News and notes from around the interweb:

• Buying and re-selling Hyatt gift cards while earning miles on American Express business cards.

• If you want a hotel upgrade, aim for a one-category upgrade (HT: Alan H.) Meh. Here’s how to ask for – and get – an upgrade. See also tipping at check-in for hotel upgrades.

• Lufthansa will be launching Winter 2015-2016 Maldives service. Only two days a week, I expect award space to be tough to get. But Star has made great adds to Male given the relatively recent add of Turkish from Istanbul, and new Star Alliance member Air India’s Bangalore and Trivandrum service. I contend that the distance to the Maldives is a feature, not a bug.

• The Inside Story of the A350 (HT: Alan H.)

• Starting January 1 Delta’s ‘pay with miles’ tickets with earn miles and elite credit. The value of miles used towards paid travel is low, however, but this is still an improvement for these types of awards.

• Here’s a lovely new video of my favorite resort, but it sure seems like the exact wrong moment to be targeting more Russian tourists..

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