Quick Points: Supercharge your Rakuten earnings with Amex points

If you've traveled at all in the past year or so, you've likely noticed a fascinating collective energy moving through airports, on board trains, and across the ocean: excited, antsy, even a little bit frenzied. The anxious rebound from the travel restrictions of the pandemic were obvious everywhere you looked. Social media feeds were bursting with photographs of everyone in some faraway destination (most often Positano or Lake Como). In nearly every major publication, there were trend pieces about “revenge travel.” Even last year’s aviation fiascos like the meltdowns at Southwest Airlines and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport served to underscore the point: Everyone is traveling again.

In 2022, Adam and Kirsty Golder's UK-based aviation company, G6 Aviation, received an odd request. A potential customer wanted to know how much it would cost to charter a jet from London to the US for 10 people — and 10 dogs. 

Tourists descended on an ancient town in Thailand this week after UNESCO named it a world heritage site, prompting officials to consider banning visitors from climbing the 1,500-year-old ruins.

Expedia may have cracked the code to successful travel in 2024.

Global Entry is currently the fastest way to return to the United States after a trip abroad. This program, available through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, prescreens travelers and allows them to skip the often lengthy customs lines at airports and other border crossings. The reentry process has gotten even faster for Global Entry members, thanks to the launch of a new mobile app.

The Eagles in the fall, the South 9th Street Italian Market Festival in the spring, ice skating at Dilworth Plaza in the winter or strolling Independence National Historical Park in the spring – Philadelphia is a city graced with all four seasons. 

Road trips in Montana really take you places. Massive mountains, glacier lakes, and wild rivers unfurl outside the window on the state’s wide-open roads, each diving into a state of exploration and pure natural wonder. And with plenty of Western scenery and outstretched landscapes along the way, road-tripping across Montana proves it’s all about the journey between destinations.

This series of articles about credit cards, points and miles, and budgeting for travel is brought to you in partnership with The Points Guy.

If you ask TPG staffers for a credit card recommendation, there's a good chance we'll recommend a card that has an annual fee. Most of our favorite cards come with many benefits that provide value well beyond their annual fee costs, so we consider them well worth paying.

While some truly excellent credit card bonuses are available right now, sometimes the most lucrative offers are reserved for targeted individuals. One of the best places to look for these elevated targeted offers is by using the CardMatch tool, where you might find introductory bonuses that are much higher than those posted elsewhere.

This series of articles about credit cards, points and miles, and budgeting for travel is brought to you in partnership with The Points Guy.

If you’re lucky enough to make it to the southernmost part of South America, you’re lucky indeed. But as you follow the snow-capped peaks descending from high desert to windy Patagonian moors, which side of the Andes should you stick to?