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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.According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there’s a new weather satellite in the air that could help make weather-related turbulence a thing of the past. The organization said that the satellite is expected to more quickly beam clear images of the “waves” that cause turbulence back to earth, which could result in fewer bumps for those inside the aircraft cabin....

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.Update: This one appears to now be all used up. Congrats if you got in on it, and if you didn’t, we’ll let you know when the next one appears.Budweiser is certainly trying to keep everyone safe this holiday season....

On Saturday we reported that Delta will be adding Delta One seats and service to six additional US domestic routes in April and May, including two flights to and from Hawaii. However, aircraft with flat-bed international configurations have to come from somewhere.Well, now we know where Delta is getting those 757-200s. At roughly the same time the airline is adding Delta One service domestically, it will pull its premium cabin from the following three routes between the US and Europe:New York (JFK) and Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF)New York (JFK) and Shannon, Ireland (SNN) — seasonal from May 3 to October 1New York (JFK) and Ponta Delgada, Portugal (PDL) — seasonal from May 24 to September 2To replace the aircraft, Delta will add domestically configured 757-200s on those routes....

Airlines are still in the process of figuring out how to deal with the recently-implemented electronics ban after it was announced last week that nine carriers flying from 10 Middle Eastern and African countries directly to the US would not allow passengers to carry on electronics larger than a smartphone. Airlines started enforcing the US Government-imposed rule this Saturday at 3:00am, which forced passengers to put any larger electronics into checked bags....

Just back from a three-week trip to Cuba, TPG Contributor Lori Zaino highlights some of the best places to visit so you can decide where to go first. (All photos are by Darrel Hunter unless otherwise specified).Cuba offers so much beyond its capital city of Havana, and thanks to new flights launching this September on Silver Airways and American Airlines — which you can even use AAdvantage miles to book — you can fly nonstop to several incredible destinations around the country....

While Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a tropical storm, the Hawaiian Islands aren’t out of the danger zone yet. The major concern: rain.As with Hurricane Harvey, the expected rainfall totals have increased with each update of Hurricane Lane — from “isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches” on Tuesday to “excessive rainfall up to 30 inches” on Thursday. But these predictions were still far too low. As of 5am Eastern Saturday morning, parts of the Big Island have received almost 45 inches of rain from the storm:Videos from the Big Island show the effects of the rainfall, which has created torrential rivers and localized flooding:On the east coast of the Big Island, downtown Hilo had already experienced significant flooding by Thursday, with plenty more rain funneling down the island’s mountains toward the coastal city:https://youtu....

Back in January, we shared a Hyatt Points + Cash flash sale offering hotel nights as cheap as $17 plus 2,500 Hyatt points. Now, the deal is back with a new list of hotels where you can save up to $72 off the cash co-pay of a Points + Cash stay.If you aren’t familiar, Hyatt Points + Cash awards can be a great redemption option. Instead of redeeming a night at the full points cost, you can select a Points + Cash redemption to use half the points while paying a cash co-pay....

While I’ve reviewed countless products in my career, for PC Magazine and most recently Engadget, TPG is a travel site with a specific focus — with limited exception, gear reviews haven’t been in the cards. We’re working to change that.Luggage is an obvious fit, and even traveler-friendly tech services make sense. Laptops, though? Generally, not so much. Occasionally, certain tech products pique our curiosity, though — most recently, it was Apple’s new iPhone X....

Earlier this week, I asked for suggestions on what to do in Vegas for a couple days. I got an overwhelming amount of suggestions, so I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to do even a small fraction of them. Ultimately my trip ended up being:Monday: Landed at 6:30pm, Checked in at the Palazzo Hotel as an Intercontinental Hotel Royal Ambassador - Fortuna Suite, dinner at Cut by Wolfgang Puck at the Venetian, after dinner drinks at the Cosmopolitan hotel and all-night partying at Marquee at the Cosmopolitan....

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles, together with Santa Barbara and Ventura County officials, has issued a mandatory evacuation order for potential flood regions for Tuesday, March 20. The preventative order comes in advance of what meteorologists anticipate to be the strongest storm to hit Southern California this season.The mandatory evacuations will start at noon on Tuesday and last until Thursday at 5pm.“We have no choice but do to this,” Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown said....

The battle between the biggest three US airlines and the biggest three in the Gulf — Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways — is taking an unexpected twist: the government of Qatar has agreed to disclose more financial information about its state-owned airline, which the US carriers accuse of receiving, like the other two, state aid it uses to compete unfairly.On Tuesday, the US State Department is expected to announce a settlement with Qatar....

Here’s a recap of the interesting points and miles news from this week:Earn up to a 100% bonus on purchased US Airways miles.US Airways 100% Buy Miles Promotion: As a recap from earlier this week, now through May 31, 2013, US Airways is offering up to a 100% bonus on purchased miles. There is a limit of 50,000 purchased miles (so 100,000 with the bonus). It is a tiered bonus, so you only get the full 100% bonus if you buy at least 30,000 miles....

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.A new year, a new TripIt feature. The highest-rated travel-organizing app just got a new feature that estimates wait times at security checkpoints. With the update, one of the most unpredictable aspects of traveling now has real-time wait times so users can plan exactly when to head to the airport....

Happy new years eve! While we all prepared to ring in the new year in style, I wanted to remind you all of some stellar deals that end today.American Express to Delta Transfer Bonus: $250 Macys gift card or 20,000 Point Rebate (Rebate is the more valuable option)Delta 45,000 Point Sign Up BonusChase Continental Debit Cards- Get Both Personal and Business!Starwood Platinum Rewarding Returns PromotionHave any others? Please post them in the comments below!...

With three safety-related incidents making national news since ill-fated Flight 1380 saw the first passenger death in the US in nine years, Southwest Airlines should be taking a long, hard look at how it conducts its maintenance, experts said.In the month since the failure of an engine fan blade resulted in the death of a passenger, the Dallas-based carrier has seen one plane forced to divert because of a cracked windshield, another hit by a ground crew’s truck while on the tarmac at Baltimore (BWI) and a third that made an emergency landing in Dallas (DAL) over the weekend after it lost cabin pressure....

TPG reader David writes:“The end of the year is fastly approaching and I am striving for Premier Executive status with United. I know this means I am going to have to do some mileage runs to make up about 10k EQM’s. What is the best way to search for low fares out of my home airport (SJC) without just searching for random cities on UA.com until a good price comes up?...

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 nice to the kids, you can win over the whole family. It is a simple strategy that is surprisingly easy to miss or ignore. However, United seems to have nailed that strategy today on a pretty special flight where all of the kids ages 18 and under received 737 bonus miles, among other goodies....

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.Just like Delta did a couple weeks ago, United released a slightly altered award chart today that will go into effect June 15, 2011. Old Chart / New ChartWhile I haven’t had a chance to analyze all of the changes, the major ones are:Decreases1) Business class awards to Europe and Asia have decreased to 100k and 120k respectively (aligning with Delta, US Airways)2) Economy awards under 700 miles will now be 20,000 miles roundtrip (down 5,000)3) Business class North America to South Africa decreases to 120,000 (Delta increased theirs to 140,000, US Airways is at 110,00)Increases1) Economy awards to Europe, South America, Africa, and Middle East are increased 5k (to mostly align with Delta, US Airways levels)2) Intra Asia awards go from 20k coach, 30k business to 25k coach to 35k/40k based on within a region or between3) Business class awards to Middle East are now 120k (to align with Delta, US Airways)3) Upgrade co-pays on almost all awards - from $75 Domestic US to $600 for AustraliaOverall, for me, these changes are generally positive since I don’t take advantage of paid upgrades (because I don’t accure elite status on United/ Star Alliance)....

Seven businesses that have been staples of Anaheim’s Downtown Disney will be demolished in July to make way for a new 700-room hotel. Most of the businesses were built when Downtown Disney first opened in 2001. This will be the largest renovation of the entertainment district that was created to accommodate the expanding park.Experts say the demolition will mark a turning point for the park because the destination will switch from attracting local residents to tourists who are willing to spend money on a large, “four-diamond hotel,” according to The OC Register....

One of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies has some bad news. Equifax announced on Thursday that hackers had gained access to sensitive information for 143 million American consumers.Compromised information includes Social Security numbers, driver license numbers, birth dates, addresses and names. In addition, the company said in a statement that credit card numbers for about 209,000 consumers were also compromised in the hack.Hackers gained access to certain files in the company’s system between mid-May and July....