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.2018 is right around the corner which means it’s time to start planning next year’s adventures. Are you eyeing a trip to the Maldives in an overwater villa, or heading to Norway to check out the Northern Lights?...
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 my all-around favorite tools, United’s Expert Mode, is once again available for all flight searches. Expert Mode allows customers to view realtime fare class availability when searching for any flight on United’s site, making it easy to see which flights offer the lowest-cost tickets, which have upgrade availability (so an upgrade will clear at booking) and which have seats (and in which cabin) open for awards....
For a few months this year, United is operating its 747-400 on a domestic route — between San Francisco (SFO) and Chicago (ORD). The airline’s largest aircraft is normally used on international routes, and offers 12 Global First seats, 52 flat-bed BusinessFirst seats, 70 economy plus seats and 240 standard economy seats. United will also be offering an international 777 between Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX) beginning in April.The iconic 747 offers a small upper deck, which on United’s plane includes seats for just 20 passengers in BusinessFirst....
If you’re a US citizen and have been planning a trip to Cuba, you might want to hold off. The US State Department is ordering all nonemergency staff to leave Cuba and warning Americans against traveling to the Caribbean nation, after a string of mysterious attacks against US diplomats.The attacks involved strange sounds of unknown origin and have left Embassy staff sick, sometimes with serious consequences. US and Cuban investigators still haven’t determined the source of the attacks, according to officials....
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.Regardless of what your average TSA security checkpoint experience is like — whether you fly through or get stuck behind someone taking off their shoes slowly — it’s important to remember that TSA agents are there to protect us....
This past year has been one of the most violent in recent memory. Despite significant international turmoil, there are still many amazing places to travel to overseas, from Europe to the Middle East and Asia. The Institute for Economics and Peace recently analyzed the most peaceful countries in the world for 2016, and several of them are easily bookable with points and miles or on low-cost carriers.According to the report, the three most peaceful countries in the world for 2016 were Iceland, Denmark and Austria....
Tuesday’s Southwest Flight 1380 is every aviation traveler’s worst nightmare: engine failure. Broken window. Sudden loss of cabin pressure. A passenger who was “partially sucked out of the plane.” A rapid descent followed by an emergency landing.Is it safe to sit by airplane windows? Is Southwest Airlines unsafe, given all the recent diverted landings? One passenger from Flight 1380 even used the phrase “free fall” to describe his recollection of the descent....
While most European capitals are worth their weight in Instagram shots, few are as charming or visually appealing as Prague. The architecture there ranges from castles that date centuries back to newer marvel like The Dancing House, which was designed and built in the ’90s. Here are some stunning, famed places to check out next time you’re in the Czech Republic — all worthy of posting to the gram.1. Old Town SquareOld Town Square offers a glimpse into Prague’s old town district and is the center of medieval architecture....
This is a guest post from my dad, Grandpa Points. He and my mom are in their mid-60’s, are (mostly) retired,and are ticking off “bucket list” destinations quicker than they ever thought possible thanks to miles, points, and travel deals. They have an intense love of this country, of its National Parks and treasures, and have no problem with a clean budget hotel room and an economy airline seat on a low cost airline as long as it gets them where they want to be....
Homesharing service Airbnb is piloting a program that could save guests some serious cash. According to PhocusWire, Airbnb is asking select hosts to join a program that would eliminate guest fees from their listings.When you book an Airbnb now, guests pay a percentage of the list price as a “guest” or “service” fee, which goes straight to Airbnb. Airbnb also takes a percentage of the hosts’ earnings.Airbnb currently charges a “service fee” to all guests....
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 and Delta Air Lines are restoring their interline agreement as of Wednesday, a move that establishes the most basic level of cooperation between the nation’s two largest carriers.An interline agreement essentially allows for the carriers to re-accommodate passengers who were affected by irregular operations, such as weather delays or cancellations....
For the past couple years the U.S. Travel Association (a non-profit trade association with the sole mission to increase travel to and within the US) and American Express have teamed up with travel providers and loyalty programs to offer some unbeatable deals on travel packages and miles/points. It usually runs in May, but I just got the following email announcing the return of the program, but a little bit later this year:“Save the date for Daily Getaways this summer!...
The tapestry of modern cuisine is woven with a thrilling thread of innovation and cutting-edge chefs and bartenders from every corner of the globe are pushing each other further into the future, upping the “wow” factor like never before. If you’re wondering where the scene could possibly go from here, a slate of inventive newcomers are here to satisfy your curiosities. Set your seat back to the upright position, stow your tray table; it’s time to explore February’s prime dining destinations....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express, The Platinum Card from American ExpressHere’s a round-up of the week’s points, miles and travel industry news you may have missed:American Airlines offers bonus miles for shopping on through the AAdvantage eShopping portal.American Airlines Offers 1,050 Bonus Miles for ShoppingIn order to get in the game and compete with all the other current pre-Thanksgiving shopping bonuses, American has launched a shopping portal bonus where you can earn 350 bonus miles for every $175 spent through AAdvantage eShopping....
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.Ben at One Mile at a Time recently posed the question, “Is the mint ‘game’ worthwhile?” For those of you who don’t know, the US Mint gives free shipping on dollar coins for the purpose of getting them into circulation....
I’m a big fan of Delta (I’m a Diamond and generally love their domestic upgrades, plane quality, route structure, etc), but it’s commonly known that Delta.com is broken. The award calendar prices trips out at erratic levels, though in my experience, it can be coaxed to reveal better results with a little bit of effort. My goal on this blog is to teach you all how to wrestle delta.com and find the low level awards, because they are there - it’s just a treasure hunt to find them....
On Sunday we reported that Delta SkyMiles had begun charging carrier surcharges for Upper Class redemptions on its partner Virgin Atlantic. While the program has always charged the extra fees for customers originating in Europe, this was the first time we saw huge surcharges for those starting out in the US.On Sunday Delta SkyMiles was adding over $1,200 in surcharges to this Virgin Atlantic award redemption. Flights on its own metal only had $270 in fees....
Quora.com is a question-and-answer site where content is written and edited by its community of users. Occasionally we syndicate content from the site if we think it will interest TPG readers. This article originally appeared on Quora.com in response to the question, Do Airlines Compensate Doctors for Assisting During an Emergency? and was written by Liang-Hai Sie, a retired general internist and former intensive care physician.One doesn’t get paid working as a “Good Samaritan” — under international law, operating under such circumstances is also exempt from any medical indemnity or claims of practicing medicine without being licensed for that particular jurisdiction — which would it fall under: that of the carrier, the country over which the flight is at that moment, the port of departure or the port of arrival?...
On Tuesday, a German appeals court upheld a ruling that Kuwait Airways did not have to transport an Israeli passenger because of the Kuwaiti government’s boycott of Israel.The passenger in question, identified in court papers as Adar M., is an Israeli citizen who had been living in Germany. After he booked a flight with Kuwait Airways from Frankfurt to Bangkok via Kuwait City, the airline canceled his booking when he revealed that he had an Israeli passport....
Today, I want to share a story from TPG reader Serena, who squandered good rewards trying to salvage others that were already doomed. Here’s what she had to say:A few years ago I transferred 25,000 points from Ultimate Rewards to Singapore Airlines to book a flight from Melbourne to Singapore. Because KrisFlyer used to give you a discount for booking awards online, I ended up with 3,750 miles left in my account....
