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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 UK is known for its great pub scene with historical roots and beautiful architecture, but Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines are adding a modern twist by launching a “pop up pub” in London. As a Delta partner, Virgin Atlantic, the London-based carrier, is able to fly to more than 200 destinations in the US and Canada and wants to celebrate with local craft beer from all over the States....

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 week, we reported that a man was sitting in a Florida jail awaiting trial for stealing American Airlines miles worth “more than $260,000,” which he allegedly redeemed for hotels and rental cars. Knowing how easy it can be to rack up points and miles, it can be tempting to break the rules of frequent flyer programs, but breaking the law is a different matter entirely....

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.Packing for every occasion? It’s soon going to cost you even more. American Airlines announced Thursday that the cost of checked bags will increase by $5 apiece beginning Friday, September 21.Currently, your first AA checked bag costs $25 and a second bag costs $35 on flights within US territories including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, as well as flights between Canada and the United States....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – JetBlue Plus CardLogic would tell you that a base fare will be cheaper than a higher-level fare when booking air travel, however, that’s not always the case. When comparing JetBlue awards, we’re seeing that on select routes to Las Vegas (LAS) that the Blue Plus fare — which comes bundled with a free checked bag — requires fewer TrueBlue points than the base level Blue fare....

TPG reader Tyler emailed me to ask about earning airline miles:“My wife and I each have our own frequent flyer accounts, and we each earn miles when we pay for flights. It would be easier if we could accumulate the miles in one account, since we’d build up a larger balance more quickly. Is there a way to get credit for both passengers while using only one frequent flyer number?“The points and miles game can be more challenging when you travel as a couple or in a larger group....

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 you are looking for a fun summer vacation and want to try something different, you might want to consider Iceland. Delta becomes the first US carrier to start serving Iceland starting JFK- Reykjavik on June 1, 2011 and I’ve noticed some pretty low introductory fares....

This week is ‘Disney Week’ here at TPG, but the surprise announcement from Disney related to big changes in ticket pricing was decidedly not in the scheduled coverage line-up. The updates to Disney World ticket pricing were announced Monday in an official Disney Parks video and blog post.Buy discounted Disney tickets here through MickeyVisit.comDisney World moves to date based ticket pricingBeginning October 16, Disney World will change how you buy tickets to its Central Florida theme parks....

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 state of the electronics ban has been changing a lot in the past few days. Within the past week, we’ve learned that the US was allowing airports to be removed from the ban if they implemented new, enhanced security screening measures....

Between British Airways’ new first-class pouches and JetBlue’s new offering for Mint passengers, it’s been a busy past week for amenity kits. Never one to be outdone, Etihad recently unveiled new first-class amenity kits, and now it’s announcing new cities to be featured as part of its existing city-themed business-class amenity kit line.Etihad’s original line of city-themed bags — which was launched last year around this time — featured six cities: Abu Dhabi, London, Madrid, Los Angeles, Sydney and Hong Kong....

We’ve all had baggage troubles at the airport. Oversized, delayed, lost, maybe a bit scuffed up – it’s all exasperating but familiar territory. However, how many of you have received your luggage and belongings in a plastic garbage bag after it had been shredded and burnt to a crisp?Passenger Ivy Ford faced this issue on Friday at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) after returning from a trip via Spirit Airlines.“I see a garbage bag go past, still not thinking anything of it, I actually tap the garbage bag and say, ‘Wow, this is really awful....

Bag throwers: the bane of countless bottles of French wine, fine crystalware and unique musical instruments. Whenever you have fragile booty to bring back home, it often seems like there’s nothing to do but rely on prayers and a week’s worth of dirty socks — and, more often than not, all you get for your efforts when you get home is a ruined suitcase and 300 euros worth of broken glass....

UPDATED 1/29/18: The SpaceX Falcon Heavy inaugural flight is set to launch on February 6, 2018 and those interested in experiencing the historic launch are required to pre-purchase ticket packages. Currently, NASA has sold out the $195 tickets “Feel the Heat” and the $115 “Closest” launch viewing packages; the “Closer” and “Close” packages are still available for purchase. Ticket packages are only valid on the day of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch, packages can be booked via the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex website and the limited-availability packages will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis....

Hyatt just announced their fall promotion and depending on the number of nights you stay, you earn an extra 1,000-1,857 extra points per night starting at the 5 night threshold. Register by October 31 and stay at any Hyatt hotel worldwide from September 1 - November 30.Here’s how the numbers break down:Stay Bonus Total Bonus Points Earned5 Nights 5,000 bonus points 5,00010 Nights 10,000 bonus points 15,00015 Nights 10,000 bonus points 25,00020 Nights 10,000 bonus points 35,00025 Nights 10,000 bonus points 45,00030 Nights 10,000 bonus points 55,00035 Nights 10,000 bonus points 65,000On top of these bonuses, remember, if you have the Hyatt credit card, you’ll earn 20% more bonus points – an additional 1,000 after your first five nights and 2,000 bonus points for every five nights after that....

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.Options for getting from New York and Boston to Las Vegas are about to get much more comfortable. JetBlue announced on Monday that effective immediately, it’ll begin flying Mint-equipped aircraft between New York (JFK) and Las Vegas (LAS)....

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 found this tool pretty interesting - it allows you to check on the status of any American Express card applications and also the status of other cards you’ve opened. It’s a good way to keep track of how closely you open Amex cards and verify which cards you’ve opened in the past (it can get confusing!...

Abiding by all the guidelines didn’t help a professional musician from Chicago when American Airlines kicked her off a flight from Miami because she was carrying a cello.Jingjing Hu, a DePaul University music student, was returning home on Thursday from a Florida music festival when she was asked to leave her seat on Flight 2457 from Miami (MIA) to Chicago (ORD). She’d already bought a separate ticket for her large stringed instrument and called ahead and been told she wouldn’t have any problems traveling with it on board, her husband, Jay Tang, said on Facebook....

Travel to Africa is reaching new levels in 2018, as we’ve seen new routes announced between a number of US destinations and the world’s second most populated continent. Delta, Ethiopian and Kenya Airways have all announced new nonstops from US destinations to African cities — connecting us to Africa in a way like never before.Not only have new routes been announced, but there have been rumors of more launches, such as a Rwandair nonstop to Kigali (KGL)....

Gogo operates a 737-500 “inflight connectivity laboratory” that the internet provider flies around the world, testing the latest connectivity options before they’re released to the public. This week, the plane made its way to Austin for SXSW, and TPG Editor-in-Chief Zach Honig joined for a ride.Yesterday, I spent an hour and a half flying in a circle above Austin, Texas — voluntarily. It was our first chance to get on board Gogo’s new “private jet,” a 737-500 called “Jimmy Ray” (after the company’s founder)....

American Airlines has been improving its website over the last year or so by adding award availability and booking capability for awards on more and more of its airline partners including Air Berlin, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Hawaiian and Qantas.Starting today, AA.com also allows AAdvantage members to search for and redeem miles for award flights on its Oneworld partner, Royal Jordanian. AAdvantage members can book online for round-trip, one-way, and multi-city award travel on Royal Jordanian or a combination of partner airlines....

A Russian regional jet carrying 71 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport (DME) on Sunday afternoon. No survivors have been found.The plane, a Ukranine-made Antonov An-148, was bound for Orsk, Russia (OSW) designated as Flight 703 and operated by Saratov Airlines, a Russian carrier. The aircraft took off around 2:22pm local time (6:22am Eastern) but began losing altitude about 5 minutes into the flight.According to data from FlightRadar24, the plane was falling rapidly right before the crash, dropping from 6,200 feet to 3,200 feet in a minute and then plummeting at a rate of 22,000 feet per minute in the final seconds....