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Hyatt Gold Passport did indeed have a “little” leak today, and the majority of the rumors about the coming “World of Hyatt” are true. I just got off a call with Jeff Zidell, among other Hyatt Gold Passport big wigs, and while you have to rely on my quick notes as there weren’t yet written materials available, here is what is now confirmed.The new “World of Hyatt” launches on 3/1/17 and the concept comes from a celebration of people, places, and experiences and Hyatt wanting to live their purpose of caring for people so those people can be at their best....

TPG reader Diana sent me a message on Facebook to ask about booking award flights:“I’m trying to book three award tickets from New York to San Diego. The mileage cost has gone up since I first started checking. Will it ever go back down?“Anyone who travels regularly has probably kicked themselves at some point for waiting to buy a flight until after the price went up. In that situation, you might wonder whether you should wait a bit longer and see if lower fares return, or book right away before they get any higher....

Once you try sushi in Japan, you’ll realize that what you’ve been eating your whole life in the US (with few exceptions) isn’t really sushi. While I’ve been an avid consumer of sushi my whole life, on this trip to Japan, I wanted to learn how to shop for it and make it myself — I’m not a great chef, but it’s hard to burn the house down making sushi!I was lucky enough to have Chef Masakazu Ishibashi show me around the Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest in the world....

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.Wedding and graduation season has officially begun, which means many of us will take substantial hits to our wallets as we shell out for gifts, travel and other assorted costs. In fact, my sister got married yesterday in sunny St....

At the end of next month, United’s 747s will fly for the last time on a long-haul route. The occasion is bittersweet — while the airline’s latest aircraft offer an unquestionably superior in-flight product, especially in business class, there may never be another bird that matches the majesty and ardent following of the Queen of the Skies.The significance of this retirement is not lost on United. When a charter 747 was scheduled to be ferried from Chicago to San Francisco, the airline instead organized a last-minute domestic flight, giving fans one last opportunity to fly this plane on the cheap, with low-cost paid tickets and wide-open Saver awards available in all three cabins....

Economy tickets from the US to Europe tend to hover around the $800-$1,100 mark, but right now, there’s a decent airfare deal to Europe this spring where you can score tickets on either Emirates or Alitalia on their competing New York JFK - Milan MXP route for as low as $438 per person including all taxes and fees. The catch is, you have to be traveling in a pair because single tickets are pricing out at about $620....

Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you might have missed from the week before, plus a few new stories. If you’re an avid TPG reader, you’ll want to skip ahead to the new stuff. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you might have missed on TPG this week.American Airlines CEO Says Higher Airfares Are Likely ComingHigher oil prices means higher fares on the popular US carrier.The Stars Have Aligned: United’s New Polaris Lounge at NewarkEditor-at-Large Zach Honig reviewed the huge new addition to Newark (EWR)....

Last week I wrote about calling airlines’ international customer service centers to avoid long hold times when the US phone lines are jammed. This was topical because United’s phone lines have been swamped since they officially merged with Continental last week.Naively, I thought United’s phone lines wouldn’t be jammed up at midnight last night and before I knew it I was on hold for 15 minutes with no sign of a rep coming anytime soon....

Ridesharing is quickly becoming a part of our daily lives — and that’s exactly the way Uber and Lyft want it to be.On Wednesday, Lyft added the ability to see public transit in its app as it becomes more synonymous with mass transit.The program, dubbed “Nearby Transit,” will begin to show public transit options to Lyft passengers in Santa Monica, California. Powered by transit information platform Trafi, the Lyft app will display routes and schedules for the Big Blue Bus, LA Metro and Metrolink....

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 been a pretty crazy week for Arne Sorenson, but Marriott’s CEO managed to find time to swing by Brooklyn following a chat at this week’s Skift conference, where TPG spoke yesterday. The occasion? A chance to experience the chain’s “Gravity Room,” currently on display at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge....

If you thought your AC-less apartment was unbearable in this summer heat wave, imagine being stuck and cramped on an airplane for three hours with no airflow.Passengers on Thomas Cook Airlines flight #MT1805, a low-cost carrier based in Machester, England (MAN), were traveling from Zakynthos International Airport (ZTH) to London Stansted Airport (STN) on Tuesday afternoon when their trip was delayed because of a “technical issue.“The 214 passengers ended up stuck on the plane for three hours with no air conditioning and inadequate water supplies....

Rocky Mountaineer is the largest privately owned luxury tourist train in the world — it’s welcomed more than two million passengers since 1990 — where guests can choose from more than 65 vacation packages and four rail routes. The train weaves through western Canada through the Canadian Rockies in Alberta, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and other beautiful Canadian towns.The luxury railway recently announced the addition of four new routes: West Canmore, West Kananaskis, West Sunshine Village and Clouds Mountain Adventures....

A bad situation keeps getting worse for Ryanair. What began as a mass cancellation of 2,300 flights through October due to a pilot shortage caused by lack of planning for vacation, has turned into even more cancellations on the horizon. Ryanair announced on Wednesday that it is cancelling an additional 18,000 flights between November and March 2018.Ryanair, the biggest airline in Europe by passengers carried, is saying it will “slow its growth this winter” between November 17, 2017, and March 18, 2018, by flying 25 fewer aircraft....

TPG reader David asks:“My wife recently had trouble getting approved for cards. I got a copy of her credit report and found out that there have been a number of late payments on her student loan, which her parents are responsible for. Have you had any history or know if that is something that we can/should dispute? I guess the real question is, can something that is opened in her name be disputed because she is not the one paying it?...

Salt Lake City-based Boundary is out with what it calls a compact and convenient backpack solution, the Prima System, now available for pre-order at $200 — a great deal for everything that comes with the system. Let’s take a look at some of the features of the Prima System, and you can decide for yourself whether or not it’s worth a buy.The SpecsThe Boundary Prima System was built to last no matter how you plan to use it — for travel, hiking or as a day bag....

A video was posted to YouTube on Thursday exhibiting an exceptionally dangerous move by a drone pilot. The version uploaded to YouTube shows a drone quickly climbing in altitude mere seconds before a Frontier aircraft flies under it:The YouTube video was posted by a concerned drone pilot after seeing the video originally uploaded to a Facebook group for drone enthusiasts. The original video was posted by an account named James Jayo Older, described on the corresponding Facebook profile as an “Entrepreneur / Drone Racer / Professional Fun Haver” living in Las Vegas, Nevada....

If you want to use your Hyatt points to stay on Maui you have two choices, the Hyatt Regency Maui in Ka’anapali or the Andaz Maui in Wailea. These hotels are located in different parts of the island not only geographically, but they also have very different feels and offer very different getaways. Truthfully, aside from the obvious similarities of both being ocean front Hyatt properties in Maui, the two resorts have very little in common and offer very distinct experiences....

It’s April 1 all day today, and in recent years travel companies have gotten in on the act of launching April Fools’ pranks, some with more success than others. Here’s a roundup of the best and worst this year…WestJet said it was rebranding itself as Canada Air, emphasizing the friendliness of its home nation while poking at its big brother Air Canada with the hashtag #MostCanadian:Emirates claimed to be launching a triple-decker aircraft with its own swimming pool, games room and more:Emirates takes it to the next level!...

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.Now through January 31, 2013, the first 5,000 Starwood Preferred Guest members that add a wish to the Travel Wish map will earn 100 Starpoints. I just did this as of 8:20am Monday (today) and it confirmed I’d get the points within 6 weeks, so it appears they haven’t hit the cap....

Anyone who has flown internationally in the last decade has probably spent some time at airports marveling at today’s modern-day flying machines. From smaller, narrow-body planes to the giants of the sky, commercial aircraft are something all aviation enthusiasts love to look at. But identifying these may be a difficult task. How can you tell the difference between two Boeing 747s? Moreover, can you identify the subtle differences between the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families?...