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Alaska Airlines bought out Virgin America in 2016, and with it came lots of new aircraft and routes. On Wednesday, the airline announced that it will be cutting back service on some of those routes that it acquired from Virgin.According to Routes Online, Alaska will be reducing frequency on its routes between Los Angeles (LAX) and New York (JFK), and San Francisco (SFO) and JFK starting July 6. It will fly between New York and Los Angeles five times a day, and New York and San Francisco four times daily — each route with one less daily flight....

Today, we have credit cards made out of either plastic or metal. But tech companies and credit card issuers alike are experimenting with various card-less systems, most notably “wearable” technology (so far that means equipping smartwatches with the ability to pay for items). Visa’s latest concept allows customers to pay for goods with sunglasses.Visa shared the prototype earlier this week at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. The technology will enable customers to go into a store and make their purchases purely by scanning their sunglasses over a payment terminal — no swiping necessary....

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’ve talked about this before, but one of the greatest uses of airline miles is to fly yourself or a loved one last minute when airfare prices can be astronomical, but the mileage price of the ticket can seem comparably reasonable....

In 2017, airlines reported that there were fewer unruly passengers on flights than in previous years. There’s a caveat, however. Those who acted unruly on board were more violent than in the past, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).Total Resolve, a conflict consulting agency in Britain founded by former police officers, developed a passenger restraint system that makes it easier for airline crew members to restrain unruly passengers and reduce the risk of injury....

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.Today’s Daily Getaways deal is for stay certificates at Country Inn & Suites ($56) and Radisson ($89). Unlike the other hotel sales, this one is not a straight forward points purchase, instead they are paper vouchers that are subject to availability....

Love it or hate connecting through it, Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) always seems to be pushing forward with passenger experience improvements. The recently renovated Terminal A looks more like a sleek mall that happens to also have flights than a traditional airport terminal. A recent face-lift to Terminal D’s duty free store turned into the largest in the country, with some little-known secluded passenger seating areas above it.This week, DFW airport announced its next passenger-comfort and environmentally-friendly improvement: new “dynamic” windows....

In a May 10 meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister and Russian Ambassador to the US, President Trump may have revealed confidential information about the electronics ban — including details that jeopardize a source of intelligence on the Islamic State.The Washington Post reports that the information Trump revealed was incredibly delicate, so much so that it had not been shared with US allies and many top US government officials. The source of intel reportedly has “access to the inner workings of the Islamic State” and did not authorize the US to share the information with Russia....

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 first of Airbus’ A320 aircraft that was assembled in the United States took to the air for the first time. The A320, which will eventually be delivered to low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines later this summer, took off from the new Airbus facility in Mobile, Alabama this week....

This is an installment in my Maximizing Elite Status series. Articles include; The Basics and Why People Mileage Run, Using ITA Matrix to Find Cheap Flights, How Much is Elite Status Worth?, Comparing Top Tier Status, Comparing Mid-Tier Status, Comparing Low Level Status, How to Get Elite Miles Without Flying, Understanding Elite Status Bump Thresholds, The Lowdown on Soft Landings, How to Cope with Losing Elite Status.We’re in the final stretch of 2011 now, and you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not you’re going to requalify for elite status on your airline of choice....

This should be an interesting week for me. I’m going on the third annual Star Mega Do, which is an event planned by frequent flyers, for frequent flyers. The event is co-organized by certain Star Alliance member airlines, as well as Hyatt. There are two portions (full schedule here), and I booked business class tickets on both. I will be live tweeting on my adventures, so make sure you follow me on Twitter!...

Update 7/16/17: A Qatar Airways spokesperson has reached out, stating that QR has no plans to open a second hub in Oman. The airline provided the following statement:This report is incorrect. Passengers from our new destination Sohar can fly on to more than 150 destinations connecting through our home and hub, Hamad International Airport in Doha.Huge news for passengers who often fly via the Middle East! Sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that Qatar Airways is planning to open a major hub in Oman, which is now being referred to as ‘The Second Doha Hamad....

TPG Managing Editor is about to embark on a month-long journey through Southeast Asia and needs your tips!A few months ago, a friend in Thailand suggested I come down for a visit in November since it’s low season in Southeast Asia (and I hope it’s not too rainy while I’m there because of it!), and after a quick search of award tickets back in June, I was able to book a first class award itinerary from New York to Bangkok on a combination of Lufthansa (in business class, but a first class ticket opened up this week, so I was able to change it to first class aboard the 747-400) and then continuing from Frankfurt to Bangkok on Thai Airways’ first class aboard the A380 - both of which I’m very excited to experience....

Airplane evacuations happen. They aren’t just a theoretical scenario from the safety video. They are very rare, but they do take place. And people routinely get out unscathed in the 90 seconds mandated by regulations — but they might not, if they keep doing something that those safety videos say they should never do: Take their bags with them.Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, Robert Sumwalt, was in favor of fines for passengers who take their baggage with them during an evacuation....

The Blue Lagoon is one of Iceland’s most popular attractions, and it’s not hard to see why its worth a trip. Thousands of travelers visit the mineral-rich waters every year for the ultimate geothermal spa experience. This spring, the Blue Lagoon welcomes another reason to visit Iceland with The Retreat at Blue Lagoon.The Retreat at the Blue Lagoon will open its doors on April 1 to travelers looking for a more private and luxurious experience at the ever-popular Blue Lagoon....

A man walks into a travel agency and tells the agent, “I’d like to visit Scotland and Denmark on the same trip.” When the agent politely explains to the man that he has not allotted himself enough time to visit both countries on this particular trip, he replies: “But they’re only an inch apart on the map!“No, it’s not the punch line to a bad joke. It’s an actual conversation that took place with a member of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA)....

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.Uber wants to reduce its carbon footprint by launching an Electric Vehicle Champion Initiative.The on-demand ride-hailing service announced a year-long pilot program Tuesday that hopes to increase the number of EV rides it delivers. The seven cities participating in the program are Austin, Los Angeles, Montreal, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle....

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.Visit the Starwood Facebook page today for a chance to win free nights at over 60 hotels or 225,000 Starpoints! Once you enter your name and email, simply shake the snowglobe for your chance to win. You don’t need to enter your Starpoints number or any other information....

Daniel Kristiansen and his father, Klaus, were searching for historical artifacts on their farm near Birkelse, Denmark, when they stumbled upon a German WWII plane complete with the pilot’s remains still in the cockpit.The pair set out with a metal detector as part of a project for the 14-year-old boy’s history class when they came across the debris.“I hoped we might find some old plates or something for Daniel to show in school,” Klaus Kristiansen said....

Ryanair pilots now have the support of one of the most famous names among their own, Chesley Sullenberger, or Sully. The retired US Airways captain who’s known for his “Miracle on the Hudson” landing in New York City spoke out in favor of Ryanair pilots, defending them and criticizing how the company’s CEO Michael O’Leary handled a pilot-vacation snafu that made headlines around the world.Earlier this month, Ryanair announced that it would be cancelling flights every day for six weeks as the result of poor planning when it came to pilot vacation time....

Two boats packed with tourists traveling off the coast of Thailand’s resort island Phuket capsized on Thursday after being hit by 16-foot waves. At least 33 people were reported dead in the shipwreck, with 23 more reported missing.The boats were leaving an area of the island popular for snorkeling when the incident occurred. One of the boats involved was the Phoenix PC Diving, a double-decker cruise liner that was ferrying 105 passengers, 93 of which were tourists from China....