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Comedian and actor JB Smoove loves to travel, but his vacations are on the back-burner now that “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is coming back. Here, the charismatic star of BET’s hilarious “Real Husbands of Hollywood” raves about a particular long-haul product, reveals his favorite vacation spot and wonders what his “Curb” colleague Larry David would be like on a flight.Got any good packing tips?You pack the forgetful stuff you’re really going to need first and get it out of the way a few days before you leave, then you do the fun stuff....

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 European Union has passed new regulations focused on improving the mental health testing of commercial airline pilots. The new legislation follows the intentional and fatal Germanwings crash by the flights’ co-pilot back in 2015.The new psychological testing will begin in the EU in 2020, according to the EU’s executive Commission....

With increased competition in the Pacific Northwest from Delta, Alaska has been aggressively wooing new flyers and potential elites with a series of promotions and developments including the ability to earn elite-qualifying miles on all its airline partners, double miles on Emirates, and various double EQM offers.The offer is targeted, but might as well try to register for it!Now the airline has launched a targeted promotion offering flyers within striking range of elite status an instant bump to the next elite level plus 2,500 EQM’s toward your 2016 status just for flying one roundtrip flight before the end of the year....

I spent a night at this Radisson Blu at Charles de Gaulle outside Paris to score my 50,000 Club Carlson points from the Big Night Giveaway.Like many readers, back in May I got in on Club Carlson’s “Big Night Giveaway” where, when you registered starting for the promotion and stayed at a Radisson or Radisson Blu property for a night by July 15, 2012, you would receive a bonus 50,000 Club Carlson Gold Points....

You’d be forgiven for having never heard of Biman Bangladesh. I only became familiar with the carrier when it operated the world’s last McDonnell Douglas DC-10 passenger flight, from Dhaka (DAC) to Birmingham, England (BHX) back in 2014.Now, Biman is turning a new leaf, replacing its since-retired wide-body workhorses of yesteryear with one of the world’s most advanced passenger jets: the Boeing 787-8.Biman had the distinct honor of being the customer of choice for Boeing’s static and flying displays at this year’s Farnborough Air Show, giving me an opportunity to tour an aircraft I’ll likely never step foot on again....

JetBlue appears to be heading in the direction of classic meal and drink service. It announced that it will be getting rid of its drink trays in favor of more traditional drink and food carts.This should cut the amount of time it takes to serve passengers in half, Doug McGraw a spokesman for JetBlue told Bloomberg. It will allow the airline to offer snack and drink service on 95% of its flights....

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 Thursday (May 17, 2018) only, American Airlines AAdvantage Shopping is offering a bonus earning structure for purchases made at Apple — 6x miles on your Apple purchases made through the AAdvantage Shopping portal.Shopping portals seldom offer elevated mileage earnings on Apple purchases, and when they do, it’s generally for one day only....

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, the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission unanimously voted to approve new regulations that limit rideshare and taxi drivers in NYC to driving no more than 12 hours per day, and up to 72 hours per week....

In a story titled “Digital Payment Service Zelle is Rife with Fraud” published on April 24, TPG reprised a story based on reporting by The New York Times that examined the digital banking feature’s vulnerabilities to hackers.TPG included a quote from an interview the Times conducted with a partner at consulting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers regarding Zelle’s fraud rate. The quote that the partner gave to the Times said one bank experienced a 90% fraud rate with Zelle transactions....

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.Looking for another way to redeem your Membership Rewards points? Well, you’re in luck! Amex’s points program just got another partner this week with the introduction of a new redemption option through Airbnb, in addition to the gift card redemptions Amex introduced last year....

TPG reader Brian sent me a message on Facebook to ask about booking a Hyatt award stay:“I’m using points to book a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency in Nice, France. The rate is 25,000 Hyatt points per night; however, the Chase Travel Portal is also offering rooms for 25,000 Ultimate Rewards points per night based on the current cash rate. Should I transfer points to Hyatt or just book the stay directly through Chase?...

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.Great news for backpackers or anyone else interested in visiting several countries on one trip: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — a 10-member economic, political and security alliance representing Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — is looking to implement a single-visa policy for the entire region....

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.Usually, if a flight is oversold, airlines will offer passengers a monetary incentive to take a later flight in order to make sure there is one passenger per seat on the aircraft. However, on a Pakistan International Airlines flight in January, seven extra passengers were allowed to board a plane and fly from Karachi (KHI) to Medina, Saudi Arabia (MED) — allegedly in jumpseats and even the cockpit....

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 JetBlue first launched service between New York (LGA) and Boston (BOS) in October 2016, it tried to separate itself from the competition on that crowded route with additional perks, which are still available.If you book a flight with JetBlue between LGA and BOS, here are the benefits you’re entitled to:Free in-flight wine and beer for all passengers, no matter the time of the day....

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.Last week we announced a very special contest for our Los Angeles readers to attend a reader meet-up, as well as the launch of our new TPG To Go app! The event will be held on Tuesday, October 28th, and in typical TPG fashion, no one will walk away empty-handed....

Italy, a country that’s on even the most infrequent traveler’s bucket list of destinations, seems to be falling out of amore with tourists. All around the country, cities are cracking down on the things people can and cannot do: If you’re in Rome, don’t even think about eating or drinking around the city’s famous fountains or enjoying a quiet bottle of Chianti in a piazza once the sun sets. In Milan, selfie sticks are a no-no....

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.In the spirit of democracy, Uber has decided to join Lyft in offering free rides to voters on Election Day.“With the 2018 elections around the corner, many organizations and companies across the country are going the extra mile to support our democratic process,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, in a statement on Uber’s site....

Last week, United Airlines announced it would begin new service to both international and domestic markets. In addition to adding flights between San Francisco (SFO) and Munich (MUC), the carrier also detailed plans to launch service in four new domestic markets — Columbia, MO (COU), Champaign/Urbana, IL (CMI), Rochester, MN (RST) and Santa Rosa, CA (STS).Columbia Regional Airport (COU) was awarded nonstop routes from two of United’s hubs — daily service from Denver (DEN) and 2x daily service from Chicago (ORD), both beginning August 1....