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In just two weeks, I leave the Navy after nine years of active duty. In discussions with some friends and officers who will soon transition as well, I came across the following offering from Hilton:(Note that the only PDF we could find was from 2014, before Hilton changed its program branding from HHonors to Honors.)In summary, Hilton has partnered with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies in 20 states to offer 100,000 Hilton Honors points to veterans, transitioning service members and their spouses to help make travel more financially feasible during job-search related activities....

Joël Robuchon’s restaurants have earned the man 31 Michelin Stars — more than any other chef in the world — and he was named the Chef of the Century by the influential French restaurant guide Gault et Millau. In early 2017, the Frenchman helped develop Air France’s long-haul La Première menu. Below, Robuchon shares his experiences as a restaurateur-turned-airline chef.Robuchon (right) poses with two of his new culinary partners. Image courtesy of Air France....

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 dicey couple of days for the cruise industry when it comes to close encounters. Last week, we told you how the Celebrity Equinox came uncomfortably close to a Fort Lauderdale home, scaring the homeowners (and their dog), who filmed the entire thing from their deck....

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.Qantas Airways has been on a roll recently.The Australia-based carrier announced last week that it will add an additional service from Los Angeles (LAX) and Melbourne (MEL) with its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Following the new aircraft reveal, the airline announced today that it will cover the cost of new passport for US travelers....

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 ability to be spontaneous is one of the great pleasures of being on vacation. Sure, it’s fine to have an itinerary, but leaving enough flexibility that allows for an impromptu trip to, say, watch a breathtaking sunrise is what makes for some of the best memories....

TPG reader Michael sent me a message asking:“I’ve accumulated 100,000 Membership Rewards points over the past year, but want to withdraw them for cash. I noticed American Express gives you gift cards at a rate of half a cent per point, which is highway robbery. My other credit cards give me 2% cash back, so I’d prefer to get at least two cents per point. What are my options?“Here’s the deal with Amex and Chase points: don’t get them if you want cash back....

Southwest Airlines expects to see booking levels to return back to normal rates as the carrier continues to recover from the fallout after one passenger died in an engine explosion in April.“We are encouraged by the solid rebound in demand," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said in a statement Thursday.The airline is predicting its revenue for available seat mile — the industry’s standard metric for profit — will increase up to 1% in the three-month period ending on September 30....

On March 5, Swiss Airlines will open a new first-class lounge in Terminal A of Zurich Airport (ZRH).The new lounge layout echoes the design aesthetic of the carrier’s original first-class lounge in Zurich’s Terminal E, offering lounge suites, a lounge club with leather sofas, a business zone, a meeting room with a view of the airport apron, a relaxation room with two loungers and a smokers’ lounge with its own outside section and a choice of fine whiskies....

This is a post in my new Transcontinental Series aimed at helping flyers choose the best options while traveling coast-to-coast, as well as strategies on leveraging elite status and miles to get the most valuable upgrades possible. Other posts include: American Airlines, Delta, United and Virgin America. Today I’ll be talking about JetBlue’s transcontinental routes.JetBlue flies A320 aircraft on its transcontinental routes.Planes and Classes of ServiceOn its transcontinental routes, JetBlue flies Airbus 320’s equipped with 150 leather seats, all in Economy and “Even More Space” class....

On Saturday morning, British Airways suffered what the airline described as a “power outage,” canceling all services for most of Saturday, with heavy delays and cancellations following on Sunday.The outage caused three days worth of disruption to the entire British Airways global network, with passengers being affected around the world, connections missed, luggage lost and the website down for almost 72 hours. In addition to the already stressful situation, there was a complete lack of communication from British Airways to its passengers....

When it come to passenger shaming, we try our best to leave these stories to former flight attendant Shawn Kathleen. But this bizarre incident on board an Ural Airlines flight is one that we, unfortunately, cant ignore or unsee.According to View from the Wing, a female passenger aboard the Russian airliner was spotted drying her underwear on a recent flight from Turkey to Moscow. The moment was recorded by a nearby passenger a few rows back, but the unidentified woman ignored it and continued to dry her panties....

In an effort to promote its newish Smartphone app, Expedia is offering a few discounts on mobile hotel bookings that can add up to $50 off - or 25% savings depending on how you look at it.Use the Expedia app to score a $50 rebate.You can download the app here, and it’s available for iPhone, Android and Windows phone. Then when you make a new hotel booking using your mobile app between now and 11:59PM PT on January 1, 2014, at an eligible hotel for a stay between now and January 1, 2014 and enter the coupon code MOBILECHEER, you’ll get an instant rebate of $50 off your stay of $200 or more (not including taxes) - so this could be a good way to save on a last-minute New Year’s Eve hotel booking....

The power of social media has turned a residential neighborhood in Japan into a must-see attraction. Three quirky shiba inus have been known to poke their heads out of holes in the concrete wall surrounding their home – and tourists have begun flocking to see the good boys.The holes started out as a means to improve the airflow of the owner’s garden, according to Lonely Planet, but soon became a lookout point for the dogs....

As more and more airlines phase out international first class, they’re upping their business class offerings. Besides improving products on board, many airlines are also completely revamping the on-the-ground experience. In the past year alone, Air Canada, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Qantas and United have all turned heads with brand new international business-class lounges. And now, Air France, too, has a new 34,000-square-foot lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to show off....

At 7:46am Eastern time Sunday morning, the popular tourist destination of Bali, Indonesia, was rocked by a strong 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Moderate damage has been reported to the area, including the airport.Videos posted by people in the area show how terrifying the earthquake was to experience:Video from inside a Bali mall show moments of panic, but shoppers remained calm during the evacuation from the building:Photos from inside Bali’s main airport Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) show that the airport sustained at least cosmetic damage from the quake:Air traffic control history from FlightRadar24 shows that arrivals and departures were held for approximately 20 minutes after the earthquake....

One of the things I worry about the most in the wake of a disaster like Hurricane Harvey is how in the world folks will get back on their feet financially, especially if they are out of work for a period of time and don’t have an emergency fund. Heck, even if you do have a decent emergency fund, it goes really quickly in the event of an actual emergency. You know, like one where your house and job literally float away as opposed to an unexpected air conditioner or car repair that often qualifies as a bit of a financial emergency....

Update 7/13/2017: Ryan Pickren just donated one million of his United miles to Eckerd Kids — a charity based Ryan’s hometown of Clearwater, Florida which provides “child welfare, juvenile justice, and work force development programs” to over 34,000 kids each year across 20 states.Ryan describes his motivation for donating: “I have enjoyed volunteering for the organization and raising money for them in the past. They do a lot to improve our community and provide kids and families with the second chances that they deserve....

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: Continental is now a part of United.Continental recently launched a new program where you can hold a fare for up to a week for a small fee. The feature, FareLock, works on itineraries that are at least 18 days away (that was the threshold in my limited testing) and when searching for fares, you will see a small logo underneath your fare....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – The Platinum Card® from American Express, Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American ExpressAmerican Express and the US Travel Association (a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting US travel) have partnered to offer discounts and deals with various travel brands and loyalty programs during the next month, including hotel packages, points/miles purchase promos, rental car discounts and more....

Last week, we wrote about plentiful Virgin America first-class award space, which was bookable with AAdvantage miles. Now, however, there’s fairly wide-open award space on AA’s own premium nonstop routes between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO), and you can depart as soon as today (Tuesday, February 6):You can search right from the AA.com homepage, although the Advanced Search option will sometimes return more results. Once you have the initial results, select the “Non-Stop Only” option from the drop-down to eliminate the connecting flights....