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One of the things I love most about being The Points Guy is getting to hear stories from readers about all the positive ways award travel has affected their lives. That being said, while I love hearing about your successes, I think there’s also a lot we can learn by sharing our mistakes, and I’m calling on readers to send in your most egregious and woeful travel failures.From time to time I’ll pick one that catches my eye and post it for everybody to enjoy (and commiserate with)....

If you’re going to be flying on the soon-to-be world’s longest flight, you’ll want to be comfortable. Imagine being stuck in a seat with little recline for 17 hours between Europe and Australia, nonstop. No thank you!As Qantas begins to fly its new 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft between London (LHR) and Perth (PER), beginning on March 24, 2018, it’ll get the title of world’s longest flight. At 9,010 miles, it’s a monster flight, but the Dreamliner is well equipped to handle the journey....

Hyatt sent me an email on March 11th that I initially ignored, but thanks to savvy Flyertalkers, I realized it was a chance to take a survey about hotel benefits for 1,000 points. The survey took about 8 minutes, so considering 1,000 Hyatt points = 1/22 of a Park Hyatt free night, I value them at around $20.So while I don’t have a link for everyone to take this survey, I’d recommend any Hyatt Gold Passport members search their inbox for the survey for a quick 1,000 points....

Realtytrac is a paid service that allows you to research real estate properties. The British Airways E-store (which is also currently running an amazing promotion with Nordstrom) is currently offering 3,000 British Airways Avios points when you sign-up for Realtytrac. Simply log-in and then search for Realtytrac in the top right search bar and you’ll see the offer.The great thing is that this offer applies to free trials and you can currently become a Realtytrac for free for 7 days....

This morning, we found out that American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are taking a step back from their partnership. Effective January 1, 2018, AA and Alaska elites will no longer get elite benefits on each other’s flights. And, you’ll no longer be able to earn award and elite miles on the other airline’s flight numbers.But, something else is also happening on January 1 — Alaska’s changing Mileage Plan award rates on AA flights....

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.Airlines and their dress code requirements for non-revenue passengers have caused a lot of controversy in past years. Remember last year’s #LeggingsGate when United created a stir on social media after denying boarding two “non-rev” female passengers from boarding because they were wearing leggings?...

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.One more international airline has been added to the growing list of carriers that participate in the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program. On Thursday, the TSA announced that Swiss International Air Lines has joined the PreCheck program.Effective immediately, travelers flying with Swiss and members of the PreCheck program can now use the expedited security lanes....

There was a lot of excitement this past Saturday with Alitalia’s Japanese promo code that took $315 off any Alitalia flight. However, the next day they unilaterally cancelled all tickets much to the dismay of dealseekers (myself included). The legality of this decision is still debatable as it was complex being that they are an Italian company, it was a Japanese website and a lot of people who purchased tickets were in different countries, many in the US....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Chase Sapphire Preferred CardTPG reader AnneMarie messaged me on Facebook to ask:“Are you allowed to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred sign up bonus more than once? Is there a certain time that you can wait between cards to get the bonus more than once?“The Chase Sapphire Preferred card has been one of my go-to travel cards for years....

Delta launched a contest today called Delta Nonstop NYC where you have the opportunity to win a trip for two on a chartered Delta flight from NYC to LAX. Its pretty simple to enter and there are three ways to win: 1) instant win scavenger hunts (Find the Red Coat), 2) weekly games and contests (Missions), and 3) having the highest cumulative score (Up Your Score).There will be 40 grand prize winners each including the winner and a guest....

Update 5/23/17: After meeting with our editorial team, we regret the decision made to take a side on this issue, and have updated the text to reflect this opinion. At TPG, our goal is to remain neutral, and TPG himself will be sharing his thoughts in a follow-up post shortly. Regardless, as stressed out as many gate agents appear to be when boarding a flight, perceived discrimination is something to avoid, and considering the vastly different policies regarding early boarding, employees shouldn’t assume that all customers are intimately familiar with airline procedures....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card From American ExpressStarpoints are among the most valuable points out there, with 32 airline transfer partners, a ton of hotel partners, and more. That’s why I use my Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card From American Express for any purchase that isn’t going to earn a bonus on any other card, even if I’m only earning 1 Starpoint per dollar spent....

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 this isn’t the ultimate dream job, then we don’t know what is (besides working at TPG, of course). The New York Times is looking to hire a journalist who will travel the globe for one full year and write about their experiences....

When planning travel, there’s no shortage of sites where you can book your hotel stay — you can visit the hotel’s site directly, visit one of the hundreds of available OTAs or you can book through a site that offers you something in return for booking a stay. If what you’re after are bonus miles, points or credits, Kaligo is a good site to turn to.And today, Kaligo is launching an exclusive partnership with the ever-popular ridesharing service, Uber....

The founder of the budget airline easyJet is set to file a lawsuit against Netflix in a trademark dispute over a series on the streaming service called “Easy.““I think this is a case of typically arrogant behavior by a very large American tech company who never bothered to check what legal rights other companies have outside the US,” Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the owner of easyGroup, said in a statement.Image courtesy of easyJet....

There are few happier words in family travel than “We’re going to Disney World”! But that single phrase can quickly do a number on a family’s travel budget. In the coming weeks and months, we will walk you through some strategies on how to save and when to splurge at Disney World — but one lucky family is going to do even better than that.To celebrate this week’s announcement of Mommy Points becoming a part of The Points Guy and the launch of the new TPG Family vertical, we are giving away a family trip to Walt Disney World!...

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 Etihad Guest program offered one of the industry’s best awards to Europe — just 36,620 miles round-trip between New York (JFK) and Brussels (BRU) on Brussels Airlines. If you had the time (and patience) to call an Etihad agent to book the award for you, it was an incredible deal....

I like to fly business class for long flights not because I’m super fancy, or need caviar and champagne at the ready, or because I want to feel elite or special…I fly it (usually on miles) because I want to get as much sleep as possible on the flight to maximize my time on the ground. And though it probably sounds bizarre and maybe even Silver Spoon-ish to some, I also like my kids to be able to lay down and get as much sleep as they can, too....

From April 18- June 30, 2012, you can get up to 40% more miles when you purchase Flying Blue (Air France/ KLM) miles. Flying Blue normally sells miles at 2.5 Euro cents apiece (3.3 cents at today’s exchange rate). With this promo, you can get as many as 56,000 miles for 1,000 euros ($1,310), or 2.3 cents a piece. So is this a good deal?Generally, no. Flying Blue charges crazy amounts of taxes and fees on awards (think British Airways bad), so that 100,000 mile business class roundtrip award to Europe would cost $2,300 if you were able to purchase the miles, plus ~$900 in fees....

A couple months ago, I was introduced to Snapchat — and my world has been completely changed. It’s a great tool for me to use because not only can I interact with readers (which I love to do), but I also get to document my travels and the daily life of TPG. If you don’t follow me on Snapchat already, I’m giving you an even greater incentive to do so now — I’m going to start snapping more in detail now than ever before....