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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.Today is the last day for the US Airways 100% buy miles promotion. While you may be saying, “Oh, I’m not going to be flying US Airways,” the great thing is that you don’t have to set foot on their planes to use these miles....

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.American Airlines loves social media - so much so, that they are giving away free miles. Simply “like” their Facebook page and enter your AAdvantage number in their Mystery Miles promotion and see how many miles you get....

The American Airlines AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles programs gave ample time and opportunities for people to link their frequent flyer accounts before the US Airways accounts actually migrated to AAdvantage accounts a week or two ago. However, if you are like me, and got too busy or absent minded to do the linking before the accounts were migrated, then your US Airways accounts were simply sent over to American AAdvantage and assigned new AAdvantage numbers....

It’s no secret that airlines try to configure as many seats into an aircraft as possible without sacrificing safety and (sometimes) comfort (let’s hope this mini-seat doesn’t become the new norm). Passengers who fly in economy know that ample pitch is hard to come by in the rear of an aircraft. One company, PearsonLloyd, has developed an economy seat that would give passengers more space and comfort. It’s called the Eco Seat....

Mark your calendars for August 18! That’s the date Marriott’s new combined loyalty program will launch, and when you’ll finally be able to book award stays at the new redemption rates.To recap, here’s what’s changing when Marriott flips the switch:SPG balances will be multiplied by 3The new combined award chart will become availableNew elite status tiers and benefits kick in immediatelyElite-qualifying nights will be combinedLifetime-qualifying nights and years will be combinedStays can be booked at all 6,500+ hotels through any website, app or reservations lineNew earning rates kick in:10 points per US $1 on qualifying charges at most hotels5 points per US $1 at Element, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites2....

Since Norwegian Air began flying transatlantic routes between Europe and the US, its network in the US has grown rapidly. In fact, the Bærum, Norway-based carrier flies or has announced plans to fly between 11 US cities and Europe (not including San Juan and St. Croix) — the newest of which being between Newburgh (SWF), Providence (PVD) and Hartford (BDL) to several cities in the UK. Now, as Norwegian’s CEO Bjørn Kjos hinted at earlier this year, Norwegian will expand its transatlantic ventures between more US cities on the West Coast and Europe....

On Monday, the US will experience its first-ever Airbus A350-1000 flight thanks to Qatar flying a one-off flight using its newest aircraft type. If you’re still interested in making last-minute plans to make the flight, there’s currently 29 unassigned seats in Qsuite and the flight still has three business class award seats available.But, if that’s too short notice, you’ll be happy to know that Qatar has extended its unofficial US A350-1000 tour with flights to Miami....

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.What a night! More than 300 guests gathered at our TPGtv video relaunch party in Los Angeles yesterday to celebrate our new video series in style.Conceived as a recreation of my travels in Japan earlier this year, the night felt like an exotic carnival: Guests could feast on ramen and sushi (made on the spot), pose for photos with geisha girls, dance with giant robots and watch me exploring Japan on large video screens and at iPad stations....

All eyes are on South Korea this month as the country hosts the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. But as the games wind down, South Korea has another cause for celebration: It was just awarded the most powerful passport in the world by The Passport Index.For the first time ever, South Korea tops the index, which calculates the number of countries a passport holder can visit without a visa required. South Korea (and Singapore, which is tied for the top spot) has visa-free access to 162 countries....

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.So far I’ve gotten great feedback on the redesign of ThePointsGuy.com that came online a few weeks ago, though one of the things that readers commented on most was that they missed my boarding pass logo.The boarding pass is back!...

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.Airbus has unveiled a special livery for one of its newest aircraft, the BelugaXL. The giant rolled out of a hangar in Toulouse, France, on Thursday.The XL is a larger version of the Beluga, an aircraft designed specifically for transporting airplane parts — the XL has 30% more capacity than its predecessor and can reportedly carry two A350 wings at once....

Since the #BumpGate incident first surfaced earlier this week, there have been plenty of questions circulating. Among them: How are the victim, Dr. David Dao’s, injuries? Will there be a lawsuit? Who will speak out and when? What will United (and the airline industry as a whole) do about situations like this?Today, Dao’s daughter, Crystal Dao, 33, appeared on a press conference live feed along with two lawyers, including Thomas Demetrio, who are representing her father to address the situation....

On Monday, TripAdvisor debuted a refreshed design and a new social platform, called the TripAdvisor Travel Feed. It looks quite a lot like Facebook for travelers.TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer unveiled the “social-assisted travel” tool, which is expected to be available to the public later this year. With it, travelers will be able to create TripAdvisor profiles with an eerie resemblance to Facebook, and follow other travelers: friends, family members and brands....

Cities around the country have started pointing the finger at Uber for a surge of traffic issues in recent years — and whether it’s ride-hailing companies that are really causing these problems, it’s easy to blame the companies that have completely disrupted urban transportation in recent years.New York City recently imposed a cap on the amount of ride-hailing vehicles while the city studies the impact they have on congestion.Instead of fighting against the problem, Uber is trying to play nice with local governments and develop solutions to fix the issue....

From accommodations to automobiles, the so-called “sharing economy” has encroached on what seems like every aspect of our lives. With companies like Airbnb giving major hotel chains a run for their money and ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft leading some individuals to abandon their cars altogether, it was only a matter of time before the restaurant industry became the next challenger. Now, thanks to companies like VizEat, that’s coming to fruition....

More than 736,000 planes traversed UK airspace between the months of June and August this summer, according to NATS, which manages air traffic control for the United Kingdom. In 2018, the London metropolitan airport system handled 5,683 more flights than 2017’s previous record, marking the region’s sixth year of consecutive growth.Alongside the data, NATS released a mesmerizing video depicting 24 hours of aircraft movements above London to illustrate how busy the airspace has become....

Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you might have missed from the week before. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you might have missed on TPG this week.Europe Has a New Airline, Launched by the Prime Minister HimselfUnder the auspices of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Air Albania has officially launched.Priority Pass Adds 2 More US Restaurant Lounges — Here’s a List of All 25 of ThemPriority Pass’ ever-expanding portfolio of restaurant lounges shouldn’t be overlooked....

Kia ora tatou! With a fabulous $225 round trip fare from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Auckland all the buzz, TPG’s Special Correspondent (and almost honorary Kiwi) John Walton suggests a few choice spots to visit while you’re in New Zealand. (All photos are by the author).Whether it’s your first trip to New Zealand or your fifth, the Land of the Long White Cloud has so much more to offer than the main drag tourist route....

A Ryanair flight from Barcelona to Ibizia was evacuated on Tuesday when a passenger’s cell phone charger caught on fire.The phone caught fire while it was being charged by a portable battery pack, which ignited the initial flames, Ryanair told Newsweek. Fortunately, the incident occurred before takeoff, and — thanks to a fast-moving passenger — was quickly extinguished before it could do serious damage.The phone, however, was charred to a crisp....

This week United launched a MileagePlus promotion where you can save 20% on select Saver Awards in economy to Europe and 10% on hotel awards worldwide on bookings made now through November 15th for travel between January 15, 2013, and March 13, 2013.When it comes to the 20% on Saver awards, reduced award mileage prices apply only to travel on United and United Express-operated flights, so codeshare partners don’t count. The discounts appear when the flight results are displayed so you should be able to see which flights this is good for early on in the booking process....