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What Is A Bitcoin and Might They Be Useful For Travelers?

On April 16, 2014 · 0 comments

in Travel Industry, Travel Technology

Bitcoin

TPG Assistant Editor Melanie Wynne takes us through a quick history of the bitcoin and analyzes the future of this digital currency and whether travelers could take advantage of it in the future. 
In the four-year history of the digital currency known as bitcoin, I’ve referred to it as the… Read More

Buying Amex Membership Rewards Points from American Express – Worth It?

On April 16, 2014 · 1 comment

in American Express

Amex Membership Rewards feat

Today I was reading through the updated Membership Rewards terms and conditions that came with my Premier Rewards Gold card to see if anything new caught my eye and thought it would be good to do a refresher post on how you can actually buy Membership Rewards points and if it’s really worth it at… Read More

Deal Alert: New York to Oslo from $407 Roundtrip and Other Scandinavia Cheap Flight Deals From Los Angeles

On April 15, 2014 · 9 comments

in Delta, Fare Sale, United

Option to utilize low rate through March, 2015

I’m a fan of travel disrupters (like Uber) and now Norwegian Air. The scrappy carrier is driving down fares with new cheap flights to locations throughout Europe to the US. It is shaking up the airline industry and has even prompted lawsuits from jealous competitors. Just this morning I saw a… Read More

Will Alaska Airlines Adopt A Revenue-Based Mileage Plan Frequent Flyer Program?

On April 15, 2014 · 5 comments

in Alaska

Alaska

The past year has brought some major changes to the frequent flyer program landscape, and most notably on how elite status will be earned from now on. Both Delta and United instituted new revenue requirements to qualify for elite status starting in 2014. While American and US Airways haven’t… Read More

Hotel Review: Ecohotel Teju Açu in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

April 15, 2014

During my recent trip to Brazil’s Fernando de Noronha with my friend Sergio, I stayed at the eco-friendly Ecopousada Teju Açu, which was recommended to me by some of our Brazilian friends. This independently owned boutique hotel is surrounded by vegetationBlueMile with a killer view of the island’s highest peak, the 1,142-foot Morro do Pico. It feels remote, […]

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BarclayCard Makes Changes To How Participation Miles Are Earned In The Travel Community

April 15, 2014

About a month ago I reminded readers to check out the BarclayCard Arrival Travel Community where Arrival cardholders and non-cardholders can earn bonus miles for sharing their travel stories, photos and advice with other users. While the miles that non-cardholders earn are not as valuable as those earned by cardholders since they cannot be redeemed for […]

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Paying Taxes With Credit Cards: 10 Scenarios That Might Make Sense

April 15, 2014

It’s Tax Day, and one of the questions I’m asked the most at this time of year is whether paying taxes with a credit card is a good way to rack up points and miles and if so, what credit card to use to maximize your taxes. It would seem like paying your taxes using […]

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Italian Court Cancels Emirates New York-Milan Route – Are Freedom of the Air Routes in Danger?

April 15, 2014

The airline industry is pretty competitive and there are a lot of routes that have seen increased competition in the past few years, including New York and Milan Malpensa. Last year, Emirates muscled in on it with a flight of its own and entered into direct competition with incumbents Delta and Alitalia (both of whom I […]

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Good Business Class Fares to Europe on SkyTeam ~ $2,000

April 14, 2014

Thanks to a thread on Flyertalk, we’ve found some good transatlantic business class deals on Skyteam partners with prices between $1700 and $2100, which are more common prices for coach seats (and in some cases lower than coach fares on the same routes!). These deals are pricing out on the ITA Matrix for itineraries of 7-10 days […]

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When Airline Social Media Account Goes Awfully Awry: US Airways Tweets Porn

April 14, 2014

Some airlines are better than others when it comes to social media, but American and Delta have really proven themselves to be leaders in helpfulness and customer response. Some airlines, however, are not so good. I recently needed help on a US Airways award to Australia, and when trying to get in contact with them, their phone lines were […]

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My Experience Using TripIt Pro to Organize My Travel

April 14, 2014

I recently signed up and was approved for the Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard which comes with a sign up bonus of 40,000 miles after $3,000 in spend within the first 90 days and a complimentary subscription for TripIt Pro, worth $49 annually. Having never really used TripIt’s services before, I wanted to give it a […]

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Maximizing Points and Miles With Cruises

April 14, 2014

With the summer cruising season almost upon us, a lot of readers have been writing in with questions about how to maximize their points with cruises – both on the earning and redemption side – so I thought I’d write up a few strategies to help them make the most of their next voyage. Earning […]

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Flight Review: Azul Airlines Embraer 195 REC-FEN

April 14, 2014

During my recent trip to Brazil, I flew American Airlines from Miami to the northeastern coastal city of Recife (REC), then caught a connecting flight to one of my dream scuba destinations, the volcanic island chain of Fernando de Noronha (FEN), on low-cost domestic Brazilian carrier, Azul Airlines. This was my first flight on Azul, and I was […]

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What Credit Card Should I Use To Pay My Taxes Off With?

April 13, 2014

Tax time is upon us this week and TPG reader Vick tweeted me asking me what credit card I would recommend to use to pay my taxes. Here is his question: “@thepointsguy If I’m going to pay my taxes is it better to pay with Amex Premier Rewards Gold, Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase United Presidential […]

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Is the Current US Airways Share Miles 100% Bonus Promotion Worth It?

April 13, 2014

This past week saw the sudden announcement of some big changes from American Airlines’ frequent flyer program and a few smaller ones from US Airways. With this news in mind,  TPG reader Paul tweeted me to ask: “@thepointsguy Given the recent unannounced changes from US Airways, would you still recommend taking advantage of its 100% bonus on shared miles?”  […]

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Is it Better to Focus on Collecting Hotel Points or Airline Miles?

April 13, 2014

Joining Delta, United, Southwest and Air Canada‘s recent devaluations of their mileage programs, this past week saw big, sudden changes from American Airlines, including new fees and the raising of several different award levels. With the current mileage landscape in mind, TPG reader Katrina tweeted me the following timely question: “@thepointsguy In light of recent airline mileage program devaluations, does it make […]

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Can I Still Book A Round The World Ticket Using American Miles?

April 13, 2014

Earlier this week, American Airlines announced some big changes to its mileage program including the fact that you can no longer book round-the-world Explorer Awards. TPG reader Matthew had been planning on booking two of these for himself and his wife and wants to know whether he can still put his American miles to use. […]

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Delta SkyBonus Double Points on Select Routes

April 12, 2014

Business frequent flyer programs allow businesses to earn points on the itineraries their employees travel while employees still earn miles and points as individuals. In addition, these programs provide often offer mileage bonuses for which individuals aren’t eligible, like the current Delta SkyBonus offer of double points for each non-stop Delta-marketed ticket purchased and flown from now until June 30, 2014 on […]

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Saturday Recap: IHG Rewards Drops Redemption Rates, Triple United Miles With Choice Privileges, 500 Bonus Virgin Atlantic Miles And More

April 12, 2014

Here’s a recap of the interesting points and miles news from the week: IHG Rewards Drops Redemption Rates For 100 Hotels: More than 100 IHG hotels will require 5,000 less IHG Rewards Club points for an award night. Even more good news is that IHG will not be making any increases to their reward night […]

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Avianca Lifemiles Introduces CENIT Lifetime Status

April 12, 2014

While the US legacy carriers all offer lifetime status, it’s not usually the case with foreign carriers (except Aegean Airlines in Star Alliance). However, South America-based Star Alliance member Avianca just launched its own lifetime status program this week called CENIT. Here’s how it works and what it includes. Requirements Being a LifeMiles or it’s […]

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Chicago Seminars 2014 Registration Open – Get Your Tickets Soon!

April 11, 2014

Registration is now open and tickets are on sale for the 2014 Chicago Seminars in good old Elk Grove, Illinois, right near Chicago O’Hare. This year, the event will take place Friday-Sunday, October 17-19, again at the Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village near O’Hare. You can register here for $95 for the weekend, which includes […]

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What Will Airline Business Class Look Like In The Future – And What Do You Want To See?

April 11, 2014

The Thales Group – a French-based company that designs electrical and connectivity systems used in everything from commercial jets to defense and transportation networks – unveiled its vision of a new “immersive” business class seat at the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo 2014 earlier this week. The innovative new seat was developed with BE Aerospace and […]

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Airline Award Status Update: Comparing Saver Level Awards on American, Delta, United and US Airways

April 11, 2014

What with American’s announcements earlier this week that their award chart would change to a new 5-tiered system as well as a few changes from US Airways like upping the business class redemption level to North Asia to 110,000 miles from 90,000 miles – plus all the recent devaluations from United and Delta‘s major revamp […]

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Destination Edition: Top 7 Emerging European Travel Spots In 2014

April 11, 2014

You might notice a change in the title of our destination series. While for the past two years we’ve been featuring a Destination of the Week with information on using miles to get there and points to stay at various hotels, we’re branching out and trying something new we’re calling Destination Edition. Posts in our […]

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