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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.Last week I wrote about the Daily Getaways promotion, where numerous hotel and car companies are selling cheap packages. Hyatt is getting in on the action and if you use the points correctly, you can get a ton of value out of the deal - especially if you use an American Express card, which rewards you with an additional 10% off....

The United States seemed to pause for a few minutes Monday as people stepped outside to catch a glimpse of the historic solar eclipse that cut a path West to East across the continental US. A few airlines, including Alaska and Southwest, set up special flights for those who wanted to view the eclipse along the “path of totality.“TPG contributor Paul Thompson chased the solar eclipse on one of the themed Southwest flights — but he was just one of many people on airplanes trying to capture the phenomenon from above the cloudsWe’ve scoured the internet and rounded up some of the best pictures and videos of the eclipse, all shot from airplanes....

Turkish Airlines is about to become the latest Dreamliner customer. Boeing and Turkish announced on Thursday that the Istanbul-based carrier intends to place an order for 40 787-9 Dreamliners, in a deal worth nearly $11 billion at list prices. The announcement caught the aerospace world somewhat by surprise; rumors had been swirling of a possible Turkish order for the 747-8, but ultimately the carrier went for a smaller jet.At this point, the order has still to be finalized, but commitments to buy typically turn into actual orders....

When you fly, have you ever taken the time to consider the kinds of germs that might be lingering on every surface you touch at your seat? It’s not a pleasant thought. Now that you’re sufficiently creeped out, let’s look at a potential solution to the problem.I met the creator of the “GermFalcon” at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany. The product was nominated for a prestigious Crystal Cabin Award at AIX, and I knew I had to check it out when I heard about it....

TPG reader George is planning an award trip on Cathay Pacific using American miles, but his flight plans might change, so he asks:“I am planning a one way first class award trip on Cathay using American AAdvantage miles. I am based in Orlando and from my research, expect to be routed through Chicago O’Hare (ORD) or New York JFK. However, there is a chance I may be in New York at the time I start the trip....

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.One of America’s greatest treasures is its vast network of 417 national parks, monuments, battlefields, historic sites, preserves and conservation areas — with more than 84 million acres of protected lands throughout the US and its territories, adventure and discovery are never too far away....

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 Italian marina was destroyed after a Carnival cruise ship came too close to the docks and created a mini-tsunami, causing hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars in damage. The 134,000-ton ship was leaving the Sicilian port of Messina last Sunday when its propellers created waves so powerful that pontoons were ripped from their moorings, dragging several boats underwater....

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 Express is probably the savviest credit card company when it comes to social media, offering lots of discounts and promotions to cardmembers who sync their cards to Foursquare and Twitter. This week they launched a new deal that caught my eye: a $50 statement credit when you spend $250 or more on a Travelocity Hotel purchase for travel through October 31, 2012....

The Airbus A330-800 is a sleek and beautiful airplane, and it just rolled of the Toulouse assembly line for the first time, ready for flight tests and then for delivery to its customers… well, wait. There may not be any customers.That’s right. The planemaker that’s sold over 18,000 jets all over the world — with over 1,700 of those being A330s — is finding no takers for the last version. Except for one, maybe, and even that is in doubt....

Earlier this year, Norwegian Air announced that it was set to begin transatlantic flights from three new US cities (Newburgh [SWF], Providence [PVD] and Hatford [BDL]) to various destinations in Europe on its new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. While the inaugural flight on the 737 MAX was scheduled for June 15 to depart from SWF to Edinburgh (EDI), that has since been postponed due to Boeing delaying the delivery of its third MAX aircraft, which was set to occur next week to Norwegian....

Fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers will be able to catch nonstop flights to the College Football National Championship on Monday, January 9, thanks to Delta. The airline announced that it would add special flights to the game in Tampa, Florida from the teams’ home airports. Usually, flying these routes requires a stop at Delta’s Atlanta hub.The carrier will offer nonstop service to Tampa out of both Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama....

JetBlue made headlines when it announced ambitious expansion plans for its beloved Mint business-class product, which will soon be available on all of the routes below:The lie-flat seats are already available on select flights from JFK (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Aruba and Barbados) and Boston (San Francisco and Barbados). And yesterday, JetBlue announced that Mint will soon launch on JFK-San Diego — seats are now on sale ($499 each way) for flights beginning August 15, 2017....

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 offering AAdvantage members who use its shopping portal the opportunity to earn bonus miles during the holiday shopping season. Between Friday, December 1, and Sunday, December 17, at 11:59pm ET, you can earn up to 1,500 bonus miles on your shopping purchases through the AAdvantage shopping portal with its “Last Minute Holiday Bonus” promotion....

Thailand is a popular destination for both its big cities and small towns. However, flying to the Southeast Asian country on one of its airlines might become more difficult in the near future. The FAA announced this week that it lowered the country’s aviation safety rating to Category 2, meaning it lacks either laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in line with international aviation standards. The country previously held a Category 1 rating, meaning it was compliant with international aviation standards....

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.Terminal 2 at Singapore’s Changi International Airport (SIN) was evacuated Tuesday (May 16) after a ‘small fire’ broke out in the departures hall, according to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). The fire reportedly started within the facility’s air-handling system but has since been put out....

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.Through this link, you can generate a $50 off voucher for Lufthansa flights.The following terms and conditions apply to the redemption of vouchers:The voucher can only be redeemed at www.lufthansa.com. The voucher is not valid in conjunction with any “Access Code” used to purchase already discounted fares....

Click here to donate to our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico who desperately need our help.As they fly into a devastated Puerto Rico to bring the relief supplies the island so desperately needs, volunteer pilots are finding both their skills and their emotions tested.“These flights are very different than our day-to-day routine flights,” JetBlue pilot David Zook said. “The island’s all-over devastated. It’s everywhere you look — pieces of buildings everywhere....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Citi Prestige CardSince late July, the Citi Prestige Card’s been offering an elevated sign-up bonus of 75,000 ThankYou points — a TPG exclusive that we worked hard to make happen. That bonus, however, will soon expire, so if you’re interested, now’s the time to act.While you need to spend $7,500 in the first three months to earn that points haul, and pay a $450 annual fee, the bonus is worth $1,125 based on TPG’s valuations, and the card offers some standout perks that can more than recoup the cost to keep the card open....

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 March 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished without a trace of the aircraft or any of the 239 people on board. And now, more than three years later, the carrier is the first to sign up for new technology that’ll allow it to track and analyze its entire fleet of aircraft via satellite....

A big change has been in the works for a while now and now we know when it will happen: March 1, 2011. And it looks interesting- there will definitely be major losers (those who buy cheap fares and redeem for expensive tickets) and big winners- very frequent busienss flyers who will earn more perks and better earning opportunities.The new program, dubbed Rapid Rewards 2.0, is based on spend and not how many flights you take....