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Although I love my Hyatt Diamond status and am aiming to requalify for it again this year, one of my biggest quibbles with Hyatt is that its footprint is smaller than the other major brands with just under 500 hotels across the world.Andaz TokyoThe good news is, the chain is constantly expanding – including just-announced plans to open an Andaz in Tokyo in the summer of 2014. The hotel will be Hyatt’s fourth property in Tokyo – I already love the Park Hyatt there – and the ninth overall in Japan....

Update 11/21/16 3:35pm: Hyatt just provided the following statement, which reinforces what we’ve outlined below:Lifetime Globalist status will launch as part of the World of Hyatt on March 1, 2017. Current Lifetime Diamond members will receive Lifetime Globalist status in World of Hyatt. Lifetime Globalist status will be granted to members in good standing who have earned one million Base Points during the duration of their membership. A member’s lifetime point earning will carry over from Hyatt Gold Passport to World of Hyatt as long as the member’s account remains active....

As many readers know, I’ve long been a supporter of amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. Its mission: to find a cure that rids the world of AIDS by 2020. Events like the Inspiration Gala, which took place last night, are also celebrations of style, and raise a significant amount of money and awareness for the cause.For this year’s jet-set theme, inside the Skylight at Moynihan Station in Manhattan, I decided to take on a larger role as a presenting sponsor alongside Harry Winston and MAC....

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.I’m excited to announce the launch of the TPG Lounge, a new Facebook Group where we can all come together to chat about travel, points, miles and credit cards. This does not replace our existing Facebook page; it’s a platform where readers can share and discuss their experiences with other points and miles enthusiasts....

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.Commercial airlines are increasingly providing customers with fast ViaSat in-flight satellite Wi-Fi, and soon the US government will as well. ViaSat Wi-Fi will soon be installed on Air Force One and other ‘VIP and special air mission aircraft....

A male passenger who showed up at Australia’s Melbourne Airport (MEL) hours late for his flight was arrested after he ran onto the tarmac and tried to pry open an aircraft door for another flight.When the 57-year-old man showed up late for his flight to Adelaide (ADL), he became unruly when gate agents told him he wouldn’t be able to board the Jetstar aircraft. According to witnesses, the unidentified man then smoked a cigarette (which is not allowed inside the airport), knocked over a computer and physically assaulted the airline’s gate agents....

Here’s a recap of the interesting points and miles news from the week:Get 10,000 bonus Gold points.Earn 10,000 Bonus Club Carlson Gold Points For Stays At Radisson Hotels In Canada: You could earn 10,000 bonus Gold Points for the Club Carlson loyalty program on weekend stays of two or more nights at Radisson hotels throughout Canada with their “Reward Your Weekend” promotion. Stays must be booked and completed by May 31, 2014 in order to receive the bonus....

Southwest Airlines says that it hasn’t found any signs of metal fatigue on its jet engines in the days since last week’s fatal accident.“With the inspections we have stepped up since last week, we have no findings at this point, which is obviously what we would expect,” Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said on Thursday.Bloomberg reports that as of Thursday, the carrier has inspected all but about 10,000 of the 35,500 fan blades that are equipped on its CFM56-7B engines....

The Transportation Security Administration is considering ending required security screening for passengers at more than 150 small and mid-sized airports across the US.According to a CNN report released on Wednesday, internal documents from the agency say the end of security screening at US airports that serve aircraft with 60 seats or fewer would only bring a “small (non-zero) undesirable increase in risk related to additional adversary opportunity.“The agency documents, obtained by CNN, are from June and July and reportedly say that the security cuts would save the agency about $115 million each year....

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.TSA PreCheck continues to make itself more valuable for travelers by adding additional airlines to the program. On Wednesday, the Transportation Security Administration announced that it’s adding an additional six international airlines.The six new partnering airlines include:Air SerbiaCondor AirlinesPorter AirlinesScandinavian AirlinesThomas Cook Airlines (UK)Thomas Cook Airlines (Scandinavia)With Wednesday’s announcement, a total of 52 domestic and international airlines offer PreCheck as an option to passengers....

US Airways is offering a 50% bonus on hotel points transferred into US Airways miles until March 31, 2012. I generally don’t recommend transferring hotel points to airline miles (unless you really need to top up for an award), though this promotion certainly sweetens the value proposition - especially if you know how to maximize US Airways redemptions (check out this post for my rundown of the Dividend Miles program).One of the biggest opportunities here is to transfer Starwood points, because this promotion stacks on top of the existing 5,000 mile bonus Starwood adds to each 20,000 point transfer to US Airways....

First Southwest announced upcoming service between EWR and Puerto Rico, then Alaska Airlines shared its plans to fly to EWR from three new West Coast cities and several other carriers announced new routes to the airport. Now Virgin America is expanding its service to Newark with new round-trip transcontinental flights.Starting on November 18, 2016, the carrier will offer 10 daily flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to the New York City area, with a new flight to and from Newark....

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.By now, the commercial aviation industry is no stranger to long-haul flights operated by narrowbody aircraft, especially Boeing’s venerable 737. There have been regularly scheduled transatlantic 737 flights for a while now, including an SAS flight from Copenhagen (CPH) to Newark (EWR) on a 737-700....

In May 2013, Norwegian Air Shuttle, an unknown low-cost carrier at the time, began flights between the US and Europe. Before Norwegian’s entry, flights to Europe were cheap when they dipped under $800, and you needed an “amazing” error fare to get flights in the mid-$300s. The airline has helped usher in much cheaper transatlantic travel for people based both in the US and Europe. Not only does Norwegian continue to offer jaw-dropping fares, but it’s also put pressure on the legacy carriers to drastically drop their prices to compete....

Looks like Delta is holding an aggressive fare sale from several of United’s hubs to Honolulu this fall and winter with roundtrip prices from several cities including Newark, Denver, Houston and Phoenix pricing out as low as $422.I’m on my way to the airport, so I only had time to do a few searches, but it looks like these fares area available for travel originating almost every day in October and November from Newark....

Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you might have missed from the week before. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you might have missed on TPG this week.Chase Sapphire Preferred Card No Longer Offering an Authorized User BonusSay goodbye to Chases’ authorized user bonus of 5,000 Ultimate Rewards points, worth $100 according to our latest valuation.When to Use Hotel Credit Cards vs. Chase Sapphire on Large PurchasesTPG’s Brendan Dorsey expertly compared the everyday points back and valuations of Chase Sapphire and hotel cards to assess which will best maximize your big purchases....

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.This week, the European Aviation Safety Agency expressed concern over the ban on carry-on electronics that the governments of both the UK and the US have implemented recently. The Agency, which is responsible for air safety in 32 countries, said that many of the personal carry-on electronics that have been relegated to the cargo hold on several Middle Eastern and African airlines pose a specific security risk due to the flammability of their lithium-ion batteries....

An Air India flight attendant’s final flight this week was made extra special because her daughter was in the cockpit — as the first officer.“So happy and honoured to be able to pilot the one flight that mattered,” Air India pilot Ashrrita Chinchankar, 31, wrote on Twitter Monday. “It was my mum’s dream to have me pilot her last flight as an air hostess with Air India. As she retires after her glorious 38 years of service, I will be carrying on with her legacy....

As part of my whirlwind trip to Brazil, South Korea and China, I flew JFK-GRU on the new American Airlines 777-300ER. My ticket was a total of $1,238 for Economy (round-trip with a return later in the year); I then used one of the eight EVIPs I receive each year to instantly upgrade to business, which otherwise would have cost more than $5,000—which is why I love being an American AAdvantage Executive Platinum member....

Anyone who knows me even just a little knows that I love three things: cats, travel and a Sanrio character named Badtz-Maru. Sometimes this can be awkward, for example when a man in his 40s finds himself milling about gift shops among 8-year-old girls looking for Hello Kitty items. Other times, this leads me to fly to Asia so I can catch a plane offering a travel experience revolving around a fictional angry six-year-old penguin....