I am going to take a big leap and say that pretty much everyone reading this blog loves scoring a great travel deal. Up until a couple years ago one of the main ways that I scored great hotel deals was by using Priceline and Hotwire. I would book four star hotels sometimes for $60-$70 a night or less. For those who have not used these sites, both of them involve booking a hotel before knowing exactly which hotel you have booked....
The first rule for any party-minded vacationer is to stay hydrated. Unfortunately, Ibiza can’t help you with that — at least not for very much longer.The third largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands is in the midst of what some might call an identity crisis. Though it has long been considered one of the world’s wildest vacation destinations, the picturesque island can’t keep up with its own popularity — so much so that its tourism minister, Vincent Torres, says Ibiza is running out of essential resources, including drinking water....
Every so often, TPG hosts reader events all in the name of points, miles and travel. We’ve held events all around the country — and the world. From New York to Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, London and more. And, up next for our reader events, TPG is headed to Charlotte!On Tuesday, May 1, at 7:00pm, we’ll be hosting our first-ever reader event in Charlotte. If you’ve ever been to one before, you can expect all of the usual perks — light bites, drinks and everything points and 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.Rideshare company and Uber’s chief rival, Lyft, is currently testing a new way of moving people around cities by using one of the oldest transit modes in the game — buses. Lyft Shuttle operates very much like a traditional city bus — it has a prescribed route with specific pickup and drop off points....
Welcome to the first installment of TPG Editor-at-Large Zach Honig’s coverage of the 2017 Star Alliance MegaDo. This year’s event takes AvGeeks from around the world on the adventure of a lifetime, including stops in Vienna, Brussels and Mallorca. Check back for daily reports, and follow along in real time on Instagram and Twitter.I’ve been wanting to join a MegaDo for years, so I was beyond thrilled when a schedule conflict kept TPG from coming this time (sorry, TPG!...
You probably know Transylvania for one thing: Dracula. But it’s always meant (a bit) more to me. My grandmother’s family hails from the region, so when a $414 upgradeable fare from Newark to Cluj-Napoca (via Munich) popped up a few months back, I booked a weekend trip to Transylvania’s (unofficial) capital city. And wow — what a special place!Getting to Cluj-Napoca (CLJ)Back in December, United was offering upgradeable economy fares to a limited number of smaller markets in Europe for roughly $400 round-trip....
When “Basic Economy” was introduced to US airlines, there were a lot of misconceptions. One of those was that the seats would be smaller or have less legroom. So far, no US airlines have gone so far as to create a separate basic economy section, although American Airlines flirted with configuring a few rows with just 29 inches of legroom before backing away from the plan.But there’s a seat on display at the Aircraft Interiors Expo that promises to provide a true basic economy experience....
While the current Amex transfer bonuses to British Airways (20% until December 31) and Virgin Atlantic (30%) aren’t the best they’ve ever seen, they are still decent options to maximize your American Express Membership Rewards points- especially if you know how to extract the most value out of those programs. So, for today’s Thursday Giveaway, I am going to be giving two lucky readers 9,000 British Airways Avios.This week’s giveaway is to celebrate the Amex-BA 20% transfer bonus....
Pumpkins and Halloween decorations are suddenly everywhere, and that means that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so it is time to start booking your travel plans if you haven’t already.Thanksgiving is notoriously the most expensive time of the year to travel.Trying to make sense of airfare fluctuations and fare rules is a tough game to play, especially around the holidays, and Thanksgiving is usually the most expensive time. As usual, though, Kayak....
Long flights can be exhausting, but lie-flat seats and a solid amenity kit (filled with relaxation accoutrements of all stripes, from eye masks and earplugs to high-end bath products) always help. Since you’re allowed to take them home, the question remains: what do you do with them once the trip’s over? We asked readers in the TPG Lounge to weigh in, and turns out many re-use them for good: “I package them up after collecting all year, buy a few more things, if needed, make gift bags with special notes to the battered women’s shelter,” says Gazelle Jacobs....
US Airways is offering a limited-time sale of $30 fares from Washington National Airport (DCA) to six cities. Here are the details:Book today by 4PM ET. Travel between September 4 - 13, 2012. There are only 30 seats each way in each market!Tallahassee (TLH)Fort Walton Beach (VPS)Pensacola (PNS)Little Rock (LIT)Jackson, MS (JAN)Birmingham (BHM)There are only 30 seats each way in each market so you have to book fast and you have to search the right dates....
One of the things I love most about being The Points Guy is getting to hear stories from readers about all the positive ways award travel has affected their lives. That being said, while I love hearing about your successes, I think there’s also a lot we can learn by sharing our mistakes, and I’m calling on readers to send in your most egregious and woeful travel failures.From time to time I’ll pick one that catches my eye and post it for everybody to enjoy (and commiserate with)....
Airline booking engines are notoriously buggy and sometimes they err in the favor of consumers and mis-price flights. Over the years, I’ve hopped on many of these fares (like the $149 Stockholm/Copenhagen bonanza earlier this year) and I’ve never had an issue with Delta/Skyteam honoring them.Well, per this Flyertalk thread, KLM.com is currently pricing some itineraries to Europe extremely low. I won’t try to guess why, the bottom line is that you can get sub $400 roundtrip flights from many US cities to Europe....
On this and some other similar blogs you will sometimes see posts about new sign-up bonuses from Uber. Uber brings a black car, taxi, or UberX personal vehicle to you with the press of a button on the app, which is insanely helpful and convenient. The prices are usually pretty good compared to other ways of obtaining cars and sometimes even less than a regular old cab. I especially like to use it when traveling with family in a new city and am not necessarily overly familiar with the public transportation options....
Since joining The Points Guy team in February, I’ve been thrown headfirst into the exciting world of points, miles, AvGeekery and travel. Naturally, when the opportunity to join a TPG-hosted PeaceJam conference in Accra, Ghana, presented itself, I jumped at it.I already knew that my trip to Accra was going to be memorable, since PeaceJam works to provide educational opportunities and to support learning initiatives for young Ghanaians, but as an added bonus I also got to partake in the Emirates business-class experience — something that I’d been hearing about since I started at TPG — for the first time....
Ever noticed how travel can make you enthusiastic about activities you’d be unwilling do at home? Like standing in line for a museum or joining a noisy crowd at a festival? Maybe it’s because diving into the culture of a place is one of the best ways to discover it — and for creating memories that will linger long after the jetlag fades.You probably already know that March 17 is Saint Patrick’s Day, so we’ve rounded up five other unforgettable experiences taking place around the world this month....
Last week I mentioned that we’re launching our first annual TPG Small Business Week. The program begins this Tuesday in Chicago, where I’ll be hosting the first Small Business Week session and explaining everything you need to know about how to maximize travel and points. After the Q&A — and refreshments and light bites — we’ll be shooting a video consultation with one lucky businessperson. And we’ll be airing the video on ThePointsGuy....
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.This Valentine’s Day, there’s no better gift for your travel-obsessed loved one than something from the TPG Store. Since we launched the TPG Shop in November, we’ve seen a great response from loyal TPG readers looking to get their hands on gear to wear during their travels....
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.While it’s not the Faster Free Nights that was number one on my birthday list, Hyatt announced today a decent promotion that will allow me to rack up some valuable Hyatt Gold Passport points.Per Hyatt: Hyatt Gold Passport is excited to announce that the next global campaign will run 01APR11 through 30JUN11....
Japan Airlines offers its luxe lie-flat first class on just one of its aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER — TPG flew it in 2015 and had a great experience. When you fly first on the 77W, you’ll get not just the lie-flat seat with 33 inches of width in a 1-2-1 configuration and delicious food and service, but each passenger also gets a set of pajamas and an amenity kit filled with luxury products....
