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The newest (sort of) airline in Europe just got its first Boeing 737 MAX, the airplane it wants to use to create what its chairman says will be “the leading Italian airline.” Air Italy, in which Qatar Airways bought a 49% stake last year, took over on Friday the first of 186-seat MAX 8 models, with 19 more to come. Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar al Baker was present himself at the ceremony at Boeing’s Delivery Center in Everett, outside Seattle — a clear indication that the government-owned carrier is really serious about making its bid on Italy work....

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 a friendly reminder that today is the last day to get any hits for the US Airways Grand Slam promo! It doesn’t matter when they post- just that you do the activity (like initiate a hotel transfer, buy something from a shopping partner) by today....

Back in May, United launched a new business program called the Small Business Network, where small businesses can earn bonus United miles when shopping at the program’s network partners. Small Business Network members can earn award miles for day-to-day spending, like paying utilities, buying office supplies or for shipping packages, etc. Basically, it’s an online shopping portal for small businesses.Until August 17, 2013, the program is offering new members who enroll and earn 100 miles on purchases 1,000 bonus miles....

A Southwest Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing at San Jose International Airport (SJC) on Wednesday after a passenger was caught smoking in the aircraft lavatory.Southwest Flight 1250 had departed from San Francisco (SFO), bound for Los Angeles (LAX) at around 3:30pm local time on Wednesday, according to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 — one hour later than its scheduled departure time of 2:30pm.However, after about 15 minutes in air, the aircraft began descending after a man was reportedly caught smoking in the aircraft’s lavatory....

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.On Tuesday, we reported that Southwest elites were losing their priority boarding on flights due to a system glitch. As a result of Rapid Rewards numbers being deleted from future reservations, many A-List and A-List Preferred members were left with boarding positions in Groups B or C....

Nearly a year ago, Carnival announced that it would begin cruising from the US to Cuba this May. That seemed a bit ambitious at the time, but Carnival’s Fathom line opened up bookings in March, and, right on schedule, the first cruise departed Miami for Havana on May 1.Fathom’s Cuba cruise itinerary.Given that Cuba is very much a TPG favorite, we decided to send TPG Senior Editor Kaeli Conforti on the first cruise (paying our own way, of course), which sails to Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba before returning to Miami this weekend....

If you are traveling to Berlin this fall, you might be surprised to see a notorious site that was destroyed decades ago: the Berlin Wall.For four weeks in October, a group of artists are constructing a life-sized replica of the infamous wall, which separated West Berlin from Soviet-ruled East Berlin during the Cold War and was torn down by protestors in 1989.According to the AP, the artists’ group behind the project, DAU, says the experience would be like “a city within a city....

Did you know you can transfer IHG points to 41 different airlines? If not, you haven’t been missing out anything special. The standard transfer rate is just 2,000 airline miles for every 10,000 IHG points. It seems to be an option so rarely considered that IHG still lists US Airways as a transfer partner — even though the US Airways mileage program was eliminated more than a year ago.However, now through October 10, 2016, you’ll get a 50% bonus when converting IHG points to United 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.As I wrote about in February, I got a Verizon iPhone the day it came out. I personally had horrendous service with AT&T and I haven’t regretted my decision at all.However, it has been a huge adjustment for me when traveling internationally since my Verizon iPhone doesn’t work and I haven’t gotten around to jailbreaking it so I can use international SIM cards....

Next to this, Midnight Express might look more like Breakfast at Tiffany’s. In April 2015 a group of convicted drug smugglers — among which were a Brazilian and two Australians — were put to death in Indonesia. It wasn’t the first time it happened in Indonesia, and the Southeast Asian nation is by no means the only one to impose capital punishment for trafficking drugs. In Thailand and China, in Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran and elsewhere there are hundreds of people on death row right now for drug smuggling, and it’s often the countries that don’t even make statistics public (hello, China) that should make any potentially careless traveler take note....

I get asked the question, “Which frequent flyer program is the best?” all the time. My response is always: “the one that works the best for you.” However, consulting groups always try to create surveys that definitively figure out which frequent flyer truly are the best. The only thing is, since frequent flyer programs confuse much of the general public, these results of these surveys just tend to confuse everyone even more....

TPG reader Alex sent me a message on Facebook to ask about AAdvantage elite status:“If my address is not in the US, do I still need to meet American’s EQD requirements to earn status in 2017?“After holding its ground for several years, American Airlines recently announced that it will follow Delta and United by adding a revenue component to elite qualification. Starting in 2017, frequent flyers will need to meet annual spending thresholds in order to earn AAdvantage status — anywhere from $3,000 for Gold to $12,000 for Executive Platinum....

Fans of aviation are known for a willingness to go out of their way to experience a unique, high-flying adventure. Here are five must-do experiences that should be on every aviation geek’s bucket list.1. Flying on United’s “Island Hopper"This legendary route between Honolulu (HNL) and Guam (GUM) takes all day and makes five stops in several different Polynesian and Micronesian islands along the way. It is a right of passage for aviation geeks because of the unique island airports it visits....

In the frequent flier world, some awards are so rare that stumbling upon a “unicorn” redemption becomes a must-book. This is one of those instances, as Swiss has released first-class award availability to book through Aeroplan and some of its Star Alliance partners. You can fly in Swiss’ luxurious first-class product between Zurich (ZRH) and many of its US destinations for just 70,000 Aeroplan miles plus minimal taxes and fees one-way....

A family of seven was removed from an American Airlines flight last week after their 5-year-old, Milo, panicked on the jet bridge and refused to board the plane.Adam and Heather Halkuff were en route to Kansas City from Dallas - Fort Worth on Oct. 4 with their five children, including Milo, who has autism. During the boarding process, Milo froze after he rounded the corner of the jet bridge and saw the door of the aircraft....

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.Belgium is on a mission to be featured on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list for their beloved fries and mayonnaise combo. Since Belgian mayonnaise producer, Natura, ignited a petition for the dish to be added, it has since reached 600 signatures....

American Airlines recently gave their AAdvantage site an updated look, and in the process launched a promotion that will award up to 5,000 bonus AAdvantage miles to members who complete five activities through September 30, 2018. For long time readers, know that this is sadly no US Airways Grand Slam, but it can still be an easy way to pick up anywhere from 50 to 5,000 bonus American Airlines miles by doing things such as flying American, earning miles with the AAdvantage Dining program, or renting a car....

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.American Airlines’ Business Extra program is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and the carrier is offering a new promotion for the occasion: 650 bonus Business Extra points if you register and take at least one flight by March 31, 2017....

At first glance, it was hard to discern anything special with the large piece of metal – flat at the bottom, curved at the sides – being lowered onto a drydock by a massive white and red crane in a slow-motion, precision operation.But with a large, festive crowd assembled to watch, it was clear that this was not just any other day at the Fincantieri shipyard in Ancona, on Italy’s Adriatic coast....

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.First comes the meeting, then comes the codeshare. And now, there’s reciprocity of frequent flyer benefits. Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Airlines have elevated their relationship status yet again, announcing on Tuesday that JAL Mileage Bank and HawaiianMiles members will “enjoy reciprocal frequent flyer benefits effective Oct....