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Beijing’s notoriously smoggy atmosphere is the bluest it’s been in a decade, following a decisive push by the government to combat air pollution.https://www.instagram.com/p/BmpHdXkhvBR/?taken-by=beijing_instaData from July 2018 showed that pollution levels averaged 44 micrograms of airborne particles per cubic meter, the seventh lowest since recordings began in 2008. In stark comparison, particles peaked at 35 times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit during Beijing’s “airpocalypse” in 2013.Records from the US embassy in Beijing showed that, out of the seven lowest monthly pollution readings since 2008, five of those days occurred after summer 2017, after Beijing and surrounding regions began enforcing coal burning restrictions more strictly than before....

It seems like the Internet of Things has made it squarely on to the radar of hackers, recently at the expense of an Austrian hotel called the Seehotel Jägerwirt. Hackers launched an attack that hijacked the property’s “smart locks.” Guest room locks were overridden by the hackers, preventing guests from accessing their rooms and preventing staff from issuing new electronic keys.The attackers demanded a ransom in exchange for control over the hotel’s smart locks....

New to our Insider Series is TPG Contributor “Patrick Down,” presently employed as a TSA officer at a US airport, who’ll be giving us a peek behind the security line to see what it’s really like to do the often thankless job of screening passengers and their baggage before a flight.Being a TSA officer isn’t all latex gloves and rifling through your luggage — read on to learn more. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock....

Attention Muji store fans and customers: Get ready to eat, sleep and breathe everything Muji, because the popular Japanese lifestyle brand will be opening its first Muji Hotel in Shenzhen, China on January 18. Another location in Beijing is slated to open a few months later.Since 1980, Muji has created quality products at low prices for its retail stores. With over 600 stores worldwide, Muji — which translates to “no brand, quality goods” — prides itself on its simple, minimalist philosophy....

Yesterday was a rough day for air travel across the Northeast. Although the forecast didn’t call for more than nine inches of snow, some parts of the Northeast received over 20 inches. Airports were shuttered for hours at a time due to blizzard conditions. Long Island’s Islip was the airport that recorded the most snow from the storm — a total of 13.7 inches — leading to the cancellation of 46% of scheduled departures....

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been asked to be a presenter at the 2011 Chicago Seminars, which is a grassroots organized conference on maximizing frequent miles and points. My session will be “Maximizing American Express - Choosing the right card and getting maximum value out of Membership Rewards”. I’ll be covering all of the tips on Amex and teaching all the tricks on transfer partners and the best overall ways to maximize the value of your American Express points....

Aloha from Waikiki! What a crazy 30 hours or so it has been since I first left my house near Houston early yesterday morning and started a journey that would ultimately touchdown in Honolulu on the final United 747 flight to ever fly passengers.Flying West before sunrise to meet up with the final United 747 flightAs special events usually go, this one was a little bit of a blur because as much as you want to soak everything in, things happen so quickly with so many friends new and old to meet and share stories with....

SPG has created a new online game called Tap Into Luxury, where SPG members can play to win prizes like free night stays, Starpoints, iTunes gift cards and Ticketmaster cash codes. One grand prize winner will get 250,000 Starpoints to take a dream vacation at any of 1,100 Starwood hotels and resorts across nine brands worldwide, including St. Regis, W, Westin and Sheraton.Play to win a variety of great prizes.In order to play, head to the SPG Tap Into Luxury website and be prepared to enter your email and your SPG member number, and confirm that you’re 18 years of age or older....

After hip-hop artist G-Eazy recently misplaced his ID on tour, he managed to convince the TSA to let him through security by holding up a magazine featuring his photo on the cover.But for those of us who aren’t magazine-famous, what are our options?The formal response from the TSA is this: As long as security agents can reasonably identify you, you may be allowed to board at their discretion:In the event you arrive at the airport without proper ID, because it is lost or at home, you may still be allowed to fly....

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.Flying just wouldn’t be the same without air traffic controllers. They’re the people in charge of directing aircraft into and out of airspace, in addition to keeping millions of people safe every year. Now, the FAA has announced that it’s hiring more than one thousand people for these important positions....

The holidays are one of the busiest times for travel and this year is supposed to be the craziest yet. USA Today reports a “3% boost in passengers” for Thanksgiving alone, projecting “28.5 million” travelers will have a turkey to get to.Luckily, there ways to protect yourself from the madness. According to the Cheat Sheet, Google Flights has calculated which dates will be the worst to travel this season thanks to data taken from the past two years, which means with a little planning you won’t have to spend Thanksgiving stranded in an airport, eating a sorry turkey sandwich....

The Transportation Security Administration is preparing for a record crush of flyers throughout the peak summer travel season.On the busiest travel days (like holiday weekends) the agency expects to process about 2.7 million passengers through security checkpoints, which would match its all-time record for most passengers screened in one day set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2004. TSA expects to screen a total of 243 million travelers between Memorial Day and Labor Day....

Once again, United Airlines finds itself embroiled in yet another legal brouhaha, this time accused of failing to protect an employee from sexual harassment in the workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against United Airlines Thursday, alleging that the carrier “violated federal law by subjecting a female flight attendant to a hostile work environment of sexual harassment over a multi-year period.“United pilot Mark Uhlenbrock has been accused of posting sexually explicit images of a United flight attendant online since 2006, often including her full name, home airport, and even the airline’s “Fly the Friendly Skies” slogan....

Let the games begin! I need some time to analyze this, but TPG reader Renata sent this link through and I thought I’d post it for everyone. It seems US has made it a little harder this year to get “hits,” but I still foresee some good cheap mileage earning opportunities. PS: hold off on buying those cheap US Airways miles until this promo begins!Full 2011 Grand Slam rules.Dividend Miles members can earn up to 110,000 bonus miles with the Dividend Miles Grand Slam....

In this post, TPG Senior Points & Miles Correspondent Nick Ewen explains how you can use the US Airways companion certificate to bring a friend along on your next trip at a steep discount.I’m sure many of you got in on the US Airways Premier World MasterCard (and the 50,000-mile sign-up bonus) before the card was officially retired. One of the published benefits of that card was a companion certificate that allowed you to bring along up to 2 friends or family members for $99 each (plus taxes and fees) when you purchased a qualifying ticket....

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.Sometimes, right after takeoff or just before landing, you may notice translucent white streaks flowing from the wing. And no, I’m not talking about the white vapor contrails that you see jetting out of aircraft, cruising tens of thousands of feet up…Whereas contrails are largely the result of water vapor freezing and condensing, these streaks are different....

TPG’s favorite Flight Attendant Insider Carrie A. Trey is back, this time with a look at some of the strange things passengers have left behind after a flight.Flying can be exhausting, especially if you’re on a red-eye or overnight flight. Being tired can have the same effect on your brain as being drunk, and that means forgetting things, especially if you’re getting off the plane tired and drunk, as some passengers do....

American Airlines is leading the way among US airlines in rolling out a true premium economy product. It launched its new premium economy seats on its first 787-9 in October 2016, and after gauging its success, the airline began an ambitious premium economy retrofit program for its other longhaul aircraft in June 2017. By the end of 2017, the airline plans to have 63 widebody aircraft with premium economy seats installed....

There seems to be an interesting trend lately where people are getting married in fascinating ways — or in unusual places. First, there was this couple, who recently got hitched during a flight and had their wedding reception in the Delta Sky Lounge at DCA. Then, we heard about the “Marry Me on a Megabus” sweepstakes, where couples can enter to win a free wedding on an actual Megabus — the grand prize also comes with two round-trip bus tickets and $2,500 to use for the honeymoon....

Hopefully you’ve received up to 90,000 Iberia Avios through the recent promotion, and are looking for the best ways to use them. However, if you’re an American Airlines AAdvantage elite, there’s another aspect to keep in mind when redeeming your Avios: you probably won’t get your hard-earned Oneworld elite benefits on Iberia award bookings.Sure enough, the AAdvantage terms & conditions expressly state that members can’t “obtain AAdvantage program benefits” when redeeming partner airline miles:Additionally, you cannot redeem partner airline miles with your partner frequent flyer number and obtain AAdvantage program benefits such as priority boarding and access to preferred seats....