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Gary from View From the Wing notes a Southwest promo for Nationwide Double Points for flights booked and flown between Monday and May 15, 2013.Per the terms and conditions: From now through May 15, 2013, you can earn double points on every flight you take on Southwest Airlines. You’ll receive 24 points (instead of the standard 12 points) per dollar spent on Business Select Fares, 20 points (instead of ten points) per dollar spent on Anytime Fares, and 12 points (instead of six points) per dollar spent on Wanna Get Away?...

Social Media is all the rage these days - Delta is on the ball helping people through their @DeltaAssist Twitter account and hotels have been driving stays through Facebook, like the ill-fated Hilton Garden Inn 10,000 point debacle we all had fun with in February. I personally see the value of social media, because it allows me as a blogger to engage with new readers every day. Every time one of my Tweets gets re-tweeted on Twitter, new eyes stumble upon my site (and hopefully get hooked forever!...

TPG reader Jacob is in a great situation - he’s raked in a ton of American Airlines miles and wants to redeem them for a premium-class ticket to Europe. His question has to do with how to get the best value out of his hard-earned miles (and which airline to redeem them on) now that he’s ready to use them:“Over the last few months, I have accrued around 400,000 American Airlines miles through credit cards (personal, business), Fidelity promo, Netflix, etc....

The historic day has arrived. For the second time ever, a passenger aircraft will fly from Australia to London, but this time the flight will actually have passengers on-board. Qantas flight 9 will be the world’s longest Dreamliner flight and is just 22 miles shorter than the world’s longest flight — which will remain Qatar’s Doha (DOH) to Auckland (AKL) flight.While it’s not the longest flight in the world, it’s no less historic....

There’s been a lot of buzz lately on taxing miles and points and I recently got a chance to talk about my position on Fox Business’ The Willis Report. The host, Geri Willis, is a fierce consumer advocate, so I had a feeling we might have a similar stance on this subject.In case you can’t watch the clip, here are my thoughts summed up:1) Citi is the only bank actively sending 1099s to customers who have checking and & savings accounts and received American Airlines miles as sign-up bonuses....

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 it comes to crazy landings, you can often blame strong crosswinds for the experience. This week’s crazy aviation video brings us to Salzburg, Austria (SZG) where an Enter Air flight attempted to land in the midst of strong winds....

TPG reader Robert sent me a message on Facebook to ask about earning status with American Airlines:“If I earn Elite Qualifying Dollars by spending on an AAdvantage Aviator card, and then also spend $3,000 on American Airlines flights, will that satisfy the $6,000 EQD requirement for Platinum status?”Last summer, American Airlines announced that it would join Delta and United by adding a revenue component to its elite status requirements. That policy went into effect at the start of 2017, and those seeking AAdvantage status in 2017 will now need to spend anywhere from $3,000 to $12,000 on airfare to qualify each year....

It’s safe to say Svalbard isn’t the most popular of vacation destinations — it could have something to do with the fact that polar bears outnumber residents or its freezing temperatures. But it’s an incredible place for travelers interested in dark skies, and the place to go if you want one of the best Northern Lights shows in the world.That’s why luxury travel company Off the Map Travel has developed a 24-hour tour called All Day Aurora that gives travelers a great chance to experience the aurora....

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles, Marriott is running a crazy promotion where you can get the Chairman’s Suite for $1 a night. Obviously only a limited number of rooms will be made for this promotion, but it’s worth a shot anyway. The rooms go on sale today at 8am Pacific Time (11EST for those mathematically challenged). I’m not sure if I’ll be at the computer, but it would be great if a TPG reader snagged one of these rooms....

It’s hard to believe that Austin was just a sleepy college town a generation ago. These days, the capital of Texas is one of the top destinations in the Southwest. It’s not just the live music capital of the world — the city has become a boomtown home to incredible barbecue, Tex-Mex food and so much more. Here are 11 things to know before you go.1. Paradise Is Just Southwest of DowntownA 30-minute walk — or five-minute cab ride — from Sixth and Congress is where you’ll find Barton Springs, which is absolute nirvana, especially when the mercury is about to hit triple digits....

TPG International Contributor Lori Zaino just returned from spending two months in Southeast Asia (see her review of Thai Airways Economy Boeing 777-200ER — MAD-BKK and 12 Tips for Your First Trip to Southeast Asia), and one of her favorite experiences from the trip was flying with Bangkok Airways. Read on to find out why.Bangkok Airways calls itself “Asia’s Boutique Airline” — and gets all the details right. Photo courtesy of Bangkok Airways on Facebook....

Fez. Cape Town. Palawan. Biarritz. Brisbane. These are just a few of the exotic destinations you’ll find in the feeds of our favorite travel writers, editors and bloggers, people who, like TPG, travel for a living. Some pen stories for major magazines, others for their own books and blogs, but what they all share is an exciting passion for travel and a captivating Instagram feed. Here are six you should follow immediately....

In keeping with Hawaiian Airlines’ recently upgraded service — which includes the use of newly-refurbished A330s featuring brand new lie-flat seats in premium cabins and retouched economy seats — the carrier is rolling out brand new amenity kits on its international flights.Hawaiian Airlines has always tried to distinguish itself from the others with its signature branding and “Aloha Spirit” onboard — that is, communicating to passengers as soon as they board the plane that they’re on their way to the Islands....

In addition to recently adding British Airways, Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines availability to its award search engine, AA.com has also added award availability for two more partners – Air Berlin and Finnair – to its online award search functionality.For instance, just searching for award availability from New York JFK to Helsinki in November, I found tons of availability both in MileSAAver Off Peak economy as well as Business/First MileSAAver.When I clicked on the calendar for the days I wanted, it pulled up several options including a flight from New York to Berlin aboard Air Berlin (AB), and then a connection to Helsinki aboard Finnair (AY)....

I’ve been asked a lot about the US Airways/American Airlines merger and my opinion is that it will be bad for consumers for a variety of reasons. No one can predict what will happen to fares (numbers can be massaged to prove either case), but deep down I believe they will and I don’t think having less choices in the marketplace will benefit consumers. Does that mean the merger shouldn’t go through?...

Ah, the dreaded basic economy curse: How we hate the newest cost-cutting measure from airlines greedy to turn a little extra profit off of standard amenities such as seat selection and larger carry-on bags.Now that all three major US carriers offer some version of basic economy, we’ve found the tiered economy status quickly becoming a reality of everyday domestic — and sometimes even international — travel. We’ve reviewed offerings from United, Delta and American, and the general consensus is that we’d prefer to never do it again if at all possible....

Miles and points are a form of currency- these days they can be redeemed for a whole lot more than just travel. That flexibility is valuable, so it’s not surprising that there are scammers out there looking to gain access to your accounts to not only drain your miles, but also gain access to the bevy of personal and credit card information stored in online profiles.Fraud and identity theft isn’t news in the credit card world, but I recently came across an interesting article by Jennifer Walters, the consumer reporter for MarketWatch, about schemes to access frequent flyer accounts....

üEvery travel site will tell you how to do things the right way. But as every traveler knows, sometimes things go wrong. In his bimonthly series, TPG Contributor J. Keith van Straaten invites you to learn from his mistakes—his many, many mistakes. (All photos by the writer, except as noted.)Don’t be afraid of mistakes.A great way to keep a trip interesting and often less expensive is to book an open-jaw ticket....

TPG reader Michael writes:“From my city I can hardly ever find Delta low mileage awards to Europe (or even USA) No direct Europe flight from here. The closest partner gateway is Chicago or Denver. Using the AF search engine I can often find direct Europe flight on Delta partners.Is the best option for a low millage award to buy a ticket to gateway and then use the partner Delta award to Europe?...

Fancy a New York-style burger in the land of the chilli crab and Singapore sling? Then you’re in luck — if you can wait a year.On Tuesday, Shake Shack announced that it will be opening a new location at Jewel Changi Airport: a vast new mixed-use space expected to open as an extension of Singapore Changi (SIN) in 2019.https://www.instagram.com/p/BouyI9jgUXC/?taken-by=shakeshackThe franchise’s new Shack outpost in Singapore will be reminiscent of the Shake Shack flagship in New York City’s Madison Square Park, thanks to the Jewel’s gleaming glass and steel dome containing tree-filled parks and gardens....