In February 2018, the first-ever Airbus A350-1000 was delivered to Qatar Airways. TPG was there for the ceremony and delivery flight from Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France to Doha, Qatar.As part of the media event, Qatar’s CEO Akbar Al Baker noted that the US “East Coast” would see the brand-new aircraft “soon.” A few weeks later in March 2018, I asked Al Baker when we could expect the US route announcement....
For last week’s Thursday Giveaway, we gave one lucky reader a pair of courtside tickets to a first round match at the US Open, and on Monday evening, I was invited to attend a match at the USTA with Starwood Preferred Guest. I had a great time even though the men’s matches were rained out, and one of the perks of the event was the swag bag that the other guests and I were given....
In May, I wrote about the bizarre way United had opted to roll out its new basic-economy product. Rather than offering its highly restrictive basic-economy fares only for deep-discounted tickets, as American and Delta had done, United chose to make basic economy available on almost all domestic flights, even those that were clearly only accessible to deep-pocketed business travelers, such as a ~$1,200 round-trip from Newark to Pittsburgh.That move made United’s flights far less appealing than American and Delta’s, especially on routes where AA and DL offered comparable service....
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.While details are scarce, US Airways announced that their Grand Slam promotion will be back “and better than ever” for 2011. If you’ve never done a Grand Slam - buckle up! Historically it’s been an easy way to earn thousands of US Airways miles relatively cheaply....
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.The Chinese Civil Aviation Administration’s latest change in policy will affect the more than 487 million passengers who travel through the country each year. On Monday, the country’s aviation authority announced that it will change its strict — and quirky — policy that bans passengers from using their mobile devices during flight, even if it’s in airplane mode....
Swimming with pigs is cool and all, but heading home with an original piece of artwork by a sea creature-turned-artist might be a bit cooler. Head to Theater of the Sea in the Florida Keys, and you can spend some time painting a picture with a sea lion.Don’t worry about your own painting skill level — you’re relatively off of the hook when it comes to being creative. Visitors are tasked with the easy part: choosing the colors....
One of the last truly valuable airline frequent flyer programs is Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan. Unlike most other airlines, which have switched to revenue-based earning systems, Alaska’s Mileage Plan lets you earn miles based on how far you fly, not how much you spend on the ticket. The program has a reasonable distance-based redemption chart for flights on Alaska and some incredibly valuable partners. To top it all off, Alaska Airlines itself is one of the best overall operations in the country, having taken first place in The Points Guy’s Best and Worst Airlines report this year....
I am looking forward to attending and presenting at the Chicago Seminar this weekend. I’ll be speaking on Saturday afternoon about the ins and outs of the American Express Membership Rewards program (who the best transfer partners are for certain awards and some hidden gems you might not know about). I’ll also give some tips on the Chase Ultimate Rewards program because that is shaping up to be a formidable competitor to Amex and it’s a relatively new program....
A watchdog group in the US government said in a report on Friday that ex-Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price wasted at least $341,000 on travel while he held his position.The HHS inspector general said that Price did not follow federal regulations that require officials to book the most cost-effective travel options when paying with taxpayer money and that the department “improperly used federal funds related to Sec. Price’s government travel....
Most of us seem to know one or two people who spend what seems like half their lives aboard a cruise ship. Every time you turn around, they’re just getting back from an Antarctic adventure, are talking excitedly about their upcoming cruise of the Mediterranean or are posting black tie-clad selfies from a captain’s dinner several miles out to sea. These veteran cruisers (sometimes called “frequent floaters”) practically seem to live on the water — and now they really can....
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 holiday season, one of the best ways to maximize your online shopping is through airline shopping portals. With them, you can earn valuable points and miles with your favorite airline for purchases that you were already planning on making....
Go to Chicago, take a photo with the massive silver Bean that lives in Millennium Park: It’s what you do. Except now, you can go to Houston and do the same thing.Anish Kapoor is the sculptor behind Houston’s newest art installation, as well as creator of the original in Chicago. Formally named Cloud Gate, Kapoor’s Chicago design was the result of a design competition and formally dedicated to the city on May 15, 2006....
Jeff Hall sees more and more of them every year, and even though they’re great for business, there’s something inescapably sad about their growing numbers.“I had a couple of visitors staring up at the sky and asking what it was — they were adults, and they’d never seen it before,” Hall told The Points Guy. “And I had to explain that it was the Milky Way, and what it was: ‘That’s our galaxy....
The major gift giving might have come and gone with Christmas Day, but for those of you looking for the real deals out there - or just the procrastinators amongst us - the days between Christmas and New Year’s present some of the best shopping deals around, so don’t forget to check out these sites not only to maximize your shopping portal points bonuses, but also to find the biggest rebates and discounts on your holiday shopping....
ME3, the three big airlines in the Middle East (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar), have long been in disagreement with US carriers, as they continue to expand their routes into the US. Because of Open Skies policies, international carriers now have more access to the US than ever before. By allowing more routes and, therefore, more competition for the US airlines, there is some obvious tension between the traditional domestic carriers and “subsidized” international carriers, especially the three largest carriers in the Middle East....
Although Spirit Airlines operated for decades as a traditional airline, the Spirit we all know (and love to hate) began in 2008 when it started to unbundle its fares. Starting in 2007, the first previously included items to be pulled from fares were free checked bags and drinks. At that time, your first two checked bags would cost $5 each and drinks would cost $1 each.The airline didn’t stop there, continually stripping everything out of a Spirit fare until all that was included is the transportation of you and one personal item from airport A to airport B....
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.If you are a Delta Skymiles member and have a February birthday, there’s a good chance you are eligible for this promotion. If not that one, try this one (though less lucrative).“It’s time to start the celebration!Our birthday gifts to you are waiting: You can get 2,500 bonus miles on your next round-trip flight and a $100 e-certificate toward a Delta Vacations® getaway....
While United’s initial statement following this month’s Bumpgate incident was quickly met with harsh criticism, CEO Oscar Munoz chimed in with a stronger follow-up a few days later, which, in part, outlined the airline’s plan to avoid a similar situation in the future:It’s never too late to do the right thing. I have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again....
A mystery illness continues to strike US officials based in China. Now, the US State Department has expanded its health alert for US citizens in China to cover the entire country.In May, one US official stationed in Guangzhou, a city in China’s southern region, reported “abnormal sensations of sound and pressure” that experts believed were symptoms of a mild brain injury from a sonic attack, similar to what US diplomats in Cuba experienced from 2016 and 2017....
When it comes to airline award charts, not all regions are defined the same. As TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Jason Steele explains, airlines have different ways of categorizing a variety of destinations, and knowing the sweet spots can help you score some particularly good redemption values.Is Israel part of Europe, Asia, Africa or the Middle East? Depending on which airline award chart you look at, it could be in any one of those regions!...
