If you plan to redeem Marriott Rewards or Starwood Preferred Guest points for a hotel stay, be sure to review the list of category changes the company is making to many of its properties on March 7. Delta is also offering up a few bonus miles offers and some positive inflight changes. Read all about them in this week’s update.
When driving oneself isn’t an option, and taking a bus, train or subway is either impossible or inconvenient, an increasing number of travelers are turning to ridesharing solutions to find transportation to where they want to go. But what if you could avoid the safety concerns of Uber and Lyft without sacrificing their convenience? You can—if you use Curb to hail a taxi instead.
RewardExpert recently spoke with Jason Gross, the company’s head of product and marketing, about how Curb works, new developments expected this year, and his best tips for using the app on your next vacation.
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most valuable credit card rewards programs around. Chase offers several
Dream Foundation began fulfilling Dreams for terminally-ill adults in 1994. Since its founding the organization has fulfilled over 25,000 Dreams. You can donate miles or points from United, Alaska Airlines and Southwest to help support their important mission.
If you’re not a road warrior with status across every airline or have a wallet full of credit cards, it may become inevitable that you’ll have to cough up a few bucks to pay for checked baggage. These fees may or may not be avoidable, so consider this guide on the general practice of dealing with airline fees on any carrier.
American Express recently refreshed a few benefits on their premium cards in response to Chase and Citi upping the game with the Sapphire Reserve and Prestige cards. Here’s a recap of the changes made to the American Express Platinum cards.
Would you like to enjoy all of the conveniences—and privacy—of an entire home for half the cost of a typical hotel room? That’s what HomeAway offers travelers with their vacation home rental service.
RewardExpert spoke with Melanie Fish, HomeAway’s travel expert, to learn more about the company’s rapid growth, why the vacation home rental market is expanding and how you can use the website or app to plan your next vacation.
The Honolulu to Tokyo route is hotly contested as Hawaii is a very popular destination with Japanese tourists. It’s been long served by Air China, ANA, Delta Air Lines (Northwest Airlines had the route), Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines and United Airlines. To distance itself from the competition, Japan Airlines has upgraded its Boeing 777-200ER service on the route.
Many airlines have announced new routes for 2017. Some are to sunny international destinations like Cuba and Key West, while others increase travelers’ options at busy hubs. Below are the most exciting new offerings announced so far this year and a rundown of the cards to get so you can fly those routes for free.
American Express recently announced that it will open Centurion lounges in Hong Kong and Philadelphia later this year. That will increase the number of these exclusive airport lounges from seven to nine. Find out what they have to offer and how you can get in.
It’s not always good news for Delta flyers, especially since SkyMiles is known for constant devaluations with little notice. This time, there’s something to celebrate, at least for its top-level elite members. Plus, don’t miss the award discounts being offered by American and Flying Blue.
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a nonprofit that raises funds and awareness for children’s hospitals across North America. Since its inception in 1983, the organization has raised over $5 billion for its 170 member hospitals. Those donations help provide medical care for the 62 children who enter a CMN Hospital every minute. You can support this important work by donating your Delta SkyMiles.
There are few travel experiences as annoying as arriving at a hotel after a long trip, and being forced to wait in a line to check in. On the other hand, it’s gratifying to bypass the line and receive immediate service when you have elite status with a major hotel chain.
On top of that, guests with elite status can enjoy other perks like room upgrades, late check-outs and even free breakfast. Finally, having elite status means that you’ll earn more reward points for every dollar you spend.
Delta became the latest airline to succumb to a massive IT failure last month. It was a total meltdown for all platforms as Delta.com and the Delta app were both inaccessible which led to a nationwide grounding of all Delta domestic flights. Late that night, operations gradually came back online, but updates were being announced individually for each airport, still leaving many travelers confused and without flight options.
Modern travelers have more lodging options than ever before. Hotels, resorts, B&Bs and private homes around the world are all just a few clicks away. But with all that variety comes a lot of uncertainty.
There are a variety of programs that allow travelers to get through security more quickly at the airport. One of the most widely used is TSA PreCheck. The TSA just announced that 11 additional airlines have been approved to participate in the PreCheck program. Previously there were 19 airlines in the program, so the total has increased to 30.
Millions of Americans take cruises each year where they settle into a small cabin on a big ship, and are wined and dined as they set sail to a series of fun vacations. If it’s fun to do that on a boat, I figured it would be incredible to book a suite on the largest airliner in the world, the double-decker Airbus A380.
Recently, I decided to spend over 48 hours en-route from Delhi India to New York (via Singapore and Frankfurt Germany) as First Class Suites class passenger of Singapore Airlines, which is widely regarded as one of the finest airlines in the world. The Suites class of service is beyond international first class, as each passenger receives his or her own private suite with a door.
There is no such thing as a perfect airline frequent flyer program, which is why rewards programs like Starwood Preferred Guest are so great. They allow you to transfer points to the airline of your choice when the need arises and when an award ticket you’re looking for costs less with one airline program than another. Here are a few examples of some goal-oriented transfers that can save you a great deal of miles.
Most people who have ever taken a baby on a plane are probably familiar with the cheap and simple treatment U.S. airlines have for lap infants. For children under two years old who will not be occupying their own seat, an adult may take one lap infant for free (other than possibly some small taxes and fees). What’s also great is that lap infants don’t even have to be declared at the time of booking – only at the time of check-in.
Hilton HHonors has announced its newest promotion for the winter season, and American is finally stepping up and adding power outlets to the majority of its fleet. But, it will take until 2020 to have the majority outfitted so power up for your next flight, just in case. Don’t miss the latest updates to the Starwood and Uber partnership.
