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Since it first took place on November 27, 2010, American Express’s annual Small Business Saturday has become a part of the “post-Thanksgiving” shopping craze, joining Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The purpose of Small Business Saturday is to draw attention to the many brick and mortar businesses that frequently get overlooked by giving cardholders a $25 statement credit when they used an American Express card - personal or business - at a participating business....

When it was announced that Continental and United were merging, naturally a million questions followed. Inquiries like, “Whose logo will they use?” and “Who will be the CEO?” were the main speculations. As more information has been released (they are using a combination of logos and Continental’s Jeff Smisek will be the CEO), one of the more distressing questions on the minds of many Continental and United frequent flyers became, “Will they keep Economy Plus?...

Emirates announced that it would begin new non-stop service between Boston and Dubai starting March 10, 2014, and in anticipation of next month’s launch, the airline is offering up to 36,000 bonus Skywards miles to members who book the flight. The earlier you book and the higher your fare class, the more miles you earn. Here are the details:You must register here and book a return ticket by February 22, 2014 for flights between March 10-June 30 inclusive....

Of FoundersCard’s many benefits, perhaps some of its most valuable come in the form of status challenges. In the past, it’s had challenges for American Airlines and Marriott, and now, it’s sweetening the challenge with AA even more. FoundersCard members can now enroll in a status challenge for American AAdvantage Platinum status and if you’re successful, you’ll retain the status for longer than with previous challenges.The new Platinum status challenge is now available for you to enroll in....

Looking out onto the Lufthansa A380 in Frankfurt.It’s been quite a busy September, so I haven’t had time to do a full recap of my experience on the Star Mega Do 3, but I at least wanted to fill you in on my experience flying Business Class on Lufthansa’s A380 roundtrip from New York JFK to Frankfurt. I’m going to preface my review, and perhaps remove some of the suspense, by saying I was disappointed by the experience overall, and am not sure I would recommend it, but read on to find out why, and what the airline can do to fix it, in my opinion....

Travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) were stunned to look out terminal windows and see fire spewing from a Hawaiian Airlines engine on Tuesday night. As a Hawaiian Airbus A330 on a ferry flight was on its final approach at SEA, it experienced an engine issue, with what appears to be engine no. 1, on the left side, catching fire.Passengers inside the airport captured the incident on video:According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Hawaiian Flight 875, a short ferry flight from Paine Field, Washington (PAE) to SEA, was carrying no passengers on board — only flight crew....

Earlier this week, Delta make the bold claim: “Delta Flies Cancel-Free Over Thanksgiving Holiday.” In the press release, the airline specifies that it flew “nearly 23,000 flights during the holiday period from Wednesday to Sunday without a single cancellation anywhere across its global operation.“As it turns out, that’s false.In the comment section of our post comparing Delta’s Thanksgiving operations with AA and United, TPG reader Paul Jeon pointed out that there was at least one cancellation: “Really?...

More international flights may soon be coming to North Korea. North Korea has asked permission from the International Civil Aviation Organization to launch flights to its neighbor, South Korea.The notable move comes just a week after the historic meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. US President Donald Trump plans on meeting with Kim Jong-Un in the coming months. The North and South are still technically at war since a 1953 ceasefire, but the recent developments mean that the process that might lead to a peace treaty could start soon....

A passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing March 1 after one of its four engines exploded mid-flight, about a half hour after takeoff.The incident occurred on a flight operated by Tez Jet out of Manas International Airport (FRU) in the ex-Soviet state of Kyrgyzstan.In a video taken by a passenger, you can see the broken engine dangling from the British Aerospace RJ-85:Passengers said they noticed smoke soon after flight TEZ107 took off from Bishkek, The Daily Mail reports....

Two Australian airlines have announced that they will ban “smart luggage” from their flights. Qantas and Virgin Australia said they won’t allow luggage that contains lithium-ion batteries to be checked in the airplane’s cargo hold or to be carried on board aircraft.Only smart luggage with removable batteries will be allowed, and passengers will have to carry-on the battery with them if they want to check the luggage. Smart luggage is usually defined as a bag that includes a built in battery to charge devices, GPS tracking, electronic locks and more....

For the next Award Redemption of the Week, I want to share a story from TPG reader David, who didn’t get quite the deal he hoped for from a recent promotion:We’d been talking about going to Spain for a while, so when The Points Guy posted about the opportunity to earn 90,000 Iberia Avios points, of course I reacted. On June 22, I booked 10 one-way tickets from Santander to Madrid in early 2019 for a total of $278....

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.Hurricane Maria left a path of devastation behind as it worked its way through the Caribbean last week. The storm hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane the morning of September 20, causing widespread damage and power outages all over the island....

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.A teen from Vancouver, Washington, who started a major wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon has been ordered to pay restitution over the next decade in the amount of $37 million.In order to cover the costs of firefighting, repair and restoration to the tourist area of the gorge and damages to local homes, a judge ordered the teen to pay $36,618,330....

Aviation enthusiasts will be able to tour some of the aircraft that charted Airbus’ direction in modern commercial aviation, as they’ll become a permanent part of two French museum collections. The airframe manufacturer announced it would donate four original test planes as they retire.The donated test aircraft are the company’s first air-worthy A320, the first A340-600 and two A380 test flyers. Last year, Airbus reconfigured the original A320 MSN1 as a “flight lab,” where the manufacturer worked to test components which would create a “more electrical” aircraft....

United’s finally opening the doors to its second Polaris Lounge this coming Monday, April 30, at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) — nearly a year and a half after the first location opened at Chicago O’Hare (ORD).Fast-acting frequent flyers are getting an early look on April 27, but the airline’s also hosting a media preview today, giving us a chance to take a peek at the gigantic new space before it opens to the public....

When it comes to bucket list vacations, there are a few dream destinations that you’ll hear repeated from one person to the next: taking an African safari, exploring the ancient wonders of Machu Picchu and soaking up the sun from an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora, among others. Having the time of your life in North Korea? Well, not so much.But like many things in the infamously oppressive country, the North Korean government is working hard to create a picture-perfect image of the nation — and may be using popular vloggers to help....

For this week’s Thursday Giveaway, we are giving away a $500 Visa Gift Card that can be used anywhere that accepts Visa meaning you could use to purchase airfare, hotel stays, or even a shopping spree, it’s your choice!Enter to win this week’s giveaway for a $500 Visa gift card.To enter to win, visit our Facebook Page. Remember, when you share it on your wall, tweet it out or send an invite, every time one of your friends enters, you get an extra entry!...

It’s been a busy week in the Marriott/SPG loyalty world. On Monday, Marriott announced its new unified loyalty program, with details on everything from the revised elite status tiers to the new program’s airline transfer partners. Then on Tuesday, David Flueck, SVP of Loyalty for Marriott, answered questions about the combined program, while TPG’s Editor-at-Large Zach Honig shared his reasons for focusing on Marriott status moving forward.But as they say, people don’t remember what you do, but how you make them feel....

Normally when I travel, I avoid the major tourist attractions. Often it’s because I’m traveling for work and don’t have time, or I’m visiting friends and we tend to do more local activities. However, every once in a while, it’s fun to geek out and be the ultimate tourist, especially with family.During a recent round-the-world trip with my parents that included stops in London, Ghana, Dubai, Beijing, Bali, Singapore and Hong Kong, we decided to indulge in some of the most cliché tourist activities, and it ended up being really memorable....

Update: The US Airways website is down only temporarily for maintenance, and it appears that reservations will eventually be back online.As part of the merger, American Airlines and US Airways are integrating their reservations systems — as of today, it looks like that process is now underway. You can no longer make reservations on US Airways’ website, which means that even US Airways-operated flights must be booked and ticketed through AA....