Posts

At about 7:32pm PT on Friday night, 29-year-old airline employee Richard “Beebo” Russell jumped in the cockpit of a Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 aircraft at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. He took off, unauthorized, and crashed it about an hour later on Ketron Island, killing himself.Relatives of Russell, who worked for three and a half years as a ground services employee for Alaska Airlines subsidiary Horizon Air at Sea-Tac, said they were caught entirely off-guard by his dramatic suicide....

In February 2000, a brand new airline celebrated its first-ever flight, between New York’s JFK and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL). Since then, that start-up airline has taken off to become one of the major players in the US.Since that small beginning in 2000, JetBlue has maintained a strong presence in Florida. It has become Fort Lauderdale airport’s largest airline, now operating 140 daily flights from there. Of the airline’s five crew bases, two are in Florida: Fort Lauderdale itself, and Orlando (MCO)....

Qatar Airways became the world’s first operator of the Airbus A350-1000 when it took delivery of its first extended-length XWB in February. TPG and I even had an opportunity to join the delivery flight to Doha (DOH) — it’s easily Qatar’s best Airbus yet.While the -1000 has been flying to London (LHR) for months, at the launch event in Toulouse, France, Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker confirmed that the carrier would soon launch its new plane on flights to the East Coast of the United States as well....

California charter airline JetSuite just announced an aggressive expansion for its sister company, JetSuiteX. The growth plan involves several major changes, including relocating from Southern California to Texas this summer, as well as eventually growing the airline’s fleet from its current tally of five, up to around 100 Embraers by 2023, according to CEO Alex Wilcox.JetSuiteX began offering scheduled service on 30-seat Embraer 135 regional jets in April 2016. The airline allows passengers to bypass larger airports and congested terminals by utilizing private air terminals in California and Las Vegas, with one-way fares that begin at $129....

TPG reader Sarah tweeted me to ask a question about sign-up bonuses:@thepointsguy– “Is there any benefit to signing up for a credit card offer as soon as it goes live vs. waiting a few weeks?“This year has been an exciting one for travel rewards credit card bonuses. It seems like every other week there’s a big new promotion, and it can be difficult to keep track of which ones are available....

Singapore Airlines announced on Tuesday that it’s adding some very welcome functionality to its KrisFlyer program, but also increasing redemption rates on a number of Star Alliance partner redemptions.As of December 7, you’ll be able to make Star Alliance bookings online or through Singapore’s app, whereas previously you could only go online to book awards on Singapore metal and had to call for partner redemptions. This is a great change — it’s going to be much more convenient to be able to book Star Alliance awards online (or through the app) without needing to call KrisFlyer....

American Airlines is in the process upping its premium-product game. Along with a massive investment in retrofitting its fleet with lie-flat seats up front to make traveling more comfortable and launching its new premium economy cabin, the world’s largest airline has a lot in the works.One of its ground enhancements is reviving its Flagship branding by investing in a series of Flagship Lounges. They’re new, premium options for the most premier American Airlines and Oneworld flyers....

Each month in his column “The Critical Points,” TPG Senior Points and Miles Contributor Richard Kerr presents his opinion on a loyalty program, card product or recent news that he believes is overlooked, unsung or the result of groupthink taking mass opinion in a direction with which he doesn’t agree. His goal is not necessarily to convince you to agree with his position, but rather to induce critical thought for each of the topics and positions he covers....

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.Sorry if I’ve been remiss on blog posts this weekend, but I’ve been enjoying a sunny weekend in Miami, courtesy of Starwood Hotels (I won 2 free weekend nights this summer through a Twitter promotion they ran). I’ll have a full report about that, including South Beach recommendations, but in the meantime I’m currently sitting in Miami airport waiting for my flight to JFK....

There are already thousands of hotels and resorts around the world where you can earn and use points, but it isn’t that hard to end up in a situation where you can’t use the points you have to visit the places you want. Thankfully, new hotels are always under construction, meaning that when you take the trips of ’tomorrow’, you should have more options that you do today. While I highly advise against getting too fixated on the exact opening date estimations since these sort of things like to live in flux, there are some very appealing points-friendly hotels under construction as we speak....

Most travelers passing through a United Airlines-operated airport lounge will visit a United Club. Some of the newer lounges are great, but others are forgettable at best.But the carrier also offers an entirely different caliber of airport lounge, called the “Polaris Lounge.” Eventually, these will be available in a total of nine airports around the world, but for now, just one is ready to welcome guests, at Chicago O’Hare’s (ORD) Terminal 1....

TPG reader Hal sent me a message on Facebook to ask about transferring points:“I’m trying to book a business class flight to Sydney using Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards points. Which airlines will let me transfer from both programs?”I tend to focus on earning transferable points because they give you access to multiple loyalty programs at once. That creates more opportunities to maximize rewards, since you can choose one airline or hotel over another when it suits your needs — like when there’s an award sale, for example....

Check out the week in travel contests and sweepstakes for your chance to win a week in Punta Cana, a golf trip to Nevada, a ski or snowboard getaway, a weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida or a vacation to Hawaii.Win a trip to Punta Cana. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.Win a Trip to Punta Cana From the Travel ChannelYou could win a trip to beach paradise Punta Cana in the Domincan Republic, including:round trip economy airfare for winner and guestEight days and seven nights first class hotel accommodationsAll-inclusive mealsTwo spa treatments each for the winner and guestA dune buggy ride through the banana plantationsA guided horseback ride, hike, and 20 meter assisted rappel to the caves of Los Haitisis National ParkA day snorkeling along the coral reefs with the sting rays$1,000 spending moneyThe contest is open to legal residents of the 48 contiguous United States and the District of Columbia who are at least 21 years old....

Welcome to another installment of our #WineWednesday series, where each week we give you a brief snapshot of wine regions all over the globe and insight on how to get there, where to stay and a few local places you might want to visit. Today, TPG Contributor Melanie Wynne invites us to explore the up-and-coming Casablanca Valley, just a few miles inland from Chile’s central coast.Veramonte was the Casablanca’s first major commercial winery....

The Azores, a cluster of nine volcanic islands off the coast of Portugal, is one of the most popular new destinations to emerge in travelers’ collective consciousness. You may even know it as the next Iceland.Appealing for its lush greenery, ancient hot springs, proximity to the United States (just a five-hour flight) and increased connectivity, the Azores have never been more attractive for US-based travelers. And it’s never been more affordable, either....

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.Hat tip to MommyPoints for this week’s answers to Southwest’s Chief Rewards Officer promotion quiz.Play along and earn 100 Southwest points - $1.66 in Wanna Get Away Fares!Log-in and select Play the Game:All of the aboveYou Already Planned On MakingTrueRestaurantsLocate 6 items in the below picture: Lightbulb, Hotel, Flower Vase, SW Credit Card, (rental) Car, Plate/SilverwareFor reference: Week One, Week Two, Week Three[card card-name=‘Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’ card-id=‘22125056’ type=‘javascript’ bullet-id=‘1’]

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.LAX always amuses me. It’s such a hodgepodge of international carriers, yet no domestic carrier dominates it. Certainly Southwest and AA have strongholds, but it’s not like what ATL is to Delta for any one carrier.However, AA made an announcement today announcing 9 new routes from LAX: Shanghai, Boise, El Paso, Houston, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Tuscon....

One perk of flying first class is settling in with a pre-departure beverage (PDB). However, on my American Airlines flight 1862 yesterday from Philadelphia (PHL) to Atlanta (ATL), a passenger was removed from the flight after ordering a few too many PDBs and sending them back to friends seated in economy. Here’s what happened and my take on how AA handled the situation.What HappenedMy interactions with the passenger I’ll refer to as “1A” began at boarding....

Airbus is looking around the world for airlines willing to order its giant A380, which hasn’t sold a single unit since early 2016. The biggest passenger plane in history is at serious risk of early demise (along with the almost-as-huge Boeing 747) if the European consortium doesn’t find a way to sell more, and now the push is on to get Chinese airlines to buy it. The chief of Airbus in China, Eric Chen, said as much at an event in Beijing on Tuesday....

The family of a South Carolina woman who died as the result of an in-flight medical emergency is suing American Airlines with a wrongful death lawsuit.The 25-year-old woman, Brittany Oswell, had an embolism while on a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL) to Dallas (DFW) in 2016. According to the lawsuit, Oswell’s family is alleging that the flight’s crew never attempted an emergency landing and that the aircraft’s medical equipment was faulty....