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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 October 2017, TPG managing editor Alberto Riva flew above New York City on a doors-off photo flight. I experienced a similar flight of my own two months later, in December, as my chartered bird overflew the 747 graveyard at Victorville....

TPG’s favorite Flight Attendant Insider Carrie A. Trey is back, this time with some insight as to what goes on between flights.The stress of being an airborne beverage engineer/therapist/nurse/cleaner/caregiver can be a lot to handle and there are any number of things we crew members do between flights. On quick turns when we’re flying within the US, intra-Europe or intra-Asia, we’ll try to grab a quick coffee or a bite to eat — and if we’re lucky, a cat nap — while the ground staff clean the aircraft....

World of Hyatt members have a new option to save a bit of cash when booking one of the chain’s properties around the world. The new Member Rate Advance Purchase is now available at all of Hyatt’s 700+ hotels, offering up to 15% off when you book at least 14 days prior to arrival.At the Park Hyatt St. Kitts, where you could also save more by taking advantage of special promotions, the new rate offers the lowest available price....

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.Almost one year ago to the day, Emirates released a new ad campaign featuring Jennifer Aniston. In the 60-second spot, Jen wakes up from a bad dream — in which she’s clearly flying a US-based carrier — only to find herself back in her super-posh first-class suite....

Getting out of the path of Hurricane Irma is becoming increasingly difficult — and more expensive. But, if you’re not looking to empty your wallet or fork over a ton of points and miles, JetBlue is doing good by capping its ticket prices at $99 for flights from every Florida city it serves.For last-minute seats from its Florida cities, JetBlue will charge a maximum of $99 on nonstop flights and a maximum of $159 on connecting flights....

As you have certainly noticed, things are a little nuts out there in the world at large. When things get this tense and unsettling in the real world it can be easy to look at travel as being superfluous and unimportant, or at least not as important as some other things. I actually think the opposite is true. I won’t even get into how travel can bring folks together and highlight similarities more than differences as that is a different concept for a different post, but instead I want to look at the importance of travel from a more micro level perspective....

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.4/20 is about to get even sweeter for many marijuana enthusiasts. In celebration of the official “unofficial” holiday, Lyft is offering discounts on rides in marijuana-friendly cities.In fact, the ride-hailing company will offer discounts up to $4.20. Lyft partnered with upcoming movie Super Troopers 2 to promote the sequel to the stoner-classic, which is also being released on 4/20....

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.AvGeeks held their breath as Hurricane Irma approached St. Martin last September — a webcam that once captured approaching 747s instead provided a live view of the storm’s wrath, then the feed went dark. It wasn’t long before we learned of the island’s fate — beloved Maho Beach was all but destroyed....

This is an installment in my Maximizing Elite Status series. Articles include; The Basics and Why People Mileage Run, Using ITA Matrix to Find Cheap Flights, How Much is Elite Status Worth?, Comparing Top Tier Status, Comparing Mid-Tier Status, Comparing Low Level Status, How to Get Elite Miles Without Flying, Understanding Elite Status Bump Thresholds, The Lowdown on Soft Landings, How to Cope with Losing Elite Status.Mileage runs are all about finding the cheapest flights that will get you the most 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.In August, Delta officially announced that award and Pay-with-miles tickets would be eligible for Medallion upgrades. And instead of upgrading all award tickets after paid tickets like most people expected, they made the decision to upgrade award tickets at the Medallion window- which means as a Platinum, I’d get upgraded after all paid Platinums, but before paid Gold and Silver medallions....

Last year I wrote about upcoming additions to SkyTeam, which included Aerolineas Argentinas. Well, the time has finally come and Delta has announced the ability to earn and redeem SkyMiles on Aerolineas even before the Argentine airline officially joins SkyTeam this fall. Before you read on, just know that I am completely biased (no, not because I’m one of the few bloggers that ever dares to defend Delta), but because Buenos Aires is one of my favorite cities in the world....

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.From May 16 - August 15, you can earn double points or miles on all Priority Club hotels (Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge and Candlewood Suites). While this isn’t the most revolutionary promotion of all time, PC points can add up when you stack them with all of their other promos, like their 15k spring promotion....

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.Singapore’s Changi is widely considered one of the world’s busiest, most efficient and most beautiful airports. Soon, it will be able to add one of the world’s most quiet to to its already impressive resume.On December 26, we learned that SIN would move to stop making final boarding announcements as well as paging individual passengers over the airport’s loudspeaker....

At an event celebrating new Virgin America service to Denver, TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Jason Steele had a chance to sit down with Sir Richard Branson. Read on for his interview, which touches on the importance of loyalty programs, customer experience and more.Virgin America recently launched service to Denver, and to commemorate the occasion, the airline threw a party when the plane arrived at Denver International Airport on March 15 and another that evening at Denver’s Art Hotel....

Southwest is making its first foray into Hawaii. The low-cost carrier, which until this point has served only the continental US, Central America and the Caribbean, is poised to launch its first service to Hawaii.Southwest announced on Twitter on Wednesday night that it’s launching flights to Hawaii:Southwest broke the news on its Twitter page with a response to a passenger. At this point, there aren’t any other details known — routes, fares and more....

The truth is I would have never believed someone — not in a million years — if they told me I would fly around the country with the First Lady of the United States.But for nearly two years, I was the Trip Coordinator at the White House for Michelle Obama, a job that allowed me the opportunity to see so much of our country and so many places across the globe — and travel on Bright Star, the official plane of the First Lady....

Dutch carrier KLM, one of the few Western airlines flying to Iran, will end its flights to the country.The airline announced on Saturday that it would be stopping its direct service from Amsterdam to Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport (IKA) due to a combination of “negative results and financial outlook for the Tehran operation,” KLM said in a statement.Experts in the aviation industry are attributing the halt in service to the US pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, which US President Donald Trump exited in May....

From a rooftop swimming pool to a movie theater and butterfly garden, Singapore’s Changi Airport is known for its unrivaled amenities — and some exceptionally appealing Priority Pass lounges. But assuming the world’s latest airport pool opens as planned in December 2017, at least one overseas feature will be giving its Changi counterpart a run for its money.According to Travel + Leisure, Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) is in the process of adding a new lounge with a unique feature: a swimming pool overlooking airport operations....

A group of Bristol University students recently sent their beloved custodian on a long-awaited vacation.The UK kids raised nearly $2,000 so they could send Herman Gordon home to Jamaica for the first time in a decade, the Independent reported. The crowdfunding campaign went viral because of a Facebook group and the students were able to raise the amount needed within a few days.“I started it because I know everybody loves Herman for his happy energy,” a medical student who came up with the idea told CNN....

Yesterday, Airbus delivered its 10,000th aircraft — a Singapore Airlines A350-900. This same plane will be used to launch nonstop service to San Francisco next weekend, and given that the A350 will soon be flying to the US every day, I’d like to take you on a tour of this brand new aircraft.TPG and I had the A350 pretty much to ourselves for an hour or so — as you might expect, there are a lot of pictures, so I’m going to break this up into four installments, to launch over the next few days:An overall tour of the aircraft, including cockpit and galleys (this post)A tour of the two business-class cabins, including the best seats to pick for your flightAn overview of premium economy, including the most comfortable seats thereAn in-depth look at coach — again, with a look at which seats to chooseIf you don’t want to wait, check out TPG’s Facebook Live tour below:First up is the general tour — I’ll pick up where we left off yesterday....