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Hilton and Delta have teamed up to make it easier to earn some bonus SkyMiles and Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) on your next Hilton stay. With the partnership between the two, you can earn double SkyMiles and 250 MQMs on every Hilton stay of two nights or more through December 31, 2017.You can earn a maximum of 10,000 MQMs as part of this offer. To earn that many MQMs, you would need to stay 80 nights, or 40 two-night stays, by the end of the year....

Equinox, the New York-based company that operates several boutique fitness brands including SoulCycle, PURE Yoga and the namesake Equinox gym network, is “making moves” and taking its first steps into the travel space.In 2015, the company revealed its plans to launch a luxury hospitality company with the first-ever Equinox-branded hotel in New York City (it’s expected to debut sometime in 2019). And on Wednesday, the wellness behemoth announced a series of exclusive day trips designed to get New Yorkers out of the gym and, well, outside....

TPG reader Jenn tweeted to ask about strategies for booking award travel:"@ThePointsGuy — With so many ways to book award travel, how do we figure out the best option once we decide to go to somewhere?“Like revenue travel, I find that most award bookings are a trade-off of convenience, comfort and cost. Sometimes you get lucky and nail all three, but usually you’ll have to sacrifice a bit of one for the sake of another....

A few months ago I wrote about how the next award chart sweet spot I wanted to use was via Star Alliance partner ANA as you can get to the Caribbean and back from many cities in the United States for only 22,000 miles round trip. Even better than that, you can even have multiple free stopovers in some situations! Recently the situation presented itself to put this sweet spot into action as we have a wedding to attend in Jamaica next year, so I’ll talk you through what we did and how to take it even further than that all for a fraction of the mileage price that the US airlines charge....

Each September, investors and various Fortune 500 executives gather at the posh Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel for the annual Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference. This year drew a number of familiar faces, including Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and United president Scott Kirby, the father of the country’s most restrictive basic economy product.Kirby’s a numbers guy, and a self-described “math geek.” As we learned from his presentation in Laguna Beach, his wife even tells him that “being a math geek is sexy,” so there’s perhaps little hope in expecting him to decide that, say, a faster Polaris rollout is a higher priority than solid returns for Wall Street....

Following yesterday’s tragic attacks at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport (IST), the world is still in mourning and reeling from the horrific nature of the attacks. For frequent travelers, this tragedy hits close to home — as it took place in the terminal of an airport. Here’s what we know so far: According to reports, three terrorists arrived at IST in a cab, two opened fire inside the international terminal, and a third was in a nearby parking lot....

Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by Silver Airways, JetBlue earned the distinction of being the first US carrier to fly a commercial flight to Cuba in 55 years. When that flight took off in August 2016, there was plenty of excitement from airlines, cruise lines and ferry operators about running routes between the US and Cuba. The problem is that travelers aren’t booking as many trips to the island as anticipated....

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.Yesterday’s airline elite status check-in post was a really interesting read, so I figured I’d start another on hotel status. I am currently working on requalifying for Hyatt Diamond, Starwood Platinum and Priority Club Platinum/Intercontinental Royal Ambassador and I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew....

Due to a combination of some work travel to small Texas towns and travel to a conference that is held at a Marriott, I have multiple Marriott brand hotel stays coming up in the next several months. This is a bit frustrating for me since I would love to focus on Hyatt and Starwood, but since Marriott actually has a pretty generous Mega Bonus promo going on where you stay twice and then get one free night at a Category 1-4 hotel, it wasn’t a total loss....

Today, I want to share a story from TPG reader Jayu, who broke one of the cardinal rules of the points and miles game. Here’s what he had to say:In one night, Qatar Airways turned me from Qmiles royalty into a pauper. After reading your article about Qatar’s silent devaluation, I rushed to the Qcalculator to see how the cost of awards had changed, and it turned out to be even worse than I had feared....

Flying with a toddler on a long-haul flight takes extra work and preparation, so the last thing a family with a young child needs is for an airline or airline staff member to make the journey any harder than necessary. Unfortunately, for a family of three flying on EVA Air from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Taipei (TPE), that’s exactly what happened this weekend.Jeff, his husband and their 19-month-old daughter were on EVA Flight 27 scheduled to leave SFO at 1:20am on Sept....

It has not been a good week for Jet Airways. After an onboard fight between captains that led to the cockpit being unattended, the Indian airline is finding itself in more hot water.A video has emerged showing a Jet Airways flight attendant attempting to smuggle a briefcase full of cash on a recent flight.The incident occurred on Jet Airways flight 78 from Delhi (DEL) to Hong Kong (HKG) on January 8, according to the Straits Times....

Airlines are working hard to expand upon the infinite number of ways they can charge customers more after they’ve already bought their ticket, and carriers around the world have quickly hopped on the “seat assignment fee” bandwagon in which passengers have the privilege of paying extra to pick a good seat ahead of time. But those who pay a premium to sit in business or first class naturally expect to be immune to these seat fees, given the much higher airfare they’re already paying....

The Chief Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration on Monday defended a controversial surveillance program that follows US citizens without their knowledge throughout airports and on their flights.At a conference for the corporate travel industry, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said “Quiet Skies” helps protect US air passengers from terrorist attacks. Pekoske said that the security agency has long required passengers with travel patterns that raise red flags to go through additional screenings at airports, but having federal air marshals board the flights of the passengers raising suspicions was the new addition that Quiet Skies introduced....

A woman from the United Kingdom was rescued from the Adriatic Sea over the weekend after falling off a Norwegian Cruise Liner ship and spending 10 hours in open water in the middle of the night.Authorities say 46-year-old Kay Longstaff fell off the cruise line’s Norwegian Star ship about 60 miles off the coast of Croatia just before midnight on Saturday as the ship sailed to Venice, Italy. The ship’s crew issued an emergency alert and began a search-and-rescue operation, along with the Croatian Coast Guard, civilian vessels and even a PC-9 aircraft, The Guardian reports....

Passengers on board a United Airlines flight bound for Hawaii witnessed a shocking sight on Tuesday when an engine cowling fell off in-flight.United Flight 1175 from San Francisco (SFO) to Honolulu (HNL) was forced to make an emergency landing at HNL when the covering of the right-hand engine fell off. About 35 minutes before UA1175 was set to land at HNL, passengers reported hearing a loud bang. One passenger was able to capture video of the exposed engine:Immediately afterwards, crew sent out a distress call and made the emergency landing at HNL....

A male passenger forced an Atlanta-bound Delta plane to divert to Tulsa, Oklahoma (TUL), after he became unruly mid-flight.Delta Flight 1156 was headed from Portland (PDX) to Atlanta (ATL) on Wednesday when the man became aggressive toward a flight attendant while the plane was mid-air. The man was so unruly that federal air marshals on board had to intervene and subdue him.Witnesses say the man was singing and dancing while the flight was boarding at PDX, and he began to do so again in-flight before lashing out at the aircraft cabin crew....

Believe it or not, 2016 was a good year to travel in the US. The Department of Transportation released its findings for US airlines from the year, and the results show that there were fewer cancellations, mishandled bags and passenger bumps than in the year prior.In fact, 2016 was such a good year for US airlines that there was the fewest amount of canceled domestic flights since the DOT began recording data....

Traveling is one of the best ways to embrace new cultures and experiences — what better way to get a feel than through a local museum? But while the Met and the Louvre are incredible destinations, there are also stunning and thought-provoking works of art that end up outside on large brick walls — sans admission fees. Still, if your name isn’t Banksy, getting mainstream attention for street art is unlikely....

Last Thursday I decided to start a new weekly blog feature called Thursday Giveaways where we will be holding fun little contests and award our loyal readers with prizes. For the first contest I asked readers to comment on The Points Guy’s Facebook wall with your favorite golf related story using the hashtag #TPGgiveaway.This contest was involved golf since I was able to attend MasterCard’s Legends Academy golf outing in Ridgewood NJ and came home with some pretty cool golf swag....