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I’ve gotten a bunch of new credit cards recently (thanks to some amazing sign-up bonuses) and it dawned on me the other day that I hadn’t registered them all to a dining program.For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, Rewards Network is a company that will automatically give you miles and points every time you spend money at a participating restaurant. Once your card is registered with a program, there’s no need to collect receipts - you’ll automatically get points deposited in your account about a week or so after your dine....

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.Last month, the FAA shared its concern about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s habit of involuntarily self-destructing, leading airlines to ban customers from turning on, charging or carrying the Note 7 in checked luggage during a flight. This was expected to be a temporary move, as Samsung worked to replace all of the original models....

Ryanair announced Tuesday that it would be closing its base in Glasgow, Scotland (GLA) due in part to financial uncertainty caused by Brexit. The Irish low-cost carrier will slash the number of routes out of GLA from 23 down to only three.“We think Brexit is particularly threatening to Scotland and its economy, and particularly to the aviation industry,” Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer David O’Brien said, according to Sky News.The airline also estimated that the closure puts about 300 jobs at Glasgow Airport at risk....

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.After years of financial losses, South African Airways is trying to cut costs by offering pilots and cabin crew to major global carriers. Bloomberg reports that SAA’s Chief Executive Officer Vuyani Jarana did not reveal how many pilots and flight attendants could lose their jobs or be transferred, but in an interview he explained measures including eliminating destinations within Africa and reducing capacity or cutting half the flights from the airline’s Johannesburg base to London....

I post pretty frequently on ways to accumulate miles and points such as via lucrative credit card sign-up bonuses, everyday credit card usage, shopping portal payouts, dining programs, promotions, and more, but earning is only half the battle. The miles and points you earn are only as valuable as the ways in which you redeem them. So, to help you get the most value for your miles, this post is dedicated to airline mileage redemptions....

Travelers on board a United Airlines flight to Hawaii on Sunday were stuck in a… messy… situation after the flight was diverted when the “lavatories had reached capacity.” United Flight 1219 from Denver (DEN) to Lihue (LIH) was diverted to San Francisco (SFO) after it had already flown well over the Pacific Ocean.“I am very sorry that our lavatories had reached capacity while Flight 1219 was en route to Lihue,” said United Airlines in a statement to passengers....

One of the 103 survivors of Tuesday’s Aeromexico crash said “I feel that it’s kind of a miracle that we all made it. It’s just a blessing that I’m here to tell the story the next day.”Nothing illustrates those sentiments like this video of the Embraer E-190’s rocky takeoff.Taken from inside the plane by a passenger who wishes to remain anonymous, the video shows the stormy weather conditions outside the window as the plane is taxiing before takeoff....

Lush tea plantations, sweeping jungles, picturesque rolling hills and cascading waterfalls — you can admire this incredible scenery on the train from Kandy to Ella, one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. Having chugged along from Cusco to Aguas Calientes in Peru, from Switzerland to Italy and through the jungles of Malaysia (and countless other, less exciting train trips), I’ve only taken a handful of truly stunning train journeys....

Next week, I’ll be heading to Austin, Texas, for SXSW. I’ve attended a few times in the past and am excited to return to ATX for the event. This year, however, is special: As part of the music portion of the festival, I’ll be speaking on my own panel about “Getting the Most Bang for Your Touring Buck” on March 16 at the Austin Convention Center.In addition to my talk (you’ll need a SXSW pass to attend), I’ll also be hosting a TPG happy hour and meet & greet event with fans in Austin....

Update: Some of the offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here: Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express, Delta Reserve Credit Card from American Express.TPG follower Travel Chaz tweeted:"@thepointsguy if you were not concerned about redeeming the miles, would you choose Delta or American Platinum status for business travel?“First off, let’s start with the basics since the two statuses are not really equivalent. American Platinum only requires 50,000 miles and Delta Platinum requires 75,000 - but that being said, Delta actually makes it a lot easier to get elite status because they have so many credit cards that offer Medallion Qualifying Miles such as the Delta Platinum SkyMiles Amex, which gives you 5,000 MQM’s with your first purchase and up to 20,000 more when you spend over $50,000 in a calendar year; and the Delta Reserve, which gives you 10,000 MQM’s with first purchase and up to 30,000 more when you spend over $60,000 in a calendar year)....

How travelers pass through security and board their airplane may soon change. So-called biometric gates with innovative facial recognition technology are already in use at several airports worldwide, most notably by British Airways for their domestic flights at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5. KLM is testing the technology in Amsterdam, Delta in Washington, and the travel industry is getting ready for the biometric revolution.And last week at Los Angeles LAX, British Airways and its partners Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Vision-Box unveiled new boarding gates where a passenger’s face acts as both the boarding pass and documentation review....

The worldwide diaspora of Peruvian cuisine has officially become one of the great global culinary trends of the past few years. The country’s traditional foods and contemporary dining scene have gained a worldwide following thanks to the energetic efforts and rapidly expanding restaurant empires of chefs like Gastón Acurio and Virgilio Martínez. These days, you can sample Peruvian food in restaurants across the planet, but the best opportunity to try some South American staples is on a trip to Peru itself....

During a trip to Thailand back in 2009, I flew from Koh Samui Airport (USM) in the Gulf of Thailand to Krabi Airport (KBV) on the Andaman Coast. It was a quick, smooth 45-minute ride across the country’s flamingo-like neck, but I’ll never forget that landing.Our Bangkok Airways plane caught some wind on the descent and hit the runway at an uneven angle. The plane bounced — HARD — and the entire cabin seemed to utter a collective gasp when we veered for what seemed like a full minute....

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.JetBlue launched a promotion on Tuesday, which could be especially intriguing for its frequent flyers. For a limited time, if you book and fly with the carrier, JetBlue will give you a 20% discount on a future booking....

This past weekend was a whirlwind, with several Alitalia promo codes floating around that made certain flights very affordable. However, around 8am on Sunday I noticed that Alitalia canceled my flight booked with the $315 off Japanese Promo Code:“Dear Customer,Thank you for choosing alitalia.com.We regret to inform you that your ticket purchase has not been processed.Any amount debited on your account, will be credited back.Your Alitalia Customer Center Team"I personally think the email was very vague and almost fake- heck, it didn’t even reference the exact flight I booked....

While RBC markets the Avion cards more towards “any seat, anytime” type redemptions, they also have a sync up with British Airways, Cathay Pacific and American Airlines that allow 1:1 transfer. In my expert advice, these transfers will generally get the most value out of your Avion points- especially if you are redeeming for first or business class.On top of this, British Airways is offering a stunning 50% bonus on transferred Avion points until January 31, 2011....

We found out Wednesday that American Airlines’ caterer Gate Gourmet found listeria at its Los Angeles (LAX) catering facility and that American Airlines immediately ceased catering from Gate Gourmet as a precaution. Obviously, this would affect catering on American Airlines flights from LAX.After we published that initial story, a TPG reader emailed us about his and his wife’s experience on one of those flights without catering — and that experience was terrible, even for those in business class on one of American Airlines’ 13+ hour flights over the Pacific....

Although American’s award redemption amounts are quite reasonable compared with Delta and United’s, the airline isn’t known for its generous routing rules. Earlier this year, American announced that it would no longer offer award tickets between the US mainland and Hawaii on Hawaiian airlines, but in its latest changes to multi-region award travel, flyers will now have to change their award-ticket strategy when connecting in Honolulu.As of September 1, it’s no longer possible to combine American and Hawaiian flights on a single award ticket — meaning if you’re flying to a destination in Asia or the South Pacific (or elsewhere) and you stop in Honolulu, you must book the trip as two separate awards....

It’s January, and that means a slate of new points and miles promos, including one from Amtrak that just launched this morning. The “Ride and Shine” promo from Amtrak Guest Rewards works when you take 3 qualifying roundtrips on the Acela between January 5-February 28, 2015, you earn one free roundtrip for travel July 1-August 31, 2015.Though the promo language says “roundtrip,” per the terms themselves, you can actually earn free rides based on one-ways as well....

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.Hertz just announced a pretty interesting promotion: through 1/31/11 bring in a reservation with a competitor and they will match the price- and give you a $50 gift certificate for a future rental. This is valid on weekly and weekend rentals at airport locations only....