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Earlier this year, United announced plans to launch its new Premium Plus cabin in 2018. The carrier’s a bit late to the premium-economy game — American Airlines and Delta have both offered a true premium product on international flights — but better late than never.In a note to crew members Wednesday, United confirmed that Premium Plus will begin flying later this month, initially on its retrofitted 777-200s followed by the one yet-to-be-delivered 777-300ER....

I recently ran a series on maximizing British Airways miles and I received a ton of positive reader feedback. That made me think that I should do a series to highlight the major benefits of the main American Express cards and how to best maximize Membership Rewards points.I jotted down a rough outline. Feel free to comment below if you have any recommendations for topics I should cover.1) Overview of the key American Express Cards2) Membership Rewards Express vs....

For all the flak that airlines receive for not addressing valid complaints via social media, it’s refreshing to see an interaction that not only shows the human side of a corporate Twitter account, but one that turns a deplaning process into a dance party.A few weeks back, rapper T-Pain — who happens to be a Million Miler on Delta Air Lines — tweeted an introspective thought on boarding songs. Put simply, he posited that Delta should consider a deeper bench of boarding tunes, as to not totally burn out frequent flyers with the same chord progressions....

Virgin Atlantic sent out a slew of announcements yesterday to members of its Flying Club about updates to the frequent flyer program.The highlights included the following:-100% of base flown miles even on lowest Economy fares-Economy reward flight for less miles- Lower fuel surcharges on long haul Economy reward flights- Increased limit you can buy or gift miles in each calendar year from 30,000 to 100,000 miles- No more transaction fee on Miles Booster flights (This used to be 15 GBP, or about $22....

One of the biggest brands in the world is going to its own loyalty program. Virgin Group, the parent company behind the Virgin brand is launching its own rewards program.The new company, dubbed the Virgin Group Loyalty Company (VGLC), is being established to reward customer loyalty across Virgin branded companies, think Virgin Mobile and Virgin Megastores, and will be powered by Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club frequent flyer program.“This new loyalty program will offer members the chance to earn and spend ‘miles’, the currency of Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program, across a range of products and services,” Virgin Atlantic said in a statement....

Last week I got the opportunity to spend two days in Vieques Island, Puerto Rico at the W Retreat and Spa using two free resort nights from Starwood’s spring promotion. Getting to Vieques was an adventure in itself - check out those details and a background of Vieques here. For the record, this is a category 6 hotel with Starwood, so free nights are usually 20,000 points a night or 8,000 and $150 with Cash & Points....

At least two segments on Alaska-marketed and -operated flights. At least six segments on Alaska-marketed and -operated flights. At least 12 segments on Alaska-marketed and -operated flights. At least 24 segments on Alaska-marketed and -operated flights. Plus, 50,000 bonus miles upon qualification. Highest waitlist priority. Upgrades process as early as 72 hours before departure, after AAdvantage Platinum Pro members.

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 American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that more than 41.5 million Americans plan to travel 50+ miles over Memorial Day weekend this year — the largest volume of vacationers on the road since 2005.“A strong economy and growing consumer confidence are giving Americans all the motivation they need to kick off what we expect to be a busy summer travel season with a Memorial Day getaway,” said Bill Sutherland, senior vice president at AAA....

…..and what a 48 hours it was! My mom and I just landed from a very eventful two days in Washington DC. The primary purpose of the trip was business as I was lucky enough to be going to do some online video segments for the Travel Channel (more on that in a minute), but there was no way we weren’t going to work in some sightseeing as well. Up until about a week ago I was going solo on the trip, but came to realize that I could actually use a little bit of help, and it would be really fun to have my mom as a companion....

This may not be as lucrative as the Expedia.ca SAVE300 deal, but it’s still pretty good (especially if you know German!).Step by step instructions:Expedia.de -> Click & Mix -> Choose your departure and destination (I chose JFK-BOS on March 25-26 for my example) and then make sure you change Erw. (18-64): to 1Sort the results by Preis to get the lowest optionOnce selected, you’ll see a total price, imagine that minus 70 euros and that’ll be the price of your trip....

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.Yesterday, American Airlines finalized a deal to acquire a minority stake in China Southern Airlines, totaling $200 million. The deal will connect the world’s largest carrier with China’s largest. Along with buying a 2.68% stake in the Hong Kong-based company’s total issued shares, the two airlines agreed to a codeshare, even though they are members in competing alliances (AA in Oneworld and CZ in SkyTeam)....

American Airlines is about to start a premium-economy makeover. In a period of ever-tightening economy seats, these premium economy seats provide a middle ground between economy and AA’s excellent new business class seats.The AA premium economy era began with the installation of premium economy on AA’s new Boeing 787-9s. These aircraft will continue to roll off the line with three classes: economy, premium economy and business class. But, American has always been clear that the 787-9 wasn’t going to be the only aircraft in the fleet with the new premium economy seating....

Hey big spenders- American Airlines wants your business and they have a lucrative promotion that offers Platinum status as well as earning up to 60,000 bonus AAdvantage miles. Maybe if they get enough full-fare flyers, they’ll be able to exit bankruptcy as a standalone carrier, though I don’t know why business travelers would choose the current AA business and first class products since they are way behind the competition. The new cabins, however are a different story!...

Confusion over a federal air marshal’s gun during a United Airlines flight from Newark (EWR) to Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP) led to the agent being escorted off the plane by mistake on Monday night.The United flight landed at MSP at 11:30pm, but it did not pull directly into a gate upon arrival. Passengers on board waited patiently while the plane sat on the tarmac, then suddenly police cars with lights and sirens began to surround the aircraft....

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.Since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared almost three years ago, there have been many twists and turns in the investigation about the whereabouts of the aircraft. What happened to it and where is it located? After years of searching, officials said today that they’re calling off the underwater search for the plane....

The folks at British Airways are no strangers to taking travelers to sky-high elevations. Now they’re doing it in the seaside resort town of Brighton, England — no boarding pass required.On August 4, the airline opened its namesake British Airways i360, a 531-foot tall observation tower overlooking the English Channel. It’s also part amusement park ride.Like the London Eye, the i360 is now both a part of the cityscape and a major tourist attraction....

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available – Citi Hilton Honors Reserve CardTPG reader Sarah messaged me to ask about Ultimate Rewards transfer partners:“I just signed up for the Chase Ink Plus business card to get the 60,000 point sign-up bonus, but I’m a Hilton fan. Is there any way to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Hilton, and can I reach Diamond status that way?“Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to all of the program’s hotel, airline and rail partners, but Hilton isn’t one of them....

Building an airport is a feat of enormous infrastructural complexity at the best of times.Expanding an already busy regional hub without negatively affecting flight operations is harder yet. Now make it even more challenging by doubling capacity while creating an iconic terminal designed to showcase the beauty of aircraft and its stunning Andean setting—in the most active seismic region of the world. Put all that together and you get “Nuevo Pudahuel," the new international terminal at the Santiago, Chile, airport....

Going through customs is usually a hassle anyway thanks to long lines, security questions and bag inspections, although the global entry program has streamlined the process when coming back from trips abroad. Add to that a new concern in regard to privacy rights, especially after the highly publicized story of a NASA engineer — and US citizen — Sidd Bikkannavar, whose phone was recently confiscated by Customs and Border Protection officers on January 31....

“Reader Questions” are answered three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — by TPG Senior Writer Julian Mark Kheel.You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Delta and Chase Ultimate Rewards to United. But can you transfer one of these two flexible currencies to American Airlines as well? That’s what TPG reader Alex asked us in an email…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Alex”]Now that Marriott and Starwood have partnered up, it seems like there’s an option to use Chase Ultimate Rewards on American Airlines....