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It’s tea time on Virgin Atlantic!The British airline announced Thursday that it will be joining forces with master pâtissier Eric Lanlard and will be serving high tea at 38,000 feet. Afternoon tea will launch at the London Heathrow Clubhouse in April, followed by service on upper-class, premium and economy cabins on all flights beginning in summer 2018.Together, Virgin Atlantic and Lanlard have created a menu that will initially be offered at the clubhouse between 3:00 and 5:30pm....

Lyft is expanding its ride-share services internationally. As the company announced on Wednesday, Lyft is now up and running in the Toronto metropolitan area. Previously, the ride-share service was only available in US cities within all 50 states.As reflected on in the Cities tab on its website, Lyft is now available in Ontario, Canada. More specifically, it’s available in Ajax, Brampton, Hamilton, Mississauga, Newmarket, Oshawa, Richmond Hill and Toronto.For those looking to use Lyft in Toronto, open your app and request a ride as you would in any other Lyft city....

Today was a rite of passage of sorts for my traveling toddler. It wasn’t like the days she first walked, or used the potty, or slept through the night. Those were all bigger milestones for sure, but this was still an occasion to be marked. She scored her first complimentary first class upgrade! In a domestic first class cabin filled predominantly with white males over the age of 40, my bubbly three year old happily took seat 1A as my “companion” thanks to my United Platinum status....

Last April, Delta placed an order for 75 Bombardier CS100 aircraft, with an option for 50 more, to replace some of its aging fleet of smaller single-aisle jets. With the delivery of the first twin-engine, Canadian-made airplane set for the spring of 2018, the Atlanta-based carrier has signaled its intention to base the new jets out of its hubs in New York and Los Angeles. The first revenue flight will operate from New York....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit CardThis is just a friendly reminder that you have until 5pm ET today to enter this week’s Thursday Giveaway contest for your chance to win 25,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points.Enter to win 25,000 Rapid Rewards points.I just reached 25,000 Twitter followers – so thank you to all of you who already follow me – and to celebrate, I’m going to give away 25,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points....

When traveling, there are few things more annoying than showing up at baggage claim and waiting 20 minutes (or more) to realize your luggage didn’t make it on your flight. Unfortunately for some 280-plus travelers, Tay Boon Keh, a baggage handler at Changi Airport in Singapore, ensured that many bags would not end up at their final destination — with pieces of luggage arriving in various (wrong) places.Keh, 63, an employee of Lian Cheng Contracting, a subcontractor of the airport, allegedly began a crime of switching baggage tags in November 2016, according to The Straits Times....

Passengers who were on board Southwest Flight 1380, which had one fatality after its engine exploded on Tuesday, have received letters from the airline with a $5,000 check and $1,000 travel voucher enclosed.The $5,000 is to help “cover any of your immediate financial needs,” the letter from Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly states. The letter, obtained by ABC 6 Philadelphia, also provided a hotline for passengers to help find their luggage or receive other assistance from the airline....

The 2017 version of the U.S. Travel Association’s Daily Getaways deals kicked off Monday with a bang. The 2,000 Alamo vouchers on offer flew off the shelves in about half an hour — serving as another reminder that these Daily Getaways can be very popular.Today’s deal isn’t likely to sell out as quickly. There are 7,405 IHG points packages available — with a whopping 500,000,000 total IHG points up for grabs....

The Transportation Security Administration is starting a new program for its screeners to provide more opportunities for career growth and increase training to improve the screening process.Despite the need for more officers at screening checkpoints, the TSA has had trouble retaining officers and has faced a turnover rate as high as 19%, the LA Times discovered in a congressional budget report. This new program is designed to help the agency retain more officers and provide employees with the training and skills they need to succeed in their TSA careers....

If you don’t currently have an Air Canada Aeroplan account, you should get one right now (link). They are a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and after Continental leaves the program starting October 1, 2011, they will most likely become the premier partner when redeeming Star Alliance awards. They are also transfer partners of Starwood and from time to time they run promotions encouraging hotel transfers.While they just increased the amount of miles needed for most awards this summer, there are still some great deals, like 90,000 miles for business class US to Western Europe (plus they have very flexible routing rules)....

A pilot of a small plane in Utah was pronounced dead Monday morning after he flew a Cessna 525 Citation Jet into his home.Police say that Duane Youd had been arrested after a domestic dispute on Sunday night. He was released on bail from Utah County jail and had a police officer escort him to his house around midnight to collect a few belongings. Then, at about 2:30am, Youd crashed the small jet into the house he shared with his family....

This afternoon, Boeing accidentally unveiled on its website that American Airlines had ordered 47 new Dreamliners. Now, we have official confirmation from both the airline and Boeing. The massive order includes 22 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and 25 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners with options for AA to purchase 28 more. The 47 new aircraft will more than double the airline’s current Dreamliner fleet (35 currently in service with another 7 on order).At list prices, this order is worth a massive $12....

At this week’s Art Basel event in Miami, the popular ridesharing service Uber, which is mostly known for its ground transportation, is making it easier to get around — by water and through the air. Uber’s introducing the ability to travel for free by boat or seaplane so Art Basel attendees don’t have to sit in the notorious congested Miami traffic. And if sitting in four wheels on the ground is more your thing, the ridesharing giant is also offering car upgrades....

Once the hottest place to be — figuratively and literally — for Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Doris Day, the hype around Palm Springs, CA, has quieted down over the years as tourism moved east to Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. The city is working to change that, however, through its $400 million downtown revitalization project, which is now nearing completion.The anchor to that project is the Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel, which opened on Nov....

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.Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Alaska Airlines is offering bonus miles for making purchases through the Mileage Plan shopping portal. Through February 11, 2018, you can earn bonus miles for meeting a minimum spend requirement.During the “500 Reasons to Say I Love You” promotion, if you spend $150, you’ll earn 500 bonus Alaska miles....

Iberia has announced the configurations and routes for its new A350 aircraft, as the Spanish carrier prepares for its first delivery of 16 aircraft it ordered several years ago to update its long-haul fleet.Iberia will configure its A350 with 31 business class seats, 24 premium economy seats, and 293 economy seats. The seat map is showing that business class will feature a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, similar to its other business-class configurations — and a great option for travelers, as every seat has direct aisle access....

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.As if sleeping on an airplane wasn’t already hard enough for some people, trying to catch a few winks at the airport can often seem like an impossible task — unless you know where to look. Knowing how important shut-eye is to travelers, and that an uncomfortable metal chair isn’t conducive to honest-to-goodness sleep for most human beings, more airports are starting to embrace the sleeping pod concept....

Ride-share company Uber has been sued yet again, this time by the Attorney General of Pennsylvania.“Uber violated Pennsylvania law by failing to put our residents on timely notice of this massive data breach,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “Instead of notifying impacted consumers of the breach within a reasonable amount of time, Uber hid the incident for over a year – and actually paid the hackers to delete the data and stay quiet....

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline and budget behemoth, has claimed it’s the victim of discrimination.The airline says that NATS, the British air traffic control service, is discriminating against London’s Stansted airport (STS) and giving preferential treatment to London’s larger airports.Stansted is Ryanair’s busiest hub, and it also experiences way more air traffic control delay’s compared to London Heathrow (LHR) and London Gatwick (LGW). The airline claims new data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) supports its claims — Heathrow experienced zero NATS-related delays and just 10% of flights from Gatwick were delayed by NATS....

It’s been almost a year since we released the TPG To Go app, and I’m really happy with all the positive feedback I’ve received from readers. The goal of the app is not only to help you stay organized and maximize your spending, but also to give you insights into your favorite loyalty programs and how you earn (and redeem) rewards more generally.The app has given us some insights as well, thanks to all the input we’ve received....