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Once in the life of each and every Airbus plane, it flies a route that it’ll never fly again — from the Airbus factory or delivery center to the home base of its new owner. For Singapore Airlines’ latest A380, that special flight brought the plane — and just 96 passengers and crew — from Airbus HQ in Toulouse, France (TLS) to Singapore’s hub at Changi Airport (SIN).With enough business-class seats to accommodate every passenger upstairs, there wasn’t any need for anyone to sit on the lower deck, which was entirely empty for most of the flight — it was so quiet, in fact, that I managed to get some exercise by doing laps between the rear stairs and the main staircase up front, walking about a mile in total....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available – Citi Hilton Honors Reserve CardEach quarter, Hilton shifts which hotels belong to each award category — some properties go up in “price” while others become more affordable. The hotel chain just released the changes that will go into effect on October 12 at about 50 properties worldwide. About 20 will require more HHonors points per award night while roughly 30 will require fewer points....

Over the past two years, Iceland has seen a massive explosion in tourism. The small country has a population of only about 335,000, but it has had to adapt quickly with the influx of tourists — there were up to 1.6 million foreign visitors in 2016.Since my visit to the Land of Fire and Ice two years ago, I had been dying to get back, and thanks to WOW Air’s $99 fares to Reykjavik, getting to Iceland was cheaper and easier than ever....

Dear TPG readers:We are proud to bring you, every day, the best points and miles, travel and aviation content on the web — and we are thrilled that every month six million of you read it. And we intend to keep honoring this trust. But, on Monday, we published a story we are not proud of.In our article about the refresh of the Hyatt Place brand, we originally described a series of changes in the guest experience as being a net positive....

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.Hyatt is running a pretty good 48 hour sale on a bunch of its central US properties from Wisconsin to Texas. I actually have a hotel stay in Chicago this weekend and have a room at the Hyatt Regency booked for $130 on a corporate rate....

Today, I want to share a story from TPG reader Timothy, whose luggage was mishandled on the way to Hawaii. Here’s what he had to say:My family was on a trip from California non-stop to Kauai, and we checked our one large suitcase. When we got to the ticketing counter, there was an overworked agent who grabbed our bag, tagged it and handed me the baggage claim receipt. He was hustling as fast as he could, and calling passengers up before he was done with the one at the counter....

Boeing announced last week that it would not deliver a large order of aircraft to Iran, a consequence of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. And now Iranian government officials have said they want to sue the aircraft manufacturer for not abiding by the contract.Iran Air had placed an order for 80 Boeing aircraft in December 2016, a deal valued at $16.6 billion. Boeing also had a contract to sell 30 737 MAXs to Iran Aseman Airlines....

Lyft, the ride-hailing company that brands itself as the more friendly version of Uber, is in hot water. The Information reported yesterday that Lyft is investigating allegations that its current or former employees tracked Lyft riders and accessed their information when they weren’t supposed to.Employees were allegedly tracking romantic partners and even celebrities, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Lyft told The Information that its engineers do have access to personal information but that they “hadn’t received any internal complaint about the matter....

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.Bankrupt Air Berlin’s long-haul A330s are in the process of being repossessed, but as we learned this week, they won’t be grounded for long.As reported by Aviation Week and confirmed by the carrier, Malaysia Airlines will take over the leases of six of the planes from owner AerCap, with delivery expected in February 2018....

A passenger plane flying from Bangladesh crashed into the ground just short of the runway at Tribhuvan Airport (KTM) in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Monday. The US-Bangla Airlines aircraft crashed into an empty field before bursting into flames. A police official confirmed that at least 38 people were killed and 23 were injured in the crash.US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 was traveling from Dhaka, Bangladesh (DAC) to KTM, operated by a twin-prop Bombardier Dash 8 — registration S2-AGU....

Social media is increasingly becoming the method airlines, hotels, credit cards and consumers get in touch with one another about the latest news, deals and promotions. Here’s a look at the latest interesting trending topics and more on social media from the week.I’ll be combing through Facebook posts, Tweets, Instagram pics and more to find the most interesting things going on during any given week, but if I miss something you’d like to discuss feel free to:-Post on my Facebook wall-Tweet me @thepointsguy-Instagram me @thepointsguyHere are some of the biggest news stories and promotions that everyone has been tweeting about this week....

Southwest Flight 906 skidded on a taxiway at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) just after 10:00am ET on Wednesday morning, February 7. The Boeing 737-800 was bound for Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, Jamaica.Passengers deplaned via stairs at the aft of the aircraft, while emergency personnel waited on standby “everywhere,” according to bystander Todd Miller. “The pavement surface condition was tested immediately following the incident,” said airport spokesman Jonathan Dean, according to the Washington Post....

In an open letter to the Transportation Security Administration (caution: PDF link) this week, DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton had to remind the TSA that “District of Columbia” IDs are valid.That’s right, it’s still a “chronic problem faced by air travelers from the District of Columbia” to be turned away at airport security by TSA officers who won’t accept IDs from our nation’s capital.Again over the Thanksgiving holiday, a DC resident was prevented from clearing security in Newark (EWR) when a TSA officer refused to accept a District of Columbia driver’s license as a “valid form of ID....

If you’re new to the world of points and miles, booking that first business-class award ticket is a fantastic resolution for 2018. It’s also a great goal if you’re returning to the space after spending some time restoring your credit score and using credit responsibly.According to US News, 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the first week of February. To stay on track, set small, achievable goals and have a plan for meeting them....

Koh Samui is a paradise of sandy beaches and palm trees at every turn, a tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand that’s definitely worth a visit. Here’s why you should be planning your own trip here right now.1. You Can Use Points at Many HotelsWhile some islands are set so far off the beaten path they don’t have any properties where you can use your points, Koh Samui isn’t one of them....

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 verdict is in: I love Iceland. The fact that I can visit a place with freezing temperatures in the dead of winter and still be impressed means something — this is a special place. After a trip here earlier this year, I realized that Iceland is not only amazing in summer (I also visited in July 2013), but in the winter as well....

Using a mix of money and Avios to score an overall pretty great deal, our family recently flew in British Airways business class to and from London. While it probably sounds strange to those who haven’t don it, I’m a big fan of business class for international trips with kids because even though the parents may not get to relax as much as they would without the kiddos along for the ride, the kids themselves are as comfortable as possible…and a rested kid is almost as a rested parent....

This morning, American Airlines unveiled three new European routes that will commence just in time for next summer’s peak travel season. Starting May 4, 2018, AA passengers will be able to fly nonstop from Philadelphia (PHL) to Budapest (BUD) or Prague (PRG) and from Chicago (ORD) to Venice (VCE).Although the flights aren’t bookable yet (with cash or points), you’ll be able to redeem AAdvantage miles for these flights at the following rates:Economy: 30,000 AAdvantage miles + $5....

Following a weeks-long delay with regulators in China, the Marriott/Starwood merger has finally cleared its last remaining hurdle. According to a Marriott press release, the merger will now be moving forward, and is scheduled to close before the stock market opens on Friday morning, September 23.Here’s the word from Marriott:Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced their merger transaction has received approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM)....

The NY Times reported today that Delta is going to acquire a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, acquiring Singapore Airlines’ stake that they’ve long been trying to sell due to dismal returns. Apparently, Delta and Sinagpore found a price that works for both of them - $360 million, which is a huge loss for Singapore since they purchased the stake for $966 million in 2000.This deal will give Delta more access to London Heathrow, where it currently flies to from Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis and New York....