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Update: You can no longer purchase Vanilla Reload cards using a credit card and Vanilla Reloads are no longer available in Office Depot.Since its introduction last year, the Amex Bluebird card – a reloadable card that is hybrid credit card-debit card-checking account – has been one of the most powerful tools in every points collector’s aresenal thanks to the ability to purchase Vanilla Reloads using points-earning credit cards and load the amount from the Vanilla Reload directly onto the Bluebird card then use those funds to pay bills and expenses that you can’t usually use credit cards for such as mortgage and car payments....

If you’re interested in the latest, reliable details of what’s coming down the line in the AAdvantage program, there’s no better source than AA insider JonNYC. And over the weekend, he shared details on the carrier’s new Next Flight Guaranteed program for Concierge Key members.Name not ringing a bell? For years, Concierge Key has been an unpublicized, invitation-only program for top American Airlines spenders/flyers. Only in the last month has American Airlines started formally discussing the program and defining its benefits — like granting higher upgrade priority starting in January....

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 British Airways and AARP discount, which has proven to be incredibly lucrative for premium cabin travelers, is back at its original level, which means you can score up to $400 off a business or first-class ticket. However, you have to move fast — you must book by June 29, 2017, for outbound travel between August 1, 2017, and January 8, 2018....

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 50 million foreign travelers who came to the US legally in 2016, a surprising number overstayed their visas — more than 600,000. The Department of Homeland Security said today that the 1.25% of travelers who overstayed their visas arrived through the country’s airports and seaports....

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.Holders of the Barclaycard US Airways companion certificate have just one week left to redeem it for a flight. Under the terms, companions can join the same flight for $99 each, plus taxes and fees. The certificate was originally given to cardholders of the US Airways Premier World MasterCard, which has since been retired....

We’re almost a week into the large carry-on electronics ban, and airlines are constantly one-upping each other. First, Royal Jordanian brought the fire on social media. Emirates was the first airline to offer a service to gate-check your electronics — which we tested first-hand — and Turkish Airlines quickly followed. While unpublicized, Qatar and Etihad are providing the same service.Yesterday, Etihad stepped up its response by launching free Wi-Fi and iPads for business and first-class passengers affected by the ban....

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.TPG Reader Kris writes:“I have excellent credit, while my fiance’s is not so great … He has about 7 thousand in credit card debt on two cards with a total credit limit of 14 thousand dollars or so....

Tired of the dreary winter? It’s not too late to escape the cold and snow for a sunny spring break — even if you’re on a budget. Here’s the TPG hotlist of sun-filled destinations where your money will stretch just a little bit further. Whether they’re cheap to get to, affordable once you arrive or include a secret travel hack to save you money, these spots will ensure you get that tan without overspending....

We’ve been talking a lot here lately about how to select manage accommodations once your family starts to grow and a standard hotel room is no longer the ideal arrangement. There are lots of ways to deal with this from just sucking it up and all staying together in 300 square feet, which is very much what we did growing up and still do often with our two girls. You can also get connecting rooms, rent a suite, or venture into renting entire apartments and homes....

If baseball’s field of dreams is in an Iowa cornfield, aviation’s is among a vineyard 40 miles southeast of Portland, Oregon. It’s here in McMinnville that you’ll find a world-class air and space museum that’s home to the Hughes H-4 Hercules, aka The Spruce Goose, as well as the incredible aviation themed Wings and Waves indoor waterpark.The Evergreen Aviation & Space MuseumMcMinnville was the home of Evergreen International Aviation, an aviation services company which operated from 1960 to 2013, before going bankrupt in 2014....

Just a few short weeks ago, we launched our new TPG To Go app, and the response has been amazing! Speaking to readers and learning about how they utilizing the app to help maximize their life, learn about their spending and earn points and miles faster than ever! Our new app is free to download in both the Apple App Store as well as in Goggle Play, however there are some incredible premium features that are also available within the app for purchase....

There are a few fun travel contests and sweepstakes going on around the web this week. Here are some of our the TPG top picks to win some great travel prizes.Win a trip to attend culinary event, “Taste Washington”.Win A Trip To Seattle: Win a trip to the Taste Washington event in Seattle, Washington. Two winners (plus a guest for each winner) will get roundtrip airfare to Seattle (courtesy of Alaska Airlines), a two-night stay at the Grand Hyatt Seattle, and two tickets to Taste Washington on March 29-30, 2014....

If you’ve traveled through US airports any time in the past couple of weeks, you’ve heard about (or experienced) the long wait times at TSA security checkpoints across the country. You’ve been told to get TSA PreCheck to get expedited security, and you’ve probably been advised to get to the airport significantly earlier than you normally would. It’s caused a lot of frustration on all ends — from the airlines to the cities where these airports are located to the passengers who’ve missed trips they’ve been planning for months....

We’ve already seen the damage Hurricane Irma can do to airports. Saint Martin’s iconic AvGeek beach has been washed away and the SXM airport was left with substantial damage. Now, imagine those incredibly destructive winds sweeping through an airport stocked with light aircraft that normally take off at the speed of mere tropical storm force winds.Well, that’s the situation that Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach faced as Hurricane Irma was bearing down on Florida....

An alarming new video shows a man sneaking onto a luggage conveyor belt and eventually making his way to the tarmac at Miami International Airport (MIA). The video, released to the Miami Herald by an anonymous source shows a man pretending to talk on his cell phone while sneaking past an American Airlines check-in desk to then crawl into the space at the end of the conveyor belt.Another clip then shows the suspect running away from what appears to be ground crew employees on the tarmac....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MastercardI was recently tweeted a great “newbie question of the week” by TPG reader @Mommalogues:"@thepointsguy My 18,000+ United MileagePlus miles will expire on July 31st. Can I trade them for American AAdvantage miles?“The answer to your question is yes, you can trade your expiring MileagePlus miles for American AAdvantage miles through points/miles exchange and clearing house points....

On August 21, the US will see its first total solar eclipse in nearly 40 years — it’ll be the first in 99 years to sweep across the US and towns from Salem, Oregon, to Columbia, South Carolina, will go pitch black as the moon comes between the earth and the sun. For roughly two and half minutes, temperatures will drop, stars will come out and amateur astronomers everywhere will nerd out....

If you haven’t yet seen the crazy TSA security lines that are happening around the country, you probably will. Not that TSA and security screenings have ever been the highlight of the flying process, but I’ve never seen so many consistent and widespread complains about insanely long security lines than I do now.Avoid this line with TSA PreCheckHeck, I saw a terrifyingly long security line at Las Vegas McCarran airport for myself just a couple of weeks ago, and I have never been so insanely grateful to have PreCheck as I have at that moment....

For the first time since 2003, the Grammy Awards will be held in New York this year, and though music’s biggest night may be taking place at Madison Square Garden, there are a ton of other places nearby that are steeped in music history as well, including a slew of hotels that have played host to some of the biggest names in music. From rock-star in-room fires to the Beatles’ preferred lodgings, we’ve got your list of the New York hotels that have made music history....

Yesterday I wrote about Aeroplan (the independent frequent flyer program of Air Canada) imposing huge surcharges on Star Alliance partner flights. Many of us complained to Aeroplan and they recently released a short press release in response:“Effective November 9th 2011 at 7pm, Aeroplan began applying, at Air Canada’s request, fuel surcharges to flight rewards on Lufthansa. Members making voluntary changes after the effective date to existing bookings with Lufthansa flight segments will also be subject to the fuel surcharges....