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A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Seattle offers a blow-by-blow account of the insanity that unfolded Thursday night on Delta flight 129 from Seattle (SEA) to Beijing, China (PEK).The passenger, identified in the complaint as 23-year old Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, was flying in the Delta One premium cabin when he attempted to open an emergency exit at 32,000 feet, threw punches at flight attendants and passengers who attempted to restrain him and had at least one wine bottle broken over his head....

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.This may be targeted, but Delta just sent me an email with a 50% promotion when you buy miles from December 1- December 30, 2010, with a maximum purchase of 60,000 miles. Link. I can’t guarantee it’ll work for you, but if you need to top up an award, it may be worth it to buy through this link in case you get the bonus, which should post within 24 hours....

If you’re a tourist in Paris, the Eiffel Tower is almost certainly near the top of your list of must-see attractions in the City of Lights. Unfortunately, that visit just got significantly more expensive. As of November 1, the cost of a ticket to go to the top of the tallest freestanding structure in France increased by nearly 50% from €17 (~US$20) to €25 (~US$29).Even if you don’t go all the way up, prices to get halfway have also jumped by similar amounts....

A weekend in Miami is always a good idea — especially when it’s free! I’m excited to team up with Hilton HHonors to provide an unforgettable weekend for five readers (plus one guest each) to enjoy an all-expenses-paid weekend getaway to the beautiful south Florida city from November 4 to 6, 2016. Winners and their guests will enjoy free round-trip airfare courtesy of Hilton, a two-night stay at the luxurious Conrad Miami hotel and a points consultation with me....

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.Today I hit 14,000 followers on Twitter! To show my appreciation for all of your support, I’ll be giving away 1,000 Amex points to 14 random followers today and tomorrow.All you have to do for a chance to win is follow me on Twitter, @thepointsguy, and retweet my special 14,000-point giveaway tweet using the hashtag #TPG14K....

Vikings are renowned for having opened the first routes across the Atlantic, settling in the land that we now call Canada. Fast forward a few centuries, and their descendants in Iceland are trying to make connections across the ocean again.Tiny Iceland, population 350,000, continues to punch well above its weight when it comes to cross-ocean travel. Having carved for themselves a respectable niche in the North Atlantic market, Icelandic airlines are now on the offensive on more distant shores....

Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you may have missed from the week before, including several that already appeared on The Points Guy, and some more that we haven’t covered yet. If you’re an avid TPG reader, scroll down for the new stuff. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you may have missed this week:One airline program got a major boost in value in this month’s valuations....

Update: You can no longer purchase Vanilla Reload cards using a credit card and Vanilla Reloads are no longer available in Office Depot.As I mentioned in my original post about the huge potential of the American Express Bluebird card, you need to wait until you get a permanent card in the mail before you can start loading it with Vanilla reload cards. So, I was very excited to see a nice thick envelope from Amex when I got home this week from an unexpected week-long trip....

Airline partners make award travel much easier, since they expand the network of carriers and routings available to you when redeeming your points and miles. Today TPG Contributor Jason Steele walks us through some of the lesser known airline partnerships, and offers tips for how you can take advantage of them.The best features of the three major airline alliances are that you can earn miles on any carrier within a given alliance by flying on any other, and likewise you can use miles from any carrier in that alliance for award travel on a flight operated by another....

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.European low-cost carrier Norwegian Air began flying from the East Coast of the US to the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe (PTP) and Martinique (FDF) last year. Today, the airline shared its plan to build on the success it’s had with these routes by adding more service to the islands....

Two men were sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to pickpocketing more than £40,000, or more than $56,000, from travelers in London airports.The Romanian nationals Niculae Ion, 21, and Niculae Avram, 46, had pickpocketed flyers at London Luton Airport (LTN) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR).The investigation into the duo began last year after a businessman reported his wallet with £3,000 in cash had been stolen. Authorities received other reports of theft in the airports, including credit cards being stolen and used for fraudulent purposes....

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.Earn 10,000 bonus Starpoints for resort stays.Enjoy an escape to paradise with an exclusive resorts offer from SPG®. Earn 10,000 bonus Starpoints® when you register, book and then enjoy a stay of four or more nights at participating Starwood resorts through December 19, 2010....

If you were planning a trip to Swaziland, well you’re not anymore. The Southern African country will be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini from here on out. To mark the country’s 50 years of independence, King Mswati III, one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchs, declared the country’s new name.The kingdom of eSwatini is one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchies with King Mswati III ruling by decree since 1986....

The current managers of the historic and world famous Äscher restaurant, nestled into a remote side of the Alps in Switzerland, have decided to leave the quaint eatery.Nicole and Bernhard Knechtle-Fritsche, who have run Äscher since 2014 announced they were calling it quits because the massive influx of tourists combined with the historic building’s failing infrastructure and limited room for improvements (it is built into a mountainside, after all) have made running the restaurant a nuisance for them....

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.From waived change fees to complimentary upgrades to a VIP customer service line, we’ve shared our thoughts on maximizing the many perks of elite status with Delta Air Lines. In our tier-by-tier evaluation of Delta’s Medallion status program, it’s clear that the top two levels — Platinum and Diamond — are in a class of their own.For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter....

This week I’ve been talking about airline status matches and challenges. While most airlines have published programs that generally prohibit top status matches/challenges, there are some current programs out there that will, like United’s 1k Challenge. I emailed premiermatch@united.com the following email:“Hello,I am a NYC based Delta Diamond and I am considering a switch to United, because I like your PS service on JFK-LAX/SFO. Do you offer a match or status challenge to 1K?...

Are you a vacation sinner?No, I’m not talking about engaging in a travel fling (although feel free to share your stories in the comments), but rather unintentionally enraging your Facebook friends and Instagram followers with an endless parade of vacation photos.If you Google “travel vacation photos,” suggested searches include “travel bragging on Facebook” “annoying vacation photos” and the slightly more optimistic “best way to share vacation photos.” So yes, this seems to be a problem....

Two passengers on different flights in the US died Tuesday during transit because of medical emergencies.The first passenger was on board United Flight 1888 from Houston (IAH) to Boston (BOS) on Tuesday night. Just before midnight, the Boeing 737 was diverted to Washington, DC’s Dulles Airport (IAD) due to a medical emergency on the aircraft.The plane was met by emergency medical crews when it landed at IAD, but the unidentified passenger was already dead when the medical team arrived....

When staying at a hotel, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that it’s a good, quality brand and evaluate how your stay was. But one thing that’s easy to overlook is the impact your stay has — or could have — on the rest of the world. That’s where The Purpose Hotel comes in.The Purpose Hotel is an idea launched by Nashville native Jeremy Cowart in which the same hotel that travelers stay in will work to create a world of difference in global humanitarian efforts....

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.Anthony Bourdain, former host of No Reservations and current host of CNN’s Parts Unknown, has circled the globe many times, tasting all the food the world has to offer. And while the professional globetrotter — who has sampled everything from seal eyes to fermented shark and warthog rectum — refuses to eat any food served on an airplane, he recently told The New York Times that he does occasionally dabble in airport fare....