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Social media is increasingly becoming the method airlines, hotels, credit cards and consumers get in touch with one another about the latest news, deals and promotions. Every week, Team TPG and I comb through Facebook posts, Tweets, Instagram pics and more to find the most interesting things going on. Here’s a look at the latest interesting contests, trending topics and more on social media from the week, but if I miss something you’d like to discuss feel free to:-Post on my Facebook wall-Tweet me @thepointsguy-Instagram me @thepointsguyWin a “Himalaya Getaway-a” with Qatar Airlines....

Southwest Airlines has adjusted the value of its points in its Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program. Rapid Rewards has been revenue-based since 2011 — meaning you earn and redeem points based on the price of your ticket.The program is making a few changes according to View From The Wing, the first being that it’s lowering the number of points per dollar needed for Business Select fares by 35% and Anytime fares by 22%....

At 2am on Thursday, 22-year-old Florida Institute of Technology student Nishal Sankat was caught attempting to steal a plane from Orlando Melbourne International Airport (MLB) in Florida.According to USA Today, Sankat had pulled up to the passenger terminal and jumped the fence to the tarmac. He left his car abandoned and running on the other side as he proceeded to enter an out-of-service American Airlines Airbus — likely an A321, given its capacity that USA Today describes as up to 200 passengers....

In the wake of March’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, the global travel industry began to collectively brainstorm ideas for how to make the world’s airports safer for passengers. One suggestion is curbside security, which would require anyone entering an airport to go through a security screening. The idea has found support with government leaders and Homeland Security. There’s just one problem: the airlines aren’t on board.While safety is clearly a key concern for the major airlines, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) — a trade association that represents approximately 260 airlines worldwide — isn’t convinced of the plan’s effectiveness, and is concerned about how such a move would impact the already-increasing time it takes for passengers to get from the front door of an airport to their window seat....

You may already know that since my vacation to Turkey earlier this year, I’ve been struggling with a dreaded SSSS classification, which has marked me for enhanced airport security screening every time I travel domestically.SSSS stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection, and it means that I not only haven’t been able to check in to my flights prior to arriving at the airport, but once I finally am checked in, I have the pleasure of getting a thorough TSA inspection that a includes a pat-down and a full swab of all my possessions....

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 Transportation Security Administration is beefing up its screening procedures for powders in carry-on bags.The new effort means that all powders — i.e. cosmetics, spices, talcum — that are bigger than a standard size soda can (12oz or 350ml) will be subject to increased scrutiny at airport security....

Sexual assaults on planes are happening more and more often — or at least, are being reported more often to authorities — and airlines just can’t seem to figure out the right way of handling these situations. The latest incident occurred when 21-year-old Mikaela Dixon found herself seated next to a man who allegedly masturbated “for hours” during a United Airlines flight on August 11 from Orange County (SNA) to Chicago (ORD)....

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.US Airways, notorious for wild buy miles promotions, is running yet another bonus on purchased miles. Detailed here, you can get up to a 100% bonus on buying miles, up to 50,000 bonus miles (100,000 total). As I wrote about earlier this summer, this means you can buy a Star Alliance (think Swiss, Lufthansa, Continental, United, etc) business class ticket from the US to Europe for about $1,500....

Norwegian, WOW Air and other low-cost carriers like LEVEL have flooded the transatlantic market with bargain-basement economy fares. Which is great, unless you’re trying to run a legacy airline. Now, US-based carriers and their European counterparts are forced to find creative ways to keep fares low while limiting the impact to their bottom lines. One way to do that is to add a whole bunch of seats to existing planes.That’s done both through new aircraft deliveries and a process called retrofitting — and while these refreshes often spell good news for business-class travelers (as with Qatar’s new Qsuite), they can also mean a much tighter squeeze in coach....

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 haven’t already guessed it by now, Tokyo is one of my favorite cities. There’s always something fun to do, whether you’re in the mood for karaoke or feel like seeing an awesome show by a Japanese Beatles cover band — on this trip, we had a blast doing both of those things and even got the chance to visit the city’s iconic Tsukiji Market, which may or may not be moving to a new location this fall....

While I’ve never lucked out with an entire plane to myself, I have managed to score a couple empty cabins — twice this year alone, in fact.The first was back in June, when I flew solo in the rear business mini-cabin on Oman Air’s 787-9 Dreamliner. The airline offers a top-notch business-class product on that plane, with the same Apex seat you’ll find on some other airlines, such as Korean Air — plus the empty cabin made the experience even better....

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.Those planning to take a trip this summer may want to book their air travel sooner than later, as ticket costs are expected to increase incrementally between now and June 2017. Airfare-tracking app Hopper suggests flight prices could begin rising as soon as February, with peak rates coming in the middle of summer....

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.Earlier this week, the 122,000-ton Celebrity Equinox cruise ship drifted alarmingly close to a couple’s Fort Lauderdale home near Port Everglades. Bill and Yasmine Toddhunter filmed the ordeal, hoping the footage would compel the cruise line to ensure that something like this never happens again....

Welcome to a new TPG feature series: Destination of the Week. You earned the points, now it’s time to burn some of them by heading to fantastic destinations all over the world. Every Friday TPG Managing Editor Eric will be bringing you another great destination that you can get to and enjoy using all those hard-earned points and miles you’ve racked up over the past year (or more).Ski SeasonIt’s January, which means its prime ski season in the northern hemisphere, so we thought we’d spend this month telling you about some of the best ski (and snowboarding—no discrimination here!...

Recently I read an interesting story about a Seattle-based travel agent who stole millions of frequent flyer miles from wealthy clients and used them to book over 100 award trips for herself and her family.Karen Yeakel, a travel agent in Bellevue, Washington, stole 3.7 million airline miles from clients whose travel she arranged to book 135 flights for herself and her family totaling well over $100,000 worth of travel. The investigation has been going on since 2011 after she was fired from her job at Stellar Travel when the agency noticed discrepancies on one of her top client’s frequent flyer mile accounts and the entire scope of her activities began to unravel....

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.We’re still not over the Royal Wedding, but the royals may be over us, their loyal fans. After Harry and Meghan’s Namibia honeymoon plans had to be scrapped for security purposes, TMZ reports that the newlyweds may switch directions altogether....

This is just a reminder that you have until 11:59pm ET tonight to enter my “Rad Giveaway” and win one of four free nights at any Radisson Blu or Radisson in North America.There are four different ways to enter, and you can enter once by each method. I will select one winner from each entry method. You can submit yours by leaving a comment on the original post, by tweeting me, posting on my Facebook wall, or sending me an Instagram photo....

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.Many upgrade instruments expire tomorrow, so it is best to use them today before you lose them. I have a couple Hyatt suite upgrades to burn that I will use on future bookings (and hope I don’t have to cancel them)....

After a Southwest flight crew refused to serve him a fourth drink on board the aircraft, passenger Joel Michael Bane threatened to put one of the flight attendants in a “body bag” in October 2017.Bane, who is from New Jersey and teaches martial arts, also punched two police officers in the face after the New Orleans-bound flight landed at Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY). Officers used stun guns to subdue him before he was arrested....

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 beginning to get lonely at the top of the New York City restaurant world, according to the just-announced 2018 Michelin Guide. No eatery was promoted to the top-ranked three-star category, while only one was elevated to the two-star category, of which there are now 11 city-wide....