TPG reader John asks an interesting question about the best way to transfer miles to a friend in need:“I have a friend who just received news that he has stage 4 cancer. His treatment will require travel from South Florida to New Jersey. So many of us want to give away travel points from Amex, various airlines, and hotels but there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to channel & pool all the points....
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express, Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American ExpressCurrently, the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express and the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express are each offering a sign-up bonus of two free nights at a Category 1-5 property after you spend $3,000 or $5,000 (depending on whether you have the personal or business card) in the first three months....
For this week’s Thursday Giveaway, we are giving two lucky TPG readers a Beats By Dr. Dre, Beatbox Portable Speaker plus a $50 iTunes Gift Card each!Enter to win this week’s Thursday Giveaway!To enter to win, visit our Facebook Page (from your computer). Remember, when you share it on your wall, tweet it out or send an invite, every time one of your friends enters, you get an extra entry!Last Week’s Winner:Last week, we gave away a $500 American Airlines Gift Card....
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.Whenever I travel, be it for work for pleasure, one thing is assured, and that is that I bring music with me wherever I go. Now that I can keep my phone in airplane mode from the moment I take off to the moment I land, music can always be my accompaniment at 39,000 feet....
There’s nothing quite like India, whether you’re interested in visiting for its vast history and culture, delicious food, a chance to interact with the locals or to embark on an epic yoga retreat. It’s a country full of impressive temples, enormous cities, historic sites and incredible natural landscapes. And while the inevitable sensory overload may be a bit overwhelming at times, following these tips for first-timers will help you have a more manageable, memorable adventure....
Earlier this month, Alaska Airlines confirmed that it would be acquiring Virgin America — a deal worth roughly $4 billion. And while we don’t know too much about the acquisition as of yet, we do know one change that Virgin will be making to its product before the acquisition is near finalization.Starting later this month, Virgin America will begin charging customers to use its super fast satellite Wi-Fi. In July 2015, the carrier launched a partnership with ViaSat to bring its next-generation satellite-based Wi-Fi service to 10 A320s (53 of its aircraft still offer Gogo’s ATG-4 service)....
I spend a considerable amount of my work week using airline award search engines and reading the fine print of loyalty programs. so I feel like I know almost everything there is to know about booking award tickets. Yet every six months — or about the time my hubris has once again made me think I’ve got a handle on all the airline partnerships that matter — a program I have forgotten about, overlooked or didn’t know once again humbles me....
For the past few months, British Airways has been facing a long period of industrial action by its mixed fleet cabin crew, with approximately 1,400 crew members striking for around two weeks at a time, every two weeks since June. Now, in late-July, yet another strike is well underway and is expected to last until August 1 at the earliest.British Airways has been able to manage the situation well, partly due to the fact that it has wet-leased nine Qatar Airways planes....
Recently I read a story on Flyertalk that I have heard many times before. The premise is that a family checks a car seat with an airline so that they have it to use for their little one when they land, only to find that it is broken or damaged when they pick it up from baggage claim. The next part that can be a surprise is that the airlines usually have some clause written somewhere that they aren’t responsible for damage to car seats (and strollers for that 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.Of the many reasons why Mexico is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, “the food” is right up there with “the gorgeous beaches.” But one hotel — Grand Velas Los Cabos, located on the Baja peninsula between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo — just upped the ante by adding a $25,000 taco to the menu at Frida, its signature restaurant....
TPG reader Andrew asks:“In looking at the American Express Membership Rewards and Starwood transfer options, I noticed that Singapore Krisflyer was a transfer partner of both. I have never traveled in Singapore First Class, but would like to. With their 747 being retired, I do not believe they open any first class award seats to partners anymore, just their own Krisflyer members.Does it make sense to transfer points into the Singapore program to get a First Class seat?...
Travel companies are going gaga for social media and apparently their marketing budgets have been beefed up to prove it. Yesterday, I wrote about AA giving out free miles for “liking” them on Facebook and now some Hampton Inns in Massachusetts are giving people 10,000 Hilton points for joining their loyalty program by text. The difference between these promos is that AA’s was realistic and scalable, whereas the Hilton one requires manual processing by a person at the hotel, who is sure to get bombarded with requests (mine included) over the next few weeks....
Maybe you’re a fan of Portlandia or your curiosity has been piqued by the adage, “Keep Portland Weird." Either way, your tickets are booked and your bags are packed. Here are 10 tips for visiting Portland, Oregon, that you probably won’t find in a guidebook.This City Truly Bares it AllAs of late, Portland is best known for its hipster and crunchy (ie. extremely liberal and environmentally-friendly) behavior, but historically, the city is a shipping port with a strong affinity for strip clubs — in fact, it has the highest number of strip clubs per capita in the country....
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.Air France recently announced that they are adding Premium Voyageur seats to its A380 super-jumbo fleet. This is great news for flyers who want to spend more for a nicer, roomier seat, but don’t have the kind of money to afford business class....
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.Growing up, my parents always called me a “bull in a china shop” for not being the most graceful when it came to my surroundings. Hey, it’s hard being 5 feet tall by the 3rd grade! (Okay, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point)....
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.We’re lucky to live in an age where we consistently see great airfare deals, allowing more people to travel internationally than ever before. And with the growing demand for long-haul flights, airlines are ordering new planes at an unprecedented pace....
Shopping portals are one of the best ways to earn points and miles with your favorite airline — without even having to step on a plane. Just by making a purchase online with select retailers through a portal, you can earn valuable points and miles, which can then be used toward your next redemption. Now, with holiday shopping season upon us, shopping portals are more valuable than ever — especially with Black Friday promotions and elevated offers....
I’ve had the chance to experience some pretty wild itineraries in my lifetime, but nothing quite like this. Over the past three weeks, I’ve flown a whopping 42,753 miles, circling the globe twice before finally returning home to New York City in time for Thanksgiving. And it was all for work!I tallied up some of my stats along the way, including everything from flight distance to the number of miles I walked over the course of these three weeks on the road (nearly 191!...
From the 737 MAX popping up at Farnborough to the company’s 100th birthday celebration in Seattle, it’s been a very busy few days for Boeing. And we’ve been there for all of it. After a fantastic week at the Farnborough Air Show, I caught a Delta flight to Seattle for Boeing’s Centennial celebration, just south of the city.As part of the festivities, the company lined up its entire 7-Series of airliners, from the 707 to the 787 Dreamliner, and entertained employees with executive addresses (including one from CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who I spotted meeting with David Cameron a few days before) and free visits to the Museum of Flight....
Delta and their SkyTeam partners are running some incredible fares to Russia. There are plenty of dates Baltimore to Moscow (via JFK) on Delta for $357.84 total roundtrip, including all taxes and fees! The trip nets 10,322 Medallion Qualifying Miles, or just about 3.5 cents a piece, which is definitely mileage run worthy. However, Russia does charge $170 in visa fees (you can pay companies like Allied Passport, who I’ve used in the past to save me time and frustration around $45 to do the dirty work for you)....
