Posts

Continuing our exploration of great ski destinations you can get to and enjoy using your hard-earned points, our next Destination of the Week is: Davos, Switzerland. Switzerland might seem like an awful long way to go for some skiing, but as many TPG readers have pointed out, North America is having one of the least snowy seasons in recent memory. Conditions across the U.S. and Canada have been less than stellar this winter, so die-hard winter sports enthusiasts might consider venturing farther afield for some decent powder either this year or in the future....

It’s a lazy Saturday morning here in my still semi-dark living room with hot coffee, warm grits, and a hard rain going outside. That sounds super mundane and irrelevant to a travel blog I imagine, but I haven’t had very many (any?) mornings like that since my baby was born in mid-July. The fact that she is sleeping in past 6AM and I got a chance to be still and quiet for a few minutes is actually something worthy of celebrating with a parade or monument dedication or something similar given its rarity around here....

Hello from ILA Berlin — the airshow that holds claim to the world’s oldest, dating back to 1909. This bi-annual event gives commercial aviation, military and space exhibitors a grand stage to show off their newest and latest products.Airbus used the opportunity to unveil a brand new drone and discuss futuristic concepts like the CityAirbus. It also used the occasion to display two of its original works: the first-ever produced Airbus A340 and the second-ever produced A350....

Update:The bonus Avios have started to post, including in my account!A couple weeks ago a potential frequent flyer ‘deal of the year’ popped up where Iberia promised to award 9,000 bonus Avios per Iberia airline ticket booked during the promotion. They said you didn’t have to actually fly the flights booked in order to earn the bonus Avios that were to be deposited within 10 days of purchase. You could purchase up to 10 tickets to get up to 10 bonuses of 9,000 Avios per person with no minimum ticket purchase amount required....

The government of India announced it will sell its majority stake in Air India, the country’s state-run airline.Or, at least it will try. The nation’s airline, which has been operating at a loss since its 2007 merger with government-operated domestic carrier Indian Airlines Ltd, isn’t the most appealing purchase. Last year alone, the airline posted a net loss of 57.7 billion rupees (about $886 million USD). The carrier has only been sustained by taxpayer bailouts....

Jet Airways is in financial trouble. As in, if the airline’s cost-cutting measures don’t take place, it’ll reportedly only be able to operate for the next 60 days.According to the Times of India, Jet Airways has told its pilots that operations might be grounded in 60 days if the company isn’t able to successfully get cost-cutting measures, including pay cuts, in place. On Friday, the company, however, told Reuters that it was confident it would be able to cut costs and keep flying....

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 didn’t need a researched article to convince me that time spent with cousins is extremely important, although it is always nice to have your thoughts confirmed by others. I only had to look back to my own childhood and remember quite fondly the time spent with my cousins, usually during summer visits marked by minimal supervision and maximum fun....

Southwest dominated the travel news space last week with its announcement of Hawaii service. This is huge news for TPG readers especially — once Southwest begins flying to Hawaii, likely in 2018, Companion Pass holders will be able to score two tickets for the price of one, even when traveling on an award.Southwest’s new Boeing 737 MAX fleet will also offer a far more modern — and, in some cases, comfortable — interior compared to the aircraft legacy carriers fly to and from the mainland today....

Last week I read a post on Michael W Travels about whether parents should sit in the same cabin on the plane as their children. As a parent, the gut reaction answer is of course “yes”, parents should sit in the same cabin as their kids. Only self-absorbed, snooty celebrities and royalty would sit in a premium cabin while leaving their children to suffer all alone in economy, right?Well, I actually think the issue and “right answer” are a little more complicated....

Each Saturday, we round up news stories that you might have missed from the week before, plus a few new stories. If you’re an avid TPG reader, you’ll want to skip ahead to the new stuff. Here’s the top miles, points and travel news you might have missed on TPG this week.Paris Police Are Warning Tourists About Gangs of Hotel Thieves"Hotel rats" are a pretty big threat to tourists staying in France....

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.Budapest is an incredible city. It’s unbelievably gorgeous and the nightlife has been a blast (to say the least) as well. Day 1 was spent roaming around, going to the Four Seasons Spa and of course … the Britney Spears concert - which was an experience....

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.On Monday I wrote about a chance to win a bunch of Hyatt Gold Passport points as part of the buzz they are trying to create around their current promotion. You have until 11:59pm EST today to enter to win one of three sets of 22,000 Hyatt points....

T-Mobile has been a long-time favorite for data and voice services while abroad without needing to buy a new SIM card for each country you visit. Indeed, customers can get unlimited 2G data and texting in 210 international countries at no extra cost through T-Mobile’s Simple Global plan.But, if you use significant voice or data while roaming abroad, trouble may lie ahead. Multiple customers on T-Mobile ONE and T-Mobile ONE Plus plans recently received a text message stating the following from T-Mobile:The majority of the last two months of T-Mobile usage on line xxxxxxxxxx has been roaming internationally....

For this week’s Thursday Giveaway, we are giving away 5 pairs of LSTN Troubadour Headphones with microphones plus $50 iTunes Gift Cards for each winner.Enter to win a pair of LSTN headphones plus a $50 iTunes giftcard.LSTN is a for-purpose company that connects individuals, families and communities through sound. For every pair of headphones they sell, they help restore hearing to a person in need through the Starkey Hearing Foundation. In under 2 years, LSTN has been able to give the gift of sound to over 15,000 people through Starkey in the U....

TPG Contributor Lori Zaino shares her experiences in Istanbul following last week’s failed military coup in Turkey. (All photos are by the author).I’d booked a trip from Madrid (MAD) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) on Turkish Airlines a few months ago, adding a 15-hour layover at Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST) after realizing that Turkish Airlines transit passengers can opt to do a free city tour during longer trips. My ticket was pretty affordable, at about $350 for a one-way trip, plus I’d redeemed AAdvantage miles for a flight home through Doha on Qatar Airways....

Airline lounges are becoming more and more sophisticated by the day, and are one way the major airlines try to build brand loyalty in an increasingly competitive marketplace, so we thought we’d take a look at the ten best lounges in the United States, and how you can get access to each. The term “best” is subjective. Some folks value the food, others the free WiFi, and still others rate spacious shower suites as their main lounge criteria....

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.United is making it easier to know when you can earn bonus miles through its MileagePlus shopping portal. The carrier has introduced a new MileagePlus Shopping Button extension for Google Chrome, which allows you to activate earning miles when doing your online shopping....

One paddle boarder in Australia just had the whale sighting of a lifetime.And no, we’re not talking about the new Airbus Beluga XL.A 28-year-old German backpacker named Alex was paddle boarding off the coast of Australia when suddenly he bumped into a pod of humpback whales (his board literally bumps one of them). The three whales were likely in the middle of migration — the window of time between June and August when humpback whales travel up Australia’s north coast to mate and give birth....

Machu Picchu is one of the most significant legacies of the Inca civilization — and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Even though this UNESCO World Heritage site’s location atop a mountain isn’t easily accessible, thousands of visitors trek out to see it daily. There are several things you should know before visiting, especially because of the new rules and regulations that went into effect on July 1, 2017....

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.US Airways recently switched the companies running its online shopping portal, and now the airline is offering 500 free Dividend Miles to flyers who download the Storefront Assistant toolbar and use it once.To qualify for the 500 bonus miles, all you need to do is download the toolbar and do a search, you don’t even need to shop!...