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I’ve written about the opportunity to earn up to 138,000 Club Carlson points with three single (and potentially) cheap stays with Radission, Country Inn and Park Inn promotions. The first two promotion registrations went live last week and the Park Inn registration that offers 44,000 Club Carlson points after a single stay, is now live. It’s open to the first 20,000 people, so just register now to be safe.“Congratulations: You are now registered for the 1+1 Offer....

Registration is officially open for April’s Frequent Traveler University in Tyson’s Corner, VA April 26-28. Tickets are $100 and go towards covering the cost of the event as it’s a non-profit affair. I will be presenting, however my topic is yet to be determined. (Personally, I have the most fun mingling and swapping stories at the happy hour).The event, which has historically been in NYC, will take place at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner outside Washington DC, which is reputed to be one of the nicest Hilton properties in the US....

Just a friendly reminder for you Virgin America flyers that the special 20,000-point sign up offer for the Virgin America Visa is ending today, August 31, 2012.While 20,000 points might not seem like a huge amount, usually the first-use bonus on this card is just 10,000 points, so this promo is worth double, and equates to spending $4,000 on the airline, or as much as $460 in Virgin America flights since Elevate points are worth about 1....

It may be finally happening for real: RwandAir will fly from Kigali, Rwanda, to New York — and probably nonstop, too. It would be the first flight ever between the United States and the East African nation. And it would also be with the brand-new Airbus A330neo, the latest version of the Airbus long-haul workhorse.RwandAir has confirmed it will take delivery of the first of two Airbus A330-900neos in 2019, and use the jet to operate non-stop flights between New York and Rwanda....

Low-cost carrier Ryanair is facing more strikes from employees in Europe.This time, pilots in Germany are joining the demonstrations that are sweeping the budget airline’s workforce this summer as staffers demand better pay and work conditions. The Dublin-based carrier said it would have to cancel 250 flights to and from Germany on Friday because its pilots in the country will walk out of work for 24 hours, beginning Friday morning.Irish, Belgian and Swedish pilots had already planned to strike Friday as well, adding on 146 flight cancellations to Friday’s total....

The bad news: Southwest Airlines WiFi ain’t no Google Fiber. The good news: The LUV carrier’s customer service rocks.The airline’s “About” page features a quote from Southwest CEO Gary Kelly: “Our people are our single greatest strength and most enduring longterm competitive advantage.” Southwest Customer Service Representative Mike exemplified that quality Sunday night for mid-flight passenger Renée Stoeckle.For the first time in its 98-year program history, Xavier University in Cincinnati was the No....

While minor design elements might get a slight tweak from year to year, luggage is one segment of the travel industry that’s seen little change — even from one decade to the next. That is until the past couple of years, when a new trend popped up almost overnight: the smart bag.Bluesmart Luggage. (Photo courtesy of Bluesmart)The RiseRecently, I haven’t been much of a proponent of the smart luggage movement. I had been intrigued by the concept initially, until I spent an extended period of time with Bluesmart, one of the first such devices to come to market....

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.The Trump name isn’t new to the hospitality industry. The Trump Organization is known for luxurious, five-star properties all across the globe. Now, the company is launching a more budget-friendly, three-star hotel brand: American Idea.The new brand was announced earlier this week, and the properties will be located in smaller towns across America, a change from Trump properties that tend to be located in larger cities....

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.St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana Airport (SXM) is arguably the best airport for plane watching due to its idyllic — and challenging — location on Maho Beach. We’ve already posted about a crazy takeoff from the Caribbean airport, but SXM provides an almost endless supply of dramatic aviation videos — so we had to pick one more....

Check out this week’s travel contests and sweepstakes to try your hand at winning a choice of Aspen’s slopes or Cabo’s beaches; heading to the Wanderlust O’ahu festival; seeing Nagasaki, Japan; exploring Iceland; or going one of five different Princess Cruises.Get fit in Hawaii at the Wanderlust O’ahu festival, with hotel stay and airfare included.Win a Trip to Wanderlust O’ahu through POPSUGARSubmit your entry for POPSUGAR’s Get Fit 2015 Giveaway to an opportunity to win a trip for two to Turtle Bay Resort in O’ahu, Hawaii during the four-consecutive day Wanderlust O’ahu Festival from February 26-March 1, 2015....

By now you’ve probably heard of hygge (pronounced HOO-ga), the Danish term defined as “a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.”Basically, it means the good life — enjoying the little things with the people you love — whether it be a warm fire or a hot bath, time with family or Netflixing with a mug of mulled wine. And with the days getting shorter and the temperatures dropping, we’re entering the season where getting cozy and finding contentment takes top priority....

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.Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – The Platinum Card from American ExpressToday’s deal in AAdvantage’s “30 Deals in 30 Days” promotion is a 30% off coupon for Admirals Club membership when you use promo code AADV30 at checkout....

An American Airlines flight was diverted to Kansas City International Airport on Monday because of an unruly passenger — but this wasn’t the usual unruly-passenger incident. Flight AA2763 departed Phoenix for Boston around 3:45pm local time, according to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24. However, an unruly passenger — who appeared intoxicated — forced the flight to divert to Kansas City (MCI), where it landed around 7:45pm local.According to passenger David Markoski, the man stumbled on board the plane with a woman and two dogs and appeared to be intoxicated....

Today, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines shared the details of a slew of new routes from both San Francisco (SFO) and San Jose (SJC). Virgin will be adding seven new routes from SFO, while Alaska will add three from SFO and three from SJC.The 13 new routes from the Bay Area expand the soon-to-be combined carriers’ reach to the middle of the country and to the East Coast. In addition, the carrier will add new service to Hawaii, Los Angeles and a proposed route to Mexico City, pending government approval....

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.It’s official: As of April 1, American Airlines is forgoing its free 24-hour reservation holds in favor of a 24-hour refund policy similar to that of other airlines. According to an AA spokesperson, the decision was made in response to confusion from customers:The switch to a 24-hour refund instead of 24-hour hold goes into effect tomorrow, Friday, April 1 (no, it’s not an April Fool’s joke)....

I’ve written this blog for the last four years largely as an extension of our own real lives. Sure I write about random travel deals and mileage opportunities that pop up that have little to nothing to do with our family, but at the heart, everything I write about relates back to my own perspective as a busy parent on a budget who loves to travel. I wouldn’t know how to de-personalize and write a daily blog any other way....

Today only, Virgin America is offering a buy one get one free promo on tickets to/from Newark. Here is the link to the promo page. To be eligible, you must purchase your ticket by 11:59pm PST for travel now through 11:59pm PST on November 26 (sorry, no Thanksgiving travel) and use the promo code VXFOR2.The promotion is valid on routes between Newark EWR and the following cities:Las Vegas, NV - LASLos Angeles, CA - LAXPalm Springs, CA - PSPPortland, OR - PDXSan Diego, CA - SANSan Francisco, CA - SFOSan Jose, CA - SJCSign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions....

After witnessing the disaster United faced this week after police physically dragged a passenger off one of its overbooked planes, Delta has decided to proactively change its own overbooking policies, authorizing gate agents and supervisors to offer up to $9,950 in compensation to passengers willing to volunteer to take a later flight in an oversell situation.Gate agents who could previously only offer up to $800 in compensation will now be able to give as much as $2,000, while supervisors who were capped at $1,350 are authorized to go as high as an unbelievable $9,950....

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.An airport escapee has finally been caught after eluding authorities for more than a week. Pepper, a four year-old tabby cat, is now in custody and will hopefully soon be reunited with her owner in China.It all started around 11:30am on Friday, April 20, when Pepper’s owner was checking her into a flight to Beijing, China (PEK) at New York’s JFK Terminal 4....

If you’re looking to burn miles for a premium cabin from the US to Asia, now’s a great time to book as there are currently plenty of business seats available on both EVA Air (Star Alliance) and China Airlines (SkyTeam) to Taipei, Taiwan (TPE).You can easily find the China Airlines space by searching with Delta’s award calendar. China Airlines flies nonstop from San Francisco (SFO) and there are four business award seats open on many dates right now....