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“Please keep your seat belt fastened at all times, even when the seat belt sign is turned off.” This is something we hear on every flight we take. Although pilots oftentimes have an indication of turbulence and are able to turn on the seat belt sign in advance, sometimes, there’s no warning.An incident on board a recent American Airlines flight from Miami (MIA) to Buenos Aires (EZE) serves as a stark reminder for why it’s important to remain buckled up at all times — even when the sign is off....

Like American and Delta, United’s flying wide-body international aircraft on several domestic routes — with more planes on the way. American Airlines and United are operating three-cabin planes on some routes, with first, business and economy-class cabins, and both carriers are handling upgrades in their own peculiar way. United’s strategy is a bit more puzzling though, in my opinion.The airline is currently operating eight wide-body transcon flights on peak days — two round-trips between Newark and Los Angeles and two round-trips between Newark and San Francisco....

This week, the good folks over at Club Carlson have given me another set of two $500 gift cards and two of their highest-tier Concierge level status valid through February 2015 to give away to lucky readers.I’m giving away two Concierge status prizes this week.As a reminder, Concierge status gets you get the following perks:-Complimentary room upgrades-Elite Rollover Nights – above and beyond qualification for each elite status level-Early Check-in and Late Check-out-Elite Customer Service Line-3,000 bonus points for online booking-75% bonus on earned points-In-room welcome gift-48-hour room availability guarantee-Free restaurant continental breakfast-Global concierge accessNormally to earn Concierge status, you need 75 nights or 30 stays per year, but you can earn it, and a $500 gift certificate easier than that with this giveaway....

Holding airline elite status requires constant effort; you need to make sure you’re meeting the various requirements to lock in your desired tier not just once, but year after year (until you get lifetime status, that is). And maintaining the top level of status within a program is especially challenging, with extra-high elite-qualifying mile and dollar requirements to hit.In the TPG Lounge on Facebook, reader Andy M. asked how those with top-tier status get it done — what sort of annual travel they complete and which strategies they use....

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.One year ago, Uber addressed its employees’ wage concerns and adjusted its business model that originally boasted calculating tips into ride fares to start allowing passengers to tip their drivers. Since then, Uber drivers have collectively accumulated more than $600 million in tips from riders....

See How I Got the United Situation Wrong Yesterday for TPG’s analysis of the situation.Update 4/11/17 3:06pm: United CEO Oscar Munoz has released a second (follow-up) statement:Update 12:57pm: United CEO Oscar Munoz has shared the following statement:United Airlines is in hot water this morning after video has surfaced of law enforcement forcibly removing a man from an overbooked flight. According to reports, the flight bound for Louisville (SDF) from Chicago (ORD) was overbooked by four seats, and when no one volunteered to leave the plane, a United employee randomly selected four passengers to be bumped from the flight....

I’m currently in Toulouse, France for this week’s Airbus event and Singapore Airlines A350 delivery. And, if that wasn’t already exciting enough, just last night, a much-anticipated Airbus A380 convoy made its way through a small French town en-route to Toulouse — a once-in-a-lifetime event for many aviation fans. So, of course I got to see it, right? Nope. By the time I got confirmation of the below schedule, it was too late to change my flight....

If Pasha Sabouri and his 235-year-old companion aren’t flying Southwest, you’ll find the duo in first class.Sabouri, a Texas-based professional musician and music educator, owns a 1783 Dutch violin worth $115,000, which he purchased after a two-year search. The violin bow is worth an additional $20,000. No question of it, Sabouri says although both are insured, neither violin nor bow will ever get checked into the baggage hold of any plane he boards....

I’m currently in beautiful Palm Springs, California, at a conference for loyalty programs and co-branded products, namely the co-branded credit cards that we all know and mostly love. At this conference I did a talk on the consumer perspective of the state of co-branded cards that I may share a few more thoughts from in the coming days for anyone curious, but what got me thinking the most while I have been here surrounded by the folks that run some of these loyalty programs and manage the card relationships is essentially…why do we care airline miles anyway?...

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.One winter storm will sweep across the Midwest on Christmas Eve and into the Northeast on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, another winter storm will begin its trek across the US starting in Oregon and Washington. These storms will provide a White Christmas to many in the northern US — and unfortunately they also may amper travel across the region on a critical travel day before Christmas....

One of today’s questions came from TPG reader Yun, and is about the kinds of awards that come up when searching for Star Alliance availability using the ANA tool:“When you are searching for Star Alliance availability with the ANA search tool, how do you know what level award it is. I see the availability on the flights but I’m not sure how I know what level the awards are pricing at?...

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.Free points are my favorite kind and it’s been a while since we’ve seen a social media freebie, so I was happy to read on One Mile at a Time that you can get an easy breezy 1,000 Club Carlson points for liking them on Facebook....

I go to Europe frequently, but have never been to Rome. I know, it doesn’t make much sense and I need to correct it. That’s why, when I was planning my most recent award trip to Budapest, I specifically wanted to route via Rome on my way back to Miami (by the way my Alitalia trip from Rome to Miami was actually pretty good).The way award space ending up working out was that I could fly non-stop from Budapest to Rome on Monday evening, arriving around 8:15pm and then fly on the non-stop from Rome to Miami the following morning at 9:20am....

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.There’s nothing more satifying than a nice double or triple dip - earning miles multiple ways for the same purchase. Specifically, I like when I earn miles for meals through dining programs, OpenTable, AND my points earning credit 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.Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit CardChase just launched yet another 50,000 point sign-up bonus, this time for their Southwest co-branded Visa Signature card ....

Air Canada’s frequent flyer program, Aeroplan, just launched a bonus promotion where passengers who fly within Canada on Air Canada or Air Canada Express earn 75% bonus Aeroplan miles between now and October 21.To be eligible, you must register here with your Aeroplan number by October 21. Eligible flights flown prior to registration and within the offer travel period still qualify for the 75% bonus.Eligible fare classes are: Tango Plus (M, U, H, Q, V, W, S, K, L, T), Latitude (Y, B), Executive Class Lowest (D, Z) and Executive Class Flexible (J, C)....

The Dutch military was called in to intervene when an aggressive American passenger on board a KLM flight caused a fight to erupt mid-journey.KLM Flight 452 from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam was about 30 minutes from landing on Saturday when a scuffle broke out between the aggressive passenger and cabin crew. As a result of the fight, the Dutch air force deployed two F-16 fighter jets to escort the Airbus A330-200....

Our last night in Paris was a memorable one- meeting a close friend in Le Marais for dinner and then watching the World Cup championship at a local bar. I was rooting for Spain, but it was interesting to see the 50/50 split of Spain/Dutch fans at each establishment- all of whom were getting along famously.Anyway, the night was cut short because we stayed at the Sheraton at CDG, since our flight was at 10am and we didn’t want to wake up early....

The Cuba floodgates are open — American, Delta, United, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest have all just announced their proposed nonstop routes from the US to several destinations in Cuba. Naturally, most will bring US travelers to Havana, but you’ll also be able to fly to destinations like Camaguey and Cienfuegos as well. Based on a statement from JetBlue, it’s possible that flights may begin as early as September 8, 2016.Here’s a map of all of the proposed routes:All of the proposed routes to Cuba....

American Express is running a 15% transfer bonus when you transfer points to Virgin Atlantic from now until February 28, 2011 (US Membership Rewards members only).I personally find Virgin Atlantic to have such ludicrously high redemption fees and taxes, that I think it makes sense to book Virgin Atlantic awards through other American Express partners such as Continental and ANA. However, if you have an existing Virgin flight that you want to upgrade, using Virgin miles may be your only option....