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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.In an awkward (and potentially scary) turn of events yesterday afternoon, Delta’s Flight 1651 ended its 2.5-hour journey from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an emergency landing at the latter airport—because the aircraft’s captain had been locked out of the cockpit....

Earlier this week I wrote about potential changes to the Delta SkyMiles program that could potentially devalue how much SkyMiles are worth. In the newest news that go along with Delta’s plans to align benefits with the amount of money you spend, the airline has announced that it is introducing a new Basic Economy fare for domestic flights between Detroit and Orlando, Ft. Myers, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa, and possibly (read: likely) to expand to other markets in the future....

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.Delta recently hosted a bunch of frequent flyers to their Atlanta headquarters for a weekend of fun. Unfortunately I was unable to attend due to a family wedding, butI heard Delta really pulled out all the stops- including speeches by the CEO and VP of SkyMiles....

What are some of the grossest things that can happen on planes? Do you go barefoot on planes? Would you walk barefoot through the locker room of your gym? How about on a New York City sidewalk?In case you’re still not convinced that it’s a bad idea to not at least keep your socks on when flying, consider that planes are just glorified metal tubes hurtling through space with up to hundreds of humans in a hermetically sealed environment....

Boeing and Embraer jointly announced Thursday morning they have established a strategic partnership. The two aircraft manufacturers will form a joint venture to operate Embraer’s commercial aircraft division. Embraer is the manufacturer of popular regional jets such as the E-175 and E-190. The company recently introduced the E2 series of single-aisle aircraft which seats 100+ passengers and competes directly with the Airbus-Bombardier C Series.After months of negotiations and having received the approval of the Brazilian government, the parties made the announcement in a press release before markets opened....

Chase Ultimate Rewards and Korean SkyPass are parting ways on August 25. I’ve long enjoyed utilizing Korean Air’s program for award bookings on both Korean and SkyTeam-operated flights, but with time now critically short for you to transfer Ultimate Rewards and easily acquire a sizable Korean SkyPass balance, let’s look at the program’s sweet spots you’ll want to consider utilizing.Before You TransferThere are two strategic possibilities to consider before deciding on whether or not to transfer Ultimate Rewards to Korean SkyPass by the end of the day on August 24…Award SpaceIf you transfer in the next 10 days and try to book immediately, it’s plausible that award space could be a premium with tons of competition in a short timeframe....

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.In the vein of keeping Austin weird, Lufthansa is adding one of the more unique routes we’ve seen of late: nonstop service between Frankfurt and the capital of Texas. Beginning May 3, 2019, the carrier will link the two cities for the first time, part of a much larger shift that will see five Airbus A380s transfer from Frankfurt to Munich next summer....

Calling all AvGeeks: Lufthansa is giving you a chance to “Fly Through Time” and experience the Golden Age of Travel in NYC this weekend.On Sunday, Oct. 14, Lufthansa is debuting an interactive augmented reality pop-up to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its Senator Service on board the Super Constellation aircraft known as the “Super Connie.” The Super Connie was the first-ever luxury transatlantic flight.The “Fly Through Time” AR installation will take you back to the 1950s and allow you to virtually dress in vintage Lufthansa uniform and passenger styles....

Brand-new airline Air Belgium begins selling advance tickets today for an inaugural service route between Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) and Hong Kong (HKG) four times a week. Inaugural commercial flights are set to launch on April 30.Brand-new Air Belgium’s website is still ironing out its technical difficulties, per the fine print at the bottom of the page.The Belgium-based carrier received its air operator’s license (AOC) in March and expects to add flights to six other destinations within mainland China by May, according to Air Belgium CEO Niky Terzakis, former CEO of cargo airline TNT Airways....

At the tail end of a round-the-world trip, TPG Contributor Sarah Silbert flew from Zurich to New York in Swiss’ A330 business class. With decent availability, particularly for flights operating outside of North America, this Star Alliance airline is a great option for award redemptions. (All photos by Zach Honig.)I tend to fly foreign carriers whenever possible. I’ve had more than my fair share of business-class flights on United and even a recent hop across the pond on American, but there’s no question that international airlines offer better seats, service and food, somewhat universally....

With the Marriott/Starwood merger beginning soon, many Starwood loyalists are looking to redeem their SPG points before the two programs are combined. Normally, we’d suggest redeeming points whenever you’re getting at least 2.5 cents in value, however there’s a much better deal out there right now, at Starwood’s latest flagship property in the Maldives.The St. Regis Maldives is set to open next month, though the hotel is currently only accepting bookings beginning in November....

Companies across the travel industry in the UK are teaming up to raise awareness for the consequences of drinking too much alcohol when flying. The campaign, coined “One Too Many,” launched today on social media and 10 pilot airports across the UK.The goal is to remind passengers that there are downsides to consuming too much alcohol, citing denial of boarding, plane diversions (and the often high fines involved in causing a plane to divert), up to two-year prison sentences and even being banned from an airline....

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 Massachusetts man may get an expensive life lesson on taking the buddy system seriously — at least when in the woods.A couple of weeks ago, Massachusetts hiker Christophe Chamley told his wife he would return on April 23 from a hike in the White Mountains....

Andrew over from Lenticular Travel and I connected recently via email and we thought it might be really helpful for him to share some tips on using an iPhone camera, so that traveling families can better capture some images from their vacations. Of course, some families have fancy cameras they bring along for the ride, but for many of us the only thing we can manage to add to our luggage is the iPhone that we always have firmly placed in our pocket....

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.There seems to be a fare war happening on US to Tokyo routes. I see all-in roundtrip fares for about $700 for JFK/WAS/DTW/DFW/LAX and more to Tokyo (Narita).There’s a lot of availability from now until April 1. Check out the fares for your city and take a quick trip to Japan....

TPG contributor Katharine Gammon is a science writer for publications including WIRED, Popular Science and Los Angeles Magazine. When she’s not jetting to international conferences to interview some of the world’s leading scientific minds, she’s globetrotting herself, exploring unique destinations including recent trips to New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Today she writes about the science of altitude sickness and how travelers can prevent it from ruining their vacation.Mountain bikers at the Montage Deer Valley outside Park City, Utah, have to contend with high altitude....

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.Yesterday I was helping a family member book a flight to Washington DC (I’m sure lots of you act as the ‘family travel agent’ as well), and after we had completed the booking we were offered the opportunity to confirm a first class seat for $159 each way....

TPG reader Dani has racked up some British Airways Avios and tweeted me with a question about how much they’re worth:“What would you say is the dollar value of British Airways Avios points (for less frequent flyers than yourself)?“As with all things points- and miles-related, the value of Avios depends on what you redeem them for. The good news for Dani is that you don’t have to be a frequent flyer like me in order to be able to get a ton of value out of them....

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.Passengers at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) had a frightening afternoon on Tuesday when stormy Florida weather turned into a tornado near one of the airport’s runways.A flyer in the airport caught cell phone video of the storm ripping through the airport, hovering near several Southwest aircraft parked at gates....

A long-haul Delta flight between Seattle and Amsterdam, jet lag, a packed schedule: Allison Dvaladze was prepared for it all. She did not, however, anticipate what the neighboring passenger would do three hours into her flight back in April of 2016.“I awoke to a hand in my crotch,” Dvaladze told PBS NewsHour. “It was totally, completely shocking to have that happen.“The in-flight assault, and the airline’s “anemic” response, led Dvaladze to file a lawsuit against Delta Airlines Tuesday, February 27, in the US District Court of Seattle....