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China has temporarily suspended the use of Marriott’s website and mobile app in the country on Thursday after the chain was accused of disrespecting Chinese sovereignty. Both the website and app are set to remain inaccessible for one week.What did Marriott do to elicit such a response from China? According to Reuters, Marriott listed Hong Kong, Macau, Tibet and Taiwan as separate countries in a customer questionnaire. In addition, according to the BBC, one of the chain’s social media accounts “liked” a post made by a group that supports separatist Tibet....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – The Platinum Card from American Express, Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express, Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American ExpressAmerican Express and the US Travel Association (a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting US travel) have partnered to offer discounts and deals with various travel brands and loyalty programs during the next month, including hotel packages, points/miles purchase promos, rental car discounts and more....

A fire erupted in the brakes of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 on Monday night at New York (JFK) following the aircraft’s aborted takeoff.Delta Flight 420, which was departing New York (JFK) for Accra (ACC), was forced to abort its takeoff on the runway when an airspeed warning indicator went off, according to a statement from Delta.After aborting its takeoff, the aircraft exited the runway at JFK’s Taxiway A, which is when the brakes overheated and caught fire....

Starting September 1, 2012, Delta is decreasing the amount of miles and Medallion Qualifying (elite) Miles that flyers on unpublished fares receive. Before you panic, this probably doesn’t affect most of you: tickets purchased through Delta.com or your corporate travel agency will be unaffected. However, if you book the following types of tickets, you may be in for a rude awakening:Student faresConsolidator faresFlights included as part of a cruise packageDiscounted tour packagesGroup faresI won’t list all the fare class rules here, but I will just mention that several First/Business fare classes will earn just 100% MQM’s instead of normal class of service bonuses, and that some discounted economy class fares like Q, K, L, U, T and E will earn just a fraction of the miles and MQM’s they fly…down to 25% in some cases....

Korean Air’s SkyPass loyalty program is known for great value and solid premium cabin availability. Reports have been floating around that the program has ended the ability to put award tickets on hold — however that’s not the case.Korean allows you to put award tickets on hold for up to a 30 days — even if you don’t have the miles in your account. This is a great tool because you can then transfer in points to your SkyPass account from a program like Chase Ultimate Rewards, eliminating the fear that the award seat would disappear while you waited....

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.Intense winds swept through Houston Tuesday night causing a hangar at Hobby Airport (HOU) to collapse and blow onto nearby planes. Wind speed was measured at more than 60mph, said KPRC 2 Houston.The hangar that collapsed was a private hangar currently leased by Jet Linx....

For years, Airbus has been updating some of its most popular aircraft to make them more fuel efficient and extend their range. More specifically, the aerospace giant has been working with engine manufacturers to make jets burn less fuel, it has redesigned wings and generally made planes lighter.The modernized version of its best seller, the single-aisle A320 series, is called the neo (for New Engine Option) and has been coming hot off the production line since early 2016....

After a four-night stay at the generic but dependable Hyatt House in Chelsea, I had hoped to spend my last two nights in New York City at a hotel with a little more character, so I chose the Renwick Hotel, a Hilton Curio Collection property located in Midtown East. The building dates back to 1929 and was originally part of artists’ lofts where writers like John Steinbeck, Thomas Mann, Ernest Hemingway and F....

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.It’s the part of any flight that almost every passenger enjoys: ordering an in-flight beverage. But just how many drinks does it take to quench all those thirsty passengers?According to new numbers released from Oneworld Alliance, it served roughly 30 million bottles of wine and 2....

The reality of Hyperloop coming to the US is getting closer and closer. This week, Hyperloop One met with policymakers in Washington, D.C. to propose its 11 teams, which would service 35 cities in the US. The 11 teams are proposing plans to compete with 24 others around the world. Hyperloop One will select 12 finalists before choosing three to bring to life.The 11 teams include routes of varying lengths. You can find the proposals below: Route NameProposing Team Route LengthBoston-Somerset-Providence Hyperloop Massachusetts64 miles Cheyenne-Houston Rocky Mountain Hyperloop Consortium1,152 miles Chicago-Columbus-Pittsburgh Hyperloop Midwest488 miles Colorado Front Range/Mtn....

At the end of 2015, Congress approved and President Obama signed into law the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act” or “FAST Act.” The stated purpose of the bill was “to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes.” However, anyone who knows how Congress works won’t be surprised to find out that non-infrastructure laws were included.On page 418 of the 490-page behemoth act is Section 32101, which introduces an addition to the Internal Revenue Code called the “Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies....

An airline pilot trying to make his flight at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) took an unexpected detour when his Lyft driver kicked him out of the car and left him stranded in a random parking lot last Thursday.Like many people headed to the airport, the pilot, Darryl, used the ride-sharing app to summon a Lyft car to his hotel and entered LAX as the destination, he told KTLA.Darryl’s driver arrived and picked him, but then he suddenly was agitated when he realized the destination was LAX....

TPG reader Don sent me a message on Facebook to ask about Hilton HHonors:“Should I redeem Hilton HHonors points for flights?”These days, most loyalty programs offer a variety of ways to redeem your rewards. These extra redemption options can greatly enhance your points and miles — for example, the airline transfer options from Starwood Preferred Guest are a great alternative to booking award nights at Starwood properties. However, many redemption options (like gift cards and merchandise) give you a poor return, and don’t really add value to the program....

There are a lot of different factors that influence your credit score, the biggest ones being paying your bills on time, and the amount of credit that you’re utilizing. For example, if you’ve got $20,000 of available credit between all your accounts, and you’re running a combined balance of $17,000, that represents a high credit utilization, and tells credit card companies that you’re spending outside of your means. If you apply for new credit, chances are that you’re going to continue spending similarly, so a lot of companies will decline applicants who have high utilization....

Thai Airways is instituting a rule for passengers in business class on some of its aircraft. The Nation Thailand is reporting that passengers with waist sizes larger than 56 inches cannot fly in business class on the airline’s new Boeing 787-9.Thai Airways received two 787-9 Dreamliners in September 2017 from AerCap, an airline leasing company.Flight Lieutenant Pratthana Pattanasirim, Thai’s director of security and flight standard division, told The Nation that new seat belts and an airbag system were installed in business class on the -9s, in accordance with US Federal Aviation Administration safety regulations....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Ink Business Cash Credit CardFor this week’s Thursday Giveaway, we are giving away a $500 Visa Gift Card that can be used anywhere that accepts Visa, meaning you could use it to purchase airfare, hotel stays or even a shopping spree—it’s your choice!As a reminder, Chase launched a limited-time sign-up offer on the Ink Plus Business Card for 60,000 points when you spend $5,000 in 3 months as well $300 cash back with the Ink Business Cash Credit Card when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months....

Last year, at the Farnborough Air Show, we had a chance to step aboard Boeing’s latest 737 for the first time. While the 737 MAX 8 I saw there has generated more than 2,000 orders to date, there’s going to be an extended (though seemingly less popular) version as well, the 737 MAX 9, set to replace the 737-900ER, in addition to an even longer MAX 10, which Boeing just announced today....

After a long legal battle, Uber is back in business in London.Last September, Transport for London (TfL), the local government body responsible for Greater London’s transportation network, refused to renew the ride-hailing company’s license to operate, on the grounds that Uber is not a “fit and proper” operator. After months of legal back-and-forth, followed by two days of hearings in the Westminster magistrates court, Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot overturned the TfL ban, stating that Uber is now considered “fit and proper,” and granting Uber a 15-month probationary license with a “clear set of conditions that TfL will thoroughly monitor and enforce....

This past Sunday’s reader question asking whether US Airways miles are useless got me thinking about the airline’s Dividend miles program and interesting ways that to pull value from them specifically as opposed to miles on any Star Alliance carrier.I remember reading a blog comment recently that the US Airways partner award chart lists both domestic business class and first-class redemptions for only 50,000 miles roundtrip, even though United currently offers true first and business class within North America (in the 4th quarter of 2012 they will be moving to a 2-cabin configuration with lie-flat beds)....

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.Heavy rains have been hitting the town of Lircay, Peru and its surround hard in the last several days, leading to significant structural damage to a number of buildings in the town. One particularly tragic casualty of the eroding river’s edge was the total collapse of a three-story hotel....