On Saturday, September 30, an Air France A380 flying from Paris (CDG) to Los Angeles (LAX) was forced to make an emergency landing when one of its four engines blew out while over the Atlantic Ocean.Passengers aboard Air France flight 66 reported hearing a loud thud and then a lot of vibration immediately after the engine failed. Photos and video posted on social media show a chunk of the engine cowling apparently gone....
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 regional carrier PSA, which operates 12% of AA’s 6,700 daily flights, continued to cancel all of its flights Tuesday.The airline experienced technical issues beginning Thursday evening that continued into Monday. PSA’s computer systems experienced latency issues that caused the crew’s scheduling tools to slow down, which caused around 2,500 flight cancellations....
For years, I’ve heard mixed reports about booking travel through Avianca. The airline offers phenomenal sales on the purchase of frequent flyer miles in its LifeMiles program, and as a member of the Star Alliance, that meant opportunities to book premium-cabin awards on a range of top airlines at a fraction of the usual cash price, such as one-way North America to Europe for 87,000 miles in Lufthansa first class.For me, there was always one big holdup, though, which has kept me from taking advantage of these otherwise irresistible LifeMiles deals — and, for years, even publishing news about the mileage sales on this site, given the challenges readers had experienced in the past....
Back at the Oneworld Megado in January, American Airlines executives told the group that AA.com would soon start adding the ability to search for award availability on various airline partners in the coming months. Not too long ago, they did so for Alaska Airlines, and just this week, AA.com also started showing availability on Hawaiian Airlines and British Airways.AA.com’s search engine has usually been pretty good for straightforward itineraries, and what’s great is that you can now use AA....
A nurse who was treating patients in the deadly Ebola outbreak currently spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo has died of the disease, the nation’s health ministry announced Monday.The death happened in Congo’s rural Bikoro region, where the outbreak began, and is among the 27 deaths caused by the virus. The death toll, along with the number of suspected cases, has steadily been rising since the first cases of the new outbreak were confirmed on May 9....
On September 7, 2016, American Airlines completed its first commercial flight to Cuba since 1961, and TPG Contributor Michael Spelfogel was on board to experience the historical event. In the three weeks since, American has ramped up to eight daily flights from Miami to the formerly restricted island. However, the carrier learned the hard way that travel remains more restricted than expected.Most of American Airlines’ Cuban flights fly out and back in the same day, meaning that the aircraft and crew don’t spend the night in Cuba....
Cuba was supposed to be the next hot destination where Americans would flock – and airlines bet big on that hope. Air travel, however, hasn’t been the preferred form of travel to the island nation.Delta has announced that it will be ending service between New York (JFK) and Havana (HAV). Delta currently flies between the cities once a week but will end the Saturday-only service on September 1, 2018, according to Routes Online....
As of May 16, Delta’s extra legroom Comfort+ section on regional flights now includes its own fare class. At the same time, the process for elite members to “upgrade” to the extra legroom seats has become more complicated — rather than being able to select these seats at booking, Gold and Silver elites need to wait for an upgrade to clear, just as they do with first class. The process is even more complex if you’re traveling with a companion, but Delta’s working to improve the situation there....
The American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou programs periodically offer transfer bonuses when you move points from their credit card programs to some of their hotel and airline transfer partners. If you are able to move points when these transfer bonuses are in effect, you are basically giving yourself free extra points. The flip side of that is once you move points from the transferable credit card programs to the individual hotel or airline programs, you are locking yourself into using the points in that one program....
This is an installment in my Istanbul: End of Year Mileage Run with Dad series. Posts include; Cheap Istanbul Flights: From $576 Total Roundtrip on Delta from JFK, Help Plan My Long Weekend in Istanbul, Flight Review: Alitalia JFK-Rome in Coach, Hotel Review: Westin Excelsior Rome, Hotel Review: Park Hyatt Istanbul Spa Room, Istanbul Eats and Excursions.After an evening spent relaxing in Rome, Dad and I went to bed early and prepared to catch our morning flight to Istanbul the next day....
JetBlue launched another short-term promo today where you can get a 30% discount on award bookings until the end of today for travel May 2 – June 26, 2013.The “Stop Dreaming. Start Redeeming” promo takes 30% off the usual point redemption rates for TrueBlue rewards – and remember, JetBlue is a transfer partner of Amex Membership Rewards points so if you’re a few points short, you can always top off your account from there....
Like its fellow Oneworld alliance member — and frenemy — American Airlines, Qatar has a widely varying business class hard product. On the lower end, American Airlines has its 767s and Qatar has its pre-Qsuites 777. On the other end of the spectrum are American Airlines’ excellent 777-300ER and 787-9s seats and Qatar’s A350s and 787s.US-based travelers currently only have three gateways at which they can experience (one of) Qatar’s best business-class products: New York (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL) and Boston (BOS) to Doha (DOH)....
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.You may not know that American Airlines has a business rewards program, but AA’s Business Extra is a great way for businesses large and small to get credit for booking flights for employees. While allowing employees to earn their standard mileage credit, businesses get “points,” which can be redeemed for free flights, upgrades, lounge passes, lounge membership and even elite status....
When it comes to mistakes in the service industry, customers can be unforgiving. In a time when consumers have a zero-defect mentality, the smallest service mistake by an airline or hotel can overpower the rest of a hospitality experience. Despite the fact that 98% of the transaction probably went well, the one mistake can result in an overall negative opinion in the mind of the customer.This mentality of a single service slip defining our opinion — and immediately demanding compensation — needs to stop....
Since the Delta Amex Cards upped their sign-up bonuses temporarily through July 5th, I have gotten a few inquires as to how we actually use our SkyMiles and whether the cards are really worth getting. That offer is now expired. Now, there was absolutely a period of time a few years ago that I didn’t really pay attention to Delta miles or their co-branded cards. There were better offers for my needs, SkyMiles were commonly referred to as ‘SkyPesos’, and other frequent flyer programs were largely preferable to what Delta was offering....
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.Verizon is teaming up with American Airlines and offering 10,000 AA miles for new customers who sign up for their triple play (Voice/Data/TV) packages.I’m actually in the market for a new internet/cable/phone provider, so I’ve been researching options in NYC and this deal seems good....
A driver for ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft in St. Louis, Missouri, live-streamed nearly 700 passengers during their rides in his Chevrolet pickup without their knowledge or consent, a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reveals.Jason Gargac, 32, posted live broadcasts of his passengers online — showing everything about them, including their faces, names, conversations, drop-off locations and other personal details. The live videos went on the website Twitch, which stated as a forum to watch live video gaming but has recently delved into other version of live video....
One of the things I love most about being The Points Guy is getting to hear stories from readers about how points and miles have helped them get where they want to go. Each week I pick one that catches my eye and post it for everybody to enjoy. If you’re interested in sharing your own award travel success story, email it to info@thepointsguy.com; be sure to include details about how you earned and redeemed your rewards, and put “Reader Success Story” in the subject line....
Air Italy, the new airline refurbished from former carrier Meridiana, allows travelers to book award flights using Avios through its partner British Airways at a very reasonable rate. Flights can be booked directly via ba.com at the following redemption rates:Flight Distance // Zone Economy Class Business ClassZone 1: 1-650 miles 4,500 9,000Zone 2: 651-1150 miles 7,500 15,000Zone 3: 1151-2000 miles 10,000 20,000Zone 4: 2001-3000 miles 12,500 37,500Zone 5: 3001-4000 miles 20,000 60,000Zone 6: 4001-5000 miles 25,000 75,000In the past, Air Italy-imposed surcharges per ticket were capped at $127 each way for flights between the US and Italy, regardless of fare class....
Even though e-readers and tablets are becoming increasingly common, brick-and-mortar bookstores (and paper-page books, for that matter) aren’t quite yet a thing of the past. Excellent independent bookstores are not only still open for business in cities and communities throughout the country, some even specialize—and thrive—in the travel niche. TPG Contributor Jessica Spiegel shares some of the best travel-focused bookstores in America that serve the literary wanderlust inside each and every one of us....
