Jan 29 2017

Last week when Rob Burgess flagged the amazing redemption value of Al Wadi resort — all villas with their own private pools that is part of Marriott — I went ahead and made a booking for an upcoming brief stay in the UAE.

It used to be a Banyan Tree and now it’s part of Ritz-Carlton. This hotel costs just 40,000 Marriott Rewards points per night. Starwood points transfer to Marriott. So I had about 48,000 Marriott points in my account. I transferred 24,000 Starwood points over (at 1-to-3), and that gave me 120,000 Marriott points which is enough for 3 nights.

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Jan 29 2017

According to the FAA Delta has requested a nationwide ground stop for its mainline and “sub-carriers.” This ground stop applies to domestic destinations only.

This comes one week after United’s computers melted down and isn’t the first time it’s happened to Delta, either. Back in August they falsely blamed a power outage for problems.

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Jan 29 2017

A Russian passenger onboard British Airways flight BA9 on January 21 from London Heathrow to Bangkok became “very aggressive” after drinking his own duty free whiskey and additional drinks served by flight attendants.

Video shows passengers taking him down. The plane didn’t divert despite a couple of hours to go on the flight. One man reported a business class upgrade, though, on the way back as a reward for his heroism.

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Jan 29 2017

You can fly non-stop between the US and Madrid, Spain for as little as $362 roundtrip, with low fares also available to Barcelona, Ibiza, and Palma de Mallorca.

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Jan 29 2017

Take In — instead of take out — is an American Express popup restaurant that will run through April where you go there to eat but use an app to order delivery from other restaurants.

After ordering food using the Wolt app, “[g]uests eat their dinner in the Take In dining room.” They have bar service as well.

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Jan 29 2017

We don’t yet know the manner or extent to which the administration will comply with court orders staying portions of the immigration Executive Order. Regardless, not all of the Executive Order was stopped. And not all of the actions taken by the current administration that will affect travel and the rights of travelers was contained solely in that Executive Order on immigration.

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Jan 29 2017

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Jan 28 2017

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Jan 28 2017

I’ve heard from myriad readers the past two and a half weeks saying that American Airlines no longer seems to clear upgrades before the airport anymore. Planes could be completely empty up front, on flights with little last minute premium demand, and where upgrades had previously cleared in advance.

Several days to a week ago I heard from a source that there had been a technical glitch that was preventing upgrades from being processed, but that this issue had been resolved.

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Jan 28 2017

The President’s executive order on immigration, which imposes new conditions on entry for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, took immediate effect.

There was no grace period, there were passengers who were legally headed to the U.S. when their flights took off but who – after the order was signed – became inadmissible to the United States.

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