My recent weekend in Cuba was amazing, as you’ll see in my recent posts on Who Can Go to Cuba?, Tips For Traveling to Cuba, How to Get to Cuba (and Back): Flight and Award Options, Where and How to Book Hotels in Havana, Cuba, What to Do and See in Havana, my review of the Hotel Occidental Miramar, and my review…
For this week’s Thursday Giveaway, we are giving away 5 pairs of LSTN Troubadour Headphones with microphones plus $50 iTunes Gift Cards for each winner. LSTN is a for-purpose company that connects individuals, families and communities through sound. For every pair of headphones they sell, they help restore hearing to a person in need through the Starkey Hearing Foundation. In under 2 years, LSTN has…
On the heels of the recently announced British Airways devaluation, United has updated the partner earning charts on its website for flights taken on or after March 1, 2015. Similar to other airlines switching to revenue-based programs, expensive first and business class fares will earn the most, whereas discounted economy fares will earn only a fraction of the miles…
Upon landing, plane passengers have come to expect a flight attendant warning them to open overheard bins carefully in case luggage has shifted during the journey. But what about before the flight? A man named Jeffery Reinhardt claims that during the boarding process on his recent Southwest Airlines flight from Portland (PDX) to Las Vegas (LAS), he…
Whether you qualified for elite status in 2014 or fell short, the new year presents an opportunity to assess just how much that status means to you, and whether to pursue it again this year. Today, TPG Contributor Nick Ewen evaluates each level of Starwood Preferred Guest elite status to help you decide. Hotel status can be quite valuable, but that value…
Today, TPG Contributor Nick Ewen offers insight into how (and where) to use the 2 free night certificates that come with the Chase Hyatt Visa card, as well as the anniversary free night at category 1-4 properties. Last July, I wrote a detailed post about the free nights that you can earn on the Citi Hilton Reserve card (both…
I recently took an around-the-world trip from NYC (with a stay at the new Park Hyatt New York) and then on to Tokyo for 62,500 AA miles and $5.60, with award seats on American’s A321 first class JFK-San Francisco (SFO) and JAL’s Boeing 777-300ER first class SFO-Tokyo Haneda (HND). I hadn’t visited Tokyo for a long time, but it took me no time at…
One of the things I love most about being The Points Guy is getting to hear stories from readers about how award travel has affected their lives: the exotic vacations they’ve planned, the trips they’ve made to be with family and friends, the premium seats and suites they’ve experienced, and so much more, all made possible by points and…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has chastised Marriott and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) for its August 2014 petition seeking the FCC’s permission to block guests’ use of outside WiFi networks at Marriott properties. The petition specifically mentions that Wi-Fi blocking at meetings and conventions—where WiFi is rarely offered for free by the hotel chain—would be required to protect…
In October Barclaycard announced the release of the AAdvantage Aviator Silver card and AAdvantage Aviator Red card, which will soon replace the US Airways Premier World MasterCard, and are only being offered to existing cardholders. I accepted the invitation to upgrade my card, and I’m excited to now officially be one of the first Aviator Silver cardholders! The Aviator cards are a brilliant…
