience of traveling with Miles, my furry little “son.“TPG reader Jeanette posted a question on my Facebook page this week:“I am entering the world of a traveler with a small dog…any tips for flying and hotel stays? This is a first for me.“Let’s start with the airline process.The first time I flew with Miles, I was so stressed out....

Two of the aviation industry’s biggest names — Boeing and JetBlue — are teaming up for one very exciting adventure. The two companies have partnered up to back Zunum Aero, a start-up developing a fleet of hybrid planes that could be ready to take off by the early 2020s.Zunum Aero’s commitment to sustainable energy couldn’t come at a better time. Last week, the Kirkland, Washington-based company unveiled its plans for a fleet of hybrid and electric planes that’ll seat anywhere from 10 to 50 passengers apiece, and could cut costs and flight times in half....

It’s the day after Christmas and retailers are giddy just thinking about the customers headed their way. Traditionally this is one of the busier shopping days since folks are heading out to use the gifts cards or exchange the presents they received yesterday — and hopefully buy a few more things while they’re there.Online retailers don’t want to be left out of all the fun, so this morning three of the major airline shopping portals — Alaska, American, and United — have launched new bonus miles offers and raised payouts for some big retailers....

As you may recall, Air India is… not my favorite. In fact, my journey from Delhi (DEL) to New York-JFK last year was arguably the worst business-class flight of my life, and quite possibly my most uncomfortable flight in any cabin. It was just terrible.But, as luck would have it, I needed a one-way flight to London in order to review Malaysia’s new A350 between LHR to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and Air India’s biz fare was a fraction of the competition, at $1,226....