Hundreds of New Yorkers and tristate elites flock to the Hamptons every summer. According to real-estate agent Jonothan Yarton, some even rent mansions for between $50,000 and $1 million a month.
28.06.2024 - 16:37 / thepointsguy.com / Royal Netherlands
A technical glitch on the Air France-KLM Flying Blue website last December resulted in a mistake that temporarily made it possible to book round-trip business-class tickets from several Canadian cities to Europe for just 27,000 miles (plus taxes) on Air France and KLM.
When Kinza Chaudhry read about the unbelievable deal, she raced to the Flying Blue website. She hoped to take her mom to visit relatives in Europe this summer. If she could snag tickets while the low prices lasted, they could fly in style, she thought.
Chaudhry transferred 54,000 Citi ThankYou Rewards points into a new Flying Blue account she created and quickly booked some low-priced awards. She and her mother would fly round-trip from Montreal through Amsterdam to Florence in KLM business class. Chaudhry was thrilled and gave her mom the good news. Then they excitedly began planning the rest of the trip.
Within days, though, they found out their plans would not, in fact, work out. The too-good-to-be-true promotional fare was precisely that. Flying Blue emailed a disappointed Chaudhry explaining that she had booked a mistake fare and that KLM would not honor it. The airline refunded her points back to her Flying Blue account and canceled the tickets.
But that left Chaudhry with 54,000 Flying Blue points she didn't really want. She preferred the points be returned to her Citi ThankYou account. So when Flying Blue agreed to a one-time points transfer reversal, Chaudhry was relieved.
However, even after the points were no longer in her Flying Blue account, they still hadn't landed back in her Citi ThankYou account, although weeks had passed. With neither Flying Blue nor Citi able to locate her missing points, a frustrated Chaudhry reached out to TPG for help.
Flying Blue is the combined loyalty program of Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
On the first weekday of every month, Flying Blue releases a new inventory of special Promo Rewards. These are discounted award redemption opportunities that vary each month based on the cities from which they are offered and the classes of service (economy, premium economy, business class) available.
Though availability can be limited, Promo Rewards can be a great way to get the most out of your Flying Blue points. Typically, long-haul economy flights between the U.S. and Europe that are available via Promo Rewards can price out at 15,000 miles one-way in economy and 37,500 miles one-way in business class.
But Promo Rewards watchers got a shock last December when Flying Blue released some hard-to-believe deals that deviated wildly from the standard discounts. For a limited number of hours, travelers could book long-haul flights between North America and Europe by redeeming:
Almost immediately,
Hundreds of New Yorkers and tristate elites flock to the Hamptons every summer. According to real-estate agent Jonothan Yarton, some even rent mansions for between $50,000 and $1 million a month.
One of TPG's favorite Hilton properties in the world has some incredible award night availability this summer and early fall. Move fast to make the best use of your Hilton Honors points stash.
Avianca LifeMiles members, listen up: The airline is currently offering two limited-time deals on award flights to South and Central America and Europe — but you must book this deal by July 4.
When JetBlue debuted its swanky Mint cabin a decade ago, there were plenty of skeptics. Essentially a lie-flat business-class seat, Mint marked a dramatic departure from the egalitarian cabins that had defined the airline since its launch in 2000.
Hilton Honors members can earn valuable Free Night Reward certificates — worth up to 150,000 points each — through two cobranded credit cards.
World Ski Awards – the only global initiative programme to recognise, reward and celebrate excellence in ski tourism – has opened the race for votes for its 2024 programme. A wealth of new entries feature this year, the 12th annual edition, reflecting the momentum of the global ski industry. Voting is now open and runs for 16 weeks, ending on 11 October. Ski industry professionals, the media, and ski consumers from around the world are invited to cast their votes to decide which ski organisations are this year’s leaders in their respective fields.
A growing number of women have led major corporations in recent years — even in historically male-dominated industries. However, the aviation industry has struggled to close its gender gap in leadership roles.
I don’t know about you, but every time I went on holiday as a kid, I heard endless myths about the impact of air travel. “Did you know that planes dump waste from the toilet mid-flight?” I remember someone telling me. “You lose a third of your tan on the flight home,” someone else warned—a particularly horrifying concept for my teenage self.
As the daily homepage for travel, our team is continuously reporting and seeking out the individuals, teams and organizations who are shaping the industry’s future. These innovators were the inspiration for creating Skift IDEA Awards all the way back in 2019, as we committed to providing a platform to celebrate the impactful and inspiring projects from brands, agencies and tech companies that solve traveler challenges, inspire change and contribute to the future of the travel industry.
Whenever there’s a high-profile helicopter crash—such as the tragic accident in 2020 that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant along with eight others in Southern California, and a more recent incident earlier this year in which six people traveling from Palm Springs to Las Vegas died—it raises questions anew over whether helicopter travel is safe.
Qatar Airways has been voted the world's best airline at Skytrax's 2024 World Airline Awards, the eighth time that the airline has won the honor in the 25-year history of the awards.
Booking flights across the pond just got cheaper, with tickets starting at 6,000 points for Virgin Atlantic’s big birthday sale.