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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.In the competition to attract more high-value passengers, Qatar Airways is expanding its distribution of amenity kits from the premium cabins to the main cabin. The airline’s launching kits for economy flyers starting this month.The amenity kits will feature all of the standard items, including an eye mask, socks and ear plugs....

TO THE POINT: Swiss finally has airport lounges to be proud of, located in an otherwise barren part of the airport near the long-haul international gates. The pros: a bar with 120 whiskies, live cooking stations, relaxation areas, a huge balcony and more. The cons: far from the main terminal, these new lounges are located near the “E” gates.While Swiss’ Senator and Business Lounges near the A gates aren’t exactly industry-leading, the contract lounge the airline used to use near the long-haul “E” gates was an embarrassment at best....

One of the things I love most about being The Points Guy is getting to hear stories from readers about all the positive ways award travel has affected their lives. That being said, while I love hearing about your successes, I think there’s also a lot we can learn by sharing our mistakes, and I’m calling on readers to send in your most egregious and woeful travel failures.From time to time I’ll pick one that catches my eye and post it for everybody to enjoy (and commiserate with)....

Drone technology that could save lives, fight climate change and improve the world is in jeopardy because of the Federal Aviation Administration’s outdated rules and attitude, according to a report released this week by a committee of scientists and experts. The government is hurting development by treating drones like manned aircraft, it said.“The lack of predictability and timeliness and the qualitative aspects of the current risk assessments are running the risk of stifling innovation,” George Ligler, chairman of the committee assembled by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, said by phone....

Update 2: And here’s United’s NYC waiver:Update: Airlines have begun to add waivers for New York City-area airports as well. American Airlines’ waiver is here and below:For those that missed their calendar reminder, June 1 kicked off “hurricane season” in the Atlantic. However, September is usually the busiest month for tropical systems. The tropics are kicking off the month with a bang. Two systems are currently taking aim at the US: Hurricane Madeline is just off the Hawaiian Big Island, while Tropical Depression 9 is headed for Florida....

It sounds like a drinking-game question. But considering the ever-wackier behavior of some airline passengers, it’s become a serious concern for both airlines and the people they fly. A few well-publicized incidents stand out, like the ranting presidential supporter recently banished from Delta for harassing a seat-mate or the severely inebriated Brits 86’d forever from low-cost carrier Jet2. And while Delta didn’t ban Ann Coulter for her recent Delta meltdown, we have a feeling that some celebrity will be banned from an airline sooner or later....

Women Uber drivers only earn 93 cents on the dollar compared with their male colleagues, a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows.The study found several reasons for the gender pay gap among drivers for the ride-hailing company, including overall driving speed, the amount of time the drivers had worked for Uber and the timeframes and locations drivers preferred to work.Those factors combined less mean income for women who drive for the ride-hailing company....

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 timed it and it took me just 90 seconds to get 250 free miles by signing up for a Best Western guest account and setting it to credit to AAdvantage. It would have taken me 60 seconds if I realized that you had to enter your American frequent flyer number in all caps....

This is an installment in my series on my January 2012 trip to China. Posts include: Help Me Plan My Trip To China, Flight Review: American Airlines 777 International Business Class to Beijing, Hotel Review: St. Regis Beijing, Beijing Overview: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Peking Deck, A Great Day at the Great Wall of China, Flight Review: Air China 777 Domestic Business Class, Hotel Review: Andaz Shanghai, Trip Report: Terra Cotta Warriors and a Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian, Hotel Review: Sheraton Xian, and My China Trip Wrap Up: China Eastern, Hainan Airlines and the Westin Beijing....

South Korea and North Korea — two countries still technically at war — are set to compete together under the same flag at this year’s Olympics. As part of the coordination for this historical partnership, all kinds of norms are being broken. The latest of these: flights between the Koreas have resumed for the first time since 1994.A trip was just completed by an Asiana Airbus A321-200 (registration HL8060) carrying South Korean skiers to North Korea....

Airbus is struggling to meet its lofty production demands for its record-setting amount of aircraft orders, says a new internal memo that an executive from the manufacturer’s team sent to staff on Friday.Several factors are impacting Airbus’ ability to increase its manufacturing capabilities to meet the unprecedented number of production targets later this year, Airbus Commercial Aircraft President Guillaume Faury noted in the employee memo that was obtained by Reuters.Engine delays and an antiquated manufacturing system are major roadblocks for Airbus’ ambitious production commitments....

With Hurricane Michael charging toward the Florida panhandle, American Airlines is just now starting to wrap its arms around the impact of the last major storm to strike the US mainland. A week after Delta shot out an investor update alerting the world that it expects a roughly $30 million loss from disruptions associated with Florence, American has issued an investor update of its own that highlights a $50 million pre-tax income hit from the same hurricane....

Winter is here. Menacing meteorological phenomena aside, this time of year means one thing to millions of excitable sports fans across the land: It’s Bowl Season, baby! The college football calendar is set to conclude on Monday with the National Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. Legions of face-painted fanatics will descend upon the newly minted Mercedes-Benz Stadium, many of them with nary an intention of entering the game itself. That’s because the art of the tailgate is often as captivating as anything occurring on the field of play....

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.Ever so slowly, mobile provider AT&T has been eliminating roaming fees and generally making it easier for customers to stay connected. Now, following in the footsteps of its rivals Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, the carrier has rolled out several changes to its current international roaming services....

When you tweet “@” the world’s largest airline, these are the people who answer. Located in a modest cube pen on the fifth floor of the DFW-adjacent American Airlines headquarters, these 35-40 AA employees are tasked with handling an average of 4,500 daily posts and messages on Twitter alone.Far from being just college interns, this team comes from all parts of American Airlines — reservations, AAdvantage, airport customer service, customer relations and more....

Continental announced some major changes today that brings their program closely in line with United. These changes mostly affect their top tier flyers. Big things to note:1) System-wide Upgrades can no longer be used on cheap fare classes S, T, K, L and G in BusinessFirst markets2) You now need 120 segments, instead of 100, in order to reach top tier.3) Members will earn two Regional Upgrades after completing 75,000 EQMs or 90 EQPs....

TPG reader Linda tweeted at me to ask about booking hotel awards with cash and points:“Is the IHG Points and Cash option worthwhile?“As an award travel enthusiast, I’m always happy when loyalty programs offer more ways to redeem my rewards, so I’m glad to see points and cash options becoming more widespread. Wyndham introduced its Go Fast rate earlier this year, Marriott announced plans to launch Cash + Points awards in early 2016 and Hyatt made improvements to the Gold Passport program by bringing its Points + Cash awards online....

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.Indianapolis based Frontier airlines is offering double miles on all flights in the month of September. Registration required (promo code DBLER).While I don’t fly Frontier, I’m hoping other airlines start offering similar promos (especially ones that include elite miles) as the busy summer travel season dies down....

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.When a Lufthansa pilot’s contract was terminated by the company the day he turned 65 in 2013, he knew it wasn’t a coincidence. Werner Fries, a Lufthansa captain and instructor, fought the airline’s decision when it happened, but when he didn’t get the response he wanted, he brought it to court in the form of an age-discrimination lawsuit....

We often publish stories from readers that illustrate how points and miles can help you get where you want to go. However, it’s important to learn from our mistakes as well as our successes, so I’m calling on you to send us your most epic travel failure stories. Email them to info@thepointsguy.com and put “Reader Mistake Story” in the subject line. Tell us how things went wrong, and (where applicable) how you made them right....