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After just one day of announced route changes and diversions, American Airlines has resumed flights on traditional routes flying over Russian airspace.Following Saturday’s memo to pilots that three routes — Dallas (DFW) to Hong Kong (HKG), Dallas to Beijing (PEK) and Chicago (ORD) to Beijing — would be rerouted and possibly diverted to avoid Russian airspace, American announced on Sunday that it’s rethought the policy. As reported by Reuters, American’s monitoring of “global geopolitical issues” led it to rethink the changes....

A passenger on a Delta flight is claiming she was bruised after being repeatedly kicked by a child seated next to her.Sally Canario was aboard a Delta flight traveling from Los Angeles (LAX) to Minneapolis (MSP) on April 2. Canario was in a window seat, a child was in the middle seat, and the child’s mother was in the aisle set.“I was up against the window, trying to get some sleep on a red-eye flight,” Canario told The Sun....

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.Qantas and American Airlines have teamed up to offer more flights between the US/Canada and Australia, and to promote this partnership, Qantas is offering double points on eligible flights with a Qantas (QF) flight number between Australia and the USA or Canada....

This is part of the Family Travel Series on Choosing a Cruise by TPG Director of Operations, Danielle. Other posts include: Choosing a Cruise While Maximizing Points, Is the Disney Credit Card Worth It For A Cruise?, How to Choose a Cruise Based on Points, Using Frequent Flyer Miles for Cruise Flights, How to Get a Passport for Your Child and Cruising - Anchors Aweigh.Although it was no small feat, finding and booking the airline tickets and choosing our cruise was tantamount to securing the venue for a wedding; the big stuff might be out of the way, but the outstanding details could just as easily cause our vacation to sink or swim....

So far in my series on my trip to Australia with TPG Managing Editor Eric, I’ve covered how I used miles to book my award ticket, my flight from LAX-MEL in United GlobalFirst, the day I spent wine-tasting out in the Yarra Valley, a restaurant review roundup of all the fantastic places we ate in the city, my review of the Westin Melbourne, flying Jetstar to Hamilton Island, and my review of the Reef View Hotel on Hamilton Island....

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.While a big drop in ticket sales could be an airline’s own doing, more often it’s external factors that are to blame. In the case of Emirates Airline, we learned Monday that two recent US initiatives have had a tremendous impact on the carrier’s revenue, specifically on flights to and from the United States....

Update 11/11/16: Cathay Pacific is reporting that the Dragonair brand will be discontinued on November 21, 2016.Cathay Pacific’s regional arm, Dragonair, is about to rebrand. The refreshed carrier will become Cathay Dragon, and while that’ll mean a new logo and livery (to roll out beginning in April), it appears that most other components will remain unchanged. Both airlines are based in Hong Kong, with Cathay Pacific focusing on its long-haul network and Dragonair providing connecting service throughout Asia....

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 past few weeks have been eventful for Gogo. The outfit best known for equipping aircraft with inflight Wi-Fi systems is also serving up live television with select partners. At the end of September, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Gol Linhas Aéreas went live with Gogo TV on certain planes....

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 passengers of JetBlue’s Flight 2267 on June 21, from from Boston (BOS) to Charleston, South Carolina (CHS), will get a pretty different experience from the ordinary — the flight, which JetBlue calls “Up, Up and Rosé,” will feature a free in-flight wine tasting led by the airline’s wine expert, Jon Bonné....

It’s no surprise that JetBlue, the largest carrier at San Juan’s Airport (SJU) serving more than a dozen destinations, feels strongly about Puerto Rico. When Hurricane Maria devastated the island just one year ago, the airline set up a care center — essentially a makeshift Costco to distribute essentials to those needing it most.Now, JetBlue, an airline known for its special liveries, is dedicating a livery to Puerto Rico.On Sunday, the airline unveiled that special livery, dedicated to “La Isla del Encanto,” in San Juan....

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.Where does one of the world’s busiest families go for some much needed R&R? Following their eight year stint in the White House, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama headed to sunny Palm Springs, California, following the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Friday....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American ExpressWe’ve gotten a lot of new readers over the past few months, so I wanted to write a quick basics post for beginners that is also a good reminder for those of you who have been on the site for a while now about a lucrative Delta promotion that’s a great opportunity to rake in thousands of bonus Delta SkyMiles....

It’s widely accepted that Ryanair is no stranger to controversy among the aviation community. In the past month, the airline has faced on board drug use, pilot strikes and an incident in which Paralympian Anne Wafula-Strike was left stranded on a plane. And that’s just scratching the surface.So, what happened this time?The story actually begins long before the “fat slob” comment was dropped. Traveler David Bookbinder and his wife, Wang Yi, faced trouble boarding a Ryanair flight when Wang Yi was denied access to the plane due to an invalid visa....

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.Points for Peace is off to an amazing start. If you’re not familiar with Points for Peace, it’s an initiative that allows people to donate points, miles, cash or time to PeaceJam, an organization that encourages peace among youth around 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.The remote South Atlantic island of St Helena has had only one connection with the world for centuries. Until now, if you wanted to travel there, you had to go by boat. That boat, the RMS St Helena, takes two to five days to reach its nearest ports of call, in Ascension Island and Cape Town, South Africa, respectively....

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.Expecto (patronum) big changes at Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The theme park announced Monday that it’ll be opening a new coaster in 2019. The yet-to-be-named Islands of Adventure thrill ride will replace the mainstay Dragon Challenge....

Taking to social media has become the norm when trying to get an airline’s attention. When a situation goes awry, flyers can try and deal with a customer service agent over the phone or in person, but with social media, customer complaints can be made public.Going public can help put pressure on an airline to respond, since it knows people are actively watching the situation unfold. And in the post-United Bumpgate world, where a video can go viral and create a public-relations nightmare for an airline, companies are on their best behavior....

European low-cost carrier Ryanair has had a rough couple of weeks, creating problems for thousands of passengers when it canceled more than 2,300 flights. Now, the carrier is trying to make amends by offering deeply discounted flights — some as little as £5 (~$6.75) one-way.To try and make up for the cancellations, which were caused by a pilot shortage and lack of planning around pilot vacations, the carrier is holding a One Million Seats sale with slashed fares....

There are plenty of flight-simulator video games where you emulate the excitement of piloting an aircraft from the cockpit, but what if you’re a gamer who wants to relive the mind-numbing boredom of spending nearly six hours in coach?Fret not: There’s a video game in the works that will let you pretend to be an economy passenger for the full length of a flight from New York-JFK to Reykjavik, Iceland.“I thought it’d be interesting if I tried making a game where you’re just a passenger that shows the mundane aspect to air travel,” Brooklyn-based game developer Hosni Auji said during a recent visit to the TPG offices....

The “Your Layover Guide” series features airports and destinations around the world where you’re likely to be stuck between flights, offering tips on navigating and spending time in the airport, as well as suggesting things to do if you have time to explore the nearby city. TPG Contributor (and Miami native) Lane Nieset guides us through Miami International Airport (MIA).The art-filled Miami International Airport. Photo courtesy of Miami International Airport.North America’s second-busiest airport for international travel, Miami International Airport rightly earned its nickname as the “Gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean,” offering more flights to these destinations than any other airport in the US....