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Best credit cards, back to insights, how i booked a year’s worth of travel on points.

In this article, Amy shares how she booked a year’s worth of travel using points and benefits on various credit cards.

Written by Amy Tung

On 2024-02-16

Read time 13 mins

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Sometimes, the most challenging part of travelling on points is what to do after you’ve gone through the trouble of earning them.

If you travel as a family or in a group, you’ll need to start off by planning in advance, especially if you’re looking for several award seats.

My family takes several trips a year, and I typically start planning our trips one or two years in advance. Two years gives me enough time to earn the points I need, and then I start booking approximately 11 months out from my travel date, especially on high-demand routes.

In this article, I’d like to highlight the trips I’ve planned out for the year, and how I’ve used my credit cards and award points to offset the costs.

Some of my redemptions may not be the best options or most valuable, but they’re ones that worked well for my family, based on the points that we’ve earned and credit cards that we have.

Big Island, Hawaii

Hawaii is a popular destination for North Americans, and the cost of flights can quickly add up, especially during peak travel holidays.

Luckily, there are many ways to redeem points for travel to Hawaii, and a bit of planning in advance can help you get there for less.

For our flight going to Kona from Toronto, we booked using WestJet dollars and the annual companion voucher that comes with our WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercards .

Normally, it’d make sense to book a round-trip flight if you’re using a companion voucher, as there’s usually a $399 fee for the companion to use the voucher to Hawaii.

However, a couple of years ago, WestJet ran a promotion in which they offered a special companion voucher with a $0 base fare for a second passenger. All I had to pay were the taxes and fees for the companion ticket, and there was no cost for the base fare.

In the end, our redemption for Toronto to Kona for five passengers looked like this:

• Two companion vouchers
• 439 WestJet dollars × 3 passengers (we chose the EconoFlex fare just in case we needed to make changes)
• $117.10–157.10 (CAD) taxes and fees × 5 passengers

In other words, by making use of our companion vouchers and WestJet dollars, the total out-of-pocket cost for five people was less than $800 (CAD), which is pretty good.

Coming home from Kona to Toronto, we redeemed $1,560 (USD) from our United Travel Banks to cover our United Airlines flights back.

The biggest takeaway from booking this trip: take advantage of promotions whenever they come up, as they can wind up paying dividends down the line.

Hong Kong and Japan

My grandma is turning 90 this year, so our family will be heading back to Hong Kong to celebrate with her. Although there are many options to get to Asia, for convenience, I wanted a direct flight there.

In the past, I would have booked Cathay Pacific through Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan; however, Cathay Pacific hasn’t been reliably releasing any long-haul award space to any of its airline partners for the past few years.

The only reliable way to book Cathay Pacific award flights these days is through Cathay Pacific Asia Miles , its own award program.

Asia Miles can be acquired through transferring RBC Avion points at a 1:1 ratio, which I earned with my RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† , or by transferring American Express Membership Rewards points at a less favourable 1:0.75 ratio, which I earned mainly from my American Express Cobalt Card .

Knowing I had this trip coming up, my husband and I both signed up for the new Cathay World Elite Mastercard – powered by Neo , which came with a welcome bonus of 45,000 Asia Miles.

Then, for our flight from Toronto to Hong Kong, we redeemed the following:

• 38,000 Asia Miles for economy class × 3 for the kids
• 75,000 Asia Miles for premium economy class × 2 for my husband and me
• $224.50 (CAD)  taxes and fees x 5 passengers

Coming back, we booked a direct Air Canada flight from Tokyo to Toronto using Aeroplan points.

Between the two of us, we were able to use eUpgrades to get the whole family into Air Canada business class using the Latitude Attitude .

For this leg of the trip, we redeemed the following:

• 74,800 Aeroplan points   × 5 passengers
• 13 eUpgrades × 5 passengers
• $36.40 (CAD)  taxes and fees × 5 passengers  

I haven’t booked our flights from Hong Kong to Tokyo yet, but likely we’ll be paying cash for this, in the range of $300 (CAD) per person.

Round-trip tickets right now on Cathay Pacific are pricing out at $2,700–3,100 (CAD) in economy class, so I feel that we get an excellent deal by using points.

The biggest takeaway from booking this trip: working in two-player mode and having flexible points gives you the best options for booking trips on competitive routes.

San Diego and National Parks

In the summer, we’re heading to California for a bit of time with extended family.

Friends are always telling us what a great family destination San Diego is, and since our trip to Zion National Park in Utah, we’ve also been wanting to explore more national parks, so we decided to cross both off our list.

We booked our flights flying into Los Angeles from Toronto, and plan on driving up to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

From there, we’ll catch a short flight back to San Diego, and spend some time there before heading back up to Toronto.

For our flight from Toronto to Los Angeles, we booked a direct flight in economy using Aeroplan points, for the following costs:

• 9,400 Aeroplan points × 5 passengers
• $107.20 (CAD) taxes and fees × 5 passengers

For our flight coming back from San Diego to Toronto, we booked a direct flight in economy using Aeroplan points, for the following costs:

• 12,400 Aeroplan points   × 5 passengers
• $76.30 (CAD) taxes and fees × 5 passengers

At the time of writing, this itinerary is pricing out at $699 (CAD) per person, which means I’m getting a value of 2.23 cents per Aeroplan point, which I mostly earned from my American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card .

For our short flight from Fresno, the closest airport to Sequoia, to San Diego, it’ll cost $125 (CAD) per person.

For this, I plan on booking through Expedia® for TD and cashing out my TD Rewards Points earned through my TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card . 

The biggest takeaway from booking this trip: booking in economy can still result in great value for your points, and having fixed-value points comes in handy for offsetting other travel expenses.

New Zealand

My husband and I had a work conference pencilled in for New Zealand later this year.

As luck would have it, Air New Zealand, which is a notoriously difficult airline to book on points, decided to release a bunch of award seats a few months ago that happened to coincide with our travel dates.

Air New Zealand is a Star Alliance airline, and I was able to secure our flights there using Aeroplan points.

However, I also managed to book the return flights through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club , leveraging the separate partnership between the two airlines.

Air New Zealand doesn’t fly to Toronto, and I had to book from Houston to Auckland and back.

For our flight from Houston to Auckland, we redeemed the following:

• 75,000 Aeroplan points for Air New Zealand business class × 2 passengers
• $132.90 (CAD) taxes and fees × 2 passengers

For our flight from Auckland to Houston, we redeemed the following:

• 62,500 Virgin Points for Air New Zealand business class × 2 passengers
• $61.99 (CAD) taxes and fees × 2 passengers

If you’re wondering how I accumulated my Virgin Points, it was once again through my Amex US cards.

In the last couple of years, there have been a couple of 30% transfer bonuses from Amex US Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which I took advantage of. 

Initially, the intent was to use them to book an ANA First Class flight, but that didn’t work out, so I jumped at the opportunity to use them for Air New Zealand instead.

Factoring in the transfer bonus, my business class redemption was only 48,077 Amex US MR points per ticket, which is outstanding.

Without taking into consideration the short positioning flight I still need to book from Toronto to Houston and back, we scored an astronomical value from our credit card points for this redemption.

The biggest takeaway from booking this trip: leverage transfer bonuses whenever you can, and keep an eye out for award availability with airlines that are difficult to book.

For our final big trip of the year, we’re going to Morocco. This is a couples’ trip we had planned before the pandemic happened, and was cancelled because of it. Needless to say, I’m glad we can finally go.

Initially, the plan was to use our Aeroplan points for the redemption. Air Canada offers direct flights from Montreal to Casablanca, and flying back, we’d fly TAP Air Portugal from Marrakech to Toronto, with a short layover in Lisbon.

For our flight from Toronto to Casablanca via Montreal, we redeemed the following:

• 57,800 Aeroplan points for business class × 1 passenger
• 64,300 Aeroplan points for premium economy × 1 passenger
• 11 eUpgrades × 1 passenger
• $65 (CAD) taxes and fees × 2 passengers

Unfortunately, while waiting for our friends to accumulate enough points for the return flight, the TAP Air Portugal award seats disappeared on the dates we needed.

Luckily, we found a flight on British Airways that worked on our dates, with several seats available.

The rates from British Airways Executive Club weren’t great, so instead, we used American Airlines AAdvantage miles to make the redemption.

Unfortunately, the taxes and fees were hefty, since we were going through London, but overall it was still good value for a business class redemption, and it allowed us all to travel together.

We acquired the AAdvantage miles through transferring our RBC Avion Rewards earned from our RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† cards at a 1:0.7 ratio. 

For our flight from Marrakech to Toronto via London, we redeemed the following:

• 57,500 AAdvantage miles for business class × 2 passengers
• $484.70 (CAD) taxes and fees  × 2 passengers

The cheapest flights for our dates were more than $4,500 round-trip, which gave us a value of over 3 cents per point in either currency.

The biggest takeaway from booking this trip: even with high taxes and fees and less-than-ideal transfer ratios, booking premium flights can still result in great value for your points.

Hopefully, this article has helped to highlight how holding different Canadian and American credit cards, as well as earning different point currencies, can be used for various trips near and far.

Keep in mind these are just a few examples of the countless possibilities of where your redemptions can take you.

For our trips this year, we redeemed a grand total of just over 1.2 million points and miles, two WestJet companion vouchers, 76 Air Canada eUpgrades, plus other reward points and credits from our credit cards to make it all happen.

Having multiple points currencies and booking early are keys to giving you the most flexibility and the greatest success in making the flight redemptions you want.

While Canadian credit cards will cover a majority of your travel plans, US credit cards will give you greater access to other airline programs that can allow you to book similar flights for an even better value.

Here’s to happy travel planning for 2024 and beyond!

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Italy, with its picturesque regions and small towns , stunning coastlines , romantic islands, and renowned cuisine, has long been a favorite vacation spot for Americans. However, a recent report by Global Citizens Solutions (GCS), a global investment firm, reveals that Il Bel Paese is also a top contender for retirement. Italy ranked seventh among the best countries for American retirees in 2024 based on its exceptional quality of life, security and integration, and economics.

The cost of living is one key factor making the country on the Apennine Peninsula an excellent retirement alternative. GCS points out that Milan and Rome, Italy's largest cities, are significantly cheaper than comparable destinations in America.

"For instance, the average monthly rent for a city apartment is approximately $1,140.44 in Rome and around $1,529.76 in Milan, both much lower than New York's average of $4,189.81," GCS pointed out in the report. Earlier this year, GoBankingRates.com estimated that retirement savings of $1 million can last over 56 years in Italy.

In general, monthly expenses for retirees can be 30 to 70 percent lower than in the U.S., according to InternationalLiving.com . Besides lower living costs, some retirees can also enjoy lower taxes. The flat tax incentive , a program in which foreigners pay just seven percent tax, was introduced in 2019 to attract nationals with foreign pensions who reside full-time in one of the country's Mezzogiorno regions: Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, Campania, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise, or Puglia.

Additionally, those investing more than €250,000 (around $272,000) in the country could qualify for a Golden Visa and obtain a residency permit.

Italy's universal health care system, which the government supports, is a significant advantage for seniors moving abroad. GCS noted that non-EU ex-pats who are not yet legal residents in Italy must be insured privately, with estimated monthly premiums ranging from $120 to over $350. Italy boasts the second-highest life expectancies in the European Union and is home to one of only five Blue Zones with a large number of centenarians located in Sardinia.

According to GSC's report, Italy is also one of the best retirement destinations for Americans due to its high level of safety and moderately welcoming environment towards migrants. The country is preceded by New Zealand, Mexico, and Uruguay, which are sixth, fifth, and fourth, respectively.

Costa Rica (third), Portugal (second), and Spain (first) round out the list of the best countries to retire in 2024. You can read the full report on globalcitizensolution.com .

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Maps: 5.7-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off the Coast of Panama

By Matthew Bloch ,  William B. Davis ,  Madison Dong ,  John Keefe and Bea Malsky

Shake intensity

A moderately strong, 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Panama on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 2:19 p.m. Panama time about 3 miles southeast of Puerto Armuelles, Panama, data from the agency shows.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake's reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

Aftershocks in the region

An aftershock is usually a smaller earthquake that follows a larger one in the same general area. Aftershocks are typically minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.

Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles

Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.

Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Panama time. Shake data is as of Monday, July 22 at 3:43 p.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Monday, July 22 at 11:33 p.m. Eastern.

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When will Route 3 in Clifton reopen? Westbound lanes open but east remains closed

A tractor trailer exploded and caught fire Monday morning on Route 3 in Clifton, killing the driver, causing lane closures in both directions and forcing nearby residents to evacuate their homes.

Here is everything we know about the crash and the lane closures as of 9 p.m. on Monday.

When will Route 3 east in Clifton reopen?

At 5:30 p.m. Monday, the westbound lanes of Route 3 reopened, but the eastbound lanes between Grove Street and Route 46 in Clifton remained closed.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation said that Route 3 eastbound will remain mostly closed until Tuesday morning. The DOT said the left lane is expected to reopen later Monday night once the investigation and cleanup are completed.

However, the right three lanes and the Valley Road ramp onto the Route 3 east will not reopen until 5 a.m. on Tuesday as the DOT does repairs to the highway.

"Emergency work will take place overnight to mill and pave the damaged portions of Route 3 eastbound, repair guiderail, and install fencing and construction barrier where the soundwall was knocked down. Permanently replacing the damaged soundwall will be done at a date to be determined," the DOT said in a statement.

The DOT advises drivers to avoid the area.

What is the best detour from Valley Road?

To get to Route 3 east from Valley Road (near Montclair State University), the DOT recommends:

• Take the ramp to Route 46 eastbound
• Take the ramp to Grove Street/Van Houten Avenue
• Turn right onto Grove Street/CR 623
• Take the ramp to Route 3 eastbound

What caused the tractor-trailer explosion on Route 3 in Clifton?

The commercial truck was traveling west on Route 3 when it crashed into a barrier and caught fire, according to the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.

While the exact cause of the crash has not yet been determined, Clifton Fire Chief Daniel Collins and City Manager Dominick Villano said during a press conference Monday morning that a bus rear ended the truck. They did not release any details regarding the type of bus or how many people were on the bus.

Was anybody injured in the explosion on Route 3 in Clifton?

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Residents in the area of routes 3 and 46 in Clifton may experience discolored water or low water pressure due to the truck fire, according to a post from the Passaic Valley Water Commission on Facebook that says, "Anytime a hydrant is used, the sudden rush of water through the pipeline will stir up sediment, which can cause discolored water or low pressure."

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Stock Market News: Why the Stock Market Is Down

The dow, s&p 500, and nasdaq fell in a broad selloff.

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What to Watch Today

Stocks took a broad downturn Thursday as the tech selloff became an everything selloff.

Although the Nasdaq began the day in the green, the attempted rebound from its ugly session on Wednesday failed. The tech sector remained under pressure, with chip makers dropping over fears of stricter curbs on exports to China.

The Biden administration has floated the possibility of implementing harsher restrictions on U.S. semiconductor companies’ exports to Chinese customers, which could weigh on sales and earnings for American chip makers.

With the market betting the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September, investors also have been selling tech stocks to weight their portfolios towards other areas of the market. Lower rates would boost the broader economy—and various non-tech sectors.

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The stock market took broad downturn Thursday, starting with technology and extending to everything else.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7% for its second straight day of declines, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.29%, or 533 points.

Tech stocks got hit because President Joe Biden’s comments this week have concerned the market about an ongoing trade war in the semiconductor industry between the U.S. and China. With the Nasdaq still up double digits for the year, investors don’t want to take additional risk yet, so they’re selling.

They’re also taking profits in non-tech sectors, as the Dow had popped for the few days leading into Thursday.

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What began as just a tech sell-off—the market is concerned President Joe Biden’s recent comments could worsen a trade war in semiconductors between the U.S. and China—became an everything sell-off. Even the Russell 2000 index of small market value stocks is down 1.9%.

With all indexes up for the year, and even the Dow having popped in the past few days, investors are taking profits by selling wherever they can.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was sliding in afternoon trading.

It was down 568 points, or 1.4%, while the S&P 500 has dropped 1.1%. The Nasdaq Composite is down 1.3%.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq is already up double digits for the year, so investors are taking profits by selling. And the Dow, which had finally popped in the last few days, is also subject to profit taking Thursday, leading to the declines.

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Angel Reese fumes after suffering travel nightmare heading to Paris 2024 Olympics

W NBA and Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese expressed frustration ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics as she was only given $100 as compensation after a flight operator lost her bags.

It appears that the 22-year-old WNBA rookie All-Star has traveled to Paris for the Olympic Games to potentially support the women's basketball Team USA roster despite not making the team. Reese and Co. defeated reigning Olympic champions in a tune-up for Paris this past weekend in the WNBA All-Star Game format.

"They lost our bags & said we only get '$100 in euros' to shop until they find them but we made it to Paris," Reese wrote on X, with a laughing and a crying emoji. The WNBA has initiated a month-long break for the Olympics, giving its stars not competing at the Games a much-needed rest, and Reese is using it to travel abroad.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift's suspected stalker allegedly threatened Travis Kelce before arrest at concert READ MORE: Steph Curry's role in LeBron James receiving Olympic Games honor proves NBA star's true colors

For Reese, it's been a record-breaking season in her rookie campaign. Straight out of LSU, Reese has emerged as one of the WNBA's top stars, setting a league record for the most consecutive double-doubles. “We knew after our little 30-minute practice yesterday that we were going to win,” Reese said following the All-Star Game win over Team USA. “The tone was set.”

As for Team USA, it has one more Paris Olympics warmup game scheduled for inside London's O2 Arena against Germany on Tuesday. Breanna Stewart has called for calm following a second consecutive loss to the WNBA All-Stars for an Olympic roster.

“This is going to help us tremendously. We don’t get that many game opportunities,” said Stewart. “We can go back and watch the film and focus on how we can continue to be better. It was like a little bit of deja vu feeling but just locking in.”

Head coach Cheryl Reeve also admitted there's much work to be done if Team USA is to win an eighth-consecutive gold at the Games. “We have work to do and we know that,” Reeve said.

“Sometimes it’s good, adversity, etc. I don’t think we needed a game like this to have our attention. We know how hard it is to do what we’re trying to do and we have work to do to get there.”

The women's team landed in London on Monday, and the players were all smiles as they were pictured. The team is targeting its eighth straight Olympic gold medal.

The Team USA women's basketball team is one of the most dominant in any sport in Olympic competition. It has won 70 games and lost only three, last being beaten to a gold medal back in 1992.

La Tomatina - Tickets, Accommodation and Transport Options

La Tomatina Tours For 2024

3 day - 3* hotel - 2024.

• Hotel accommodation in central Valencia with buffet breakfast
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• Compulsory La Tomatina Entry Ticket and return coach transport from hotel to Bunol for La Tomatina
• Free entry (until 9pm) to the official La Tomatina after Party
• Souvenir T-Shirt and Experienced PP Travel Tour Guide

3 Day - 4* Hotel - 2024

3 day - 5* hotel - 2024.

• Two nights 5* accommodation at the Westin Valencia in double or twin share Deluxe Room with buffet breakfasts (Extra Nights Available)

Day Trip - 2024

• La Tomatina Entry Ticket and return coach transport between Valencia and Bunol for La Tomatina
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3 day - 3* hotel - 2025, 3 day - 4* hotel - 2025, 3 day - 5* hotel - 2025, day trip - 2025.

• La Tomatina Entry Ticket and return coach transport from hotel to Bunol for La Tomatina

Our passion for parties and fiestas goes back over two decades when we first embarked on our great series of festival tours. We have always believed in a serious party at PP - that is a tour that has to be run very professionally with fun, experienced and dedicated crew.

It is this experience we believe will make all the difference at La Tomatina. This is not a massive sprawling 16-day festival, like Munich's Oktoberfest. No, this fiesta is really all about a few hours of total madness in the tiny centre of Buñol. You need to be totally prepared to get the most of out it - and that is where our PP crew come in.

Our experienced team at PP will lead you right into the heart of the action to ensure you get the most of this short, but wild experience. Our fully trained crew will have you completely prepared for the battle - and of most importance - will lead you "past the ham pole" right into the thick of it. While tens of thousands of revelers decent upon Buñol annually, a huge number not informed or not led properly miss out on the action altogether - and hardly see an tomato.

We also include 3 awesome parties as part of all our packages. The pre-La Tom party in the heart of Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences at the terrific MYA/Umbracle nightclub. Free entry before midnight. At Bunol, before Tomatina, our exclusive "fun zone", only a few metres away from the start of the tomato fight. Music, drinks, food, toilets and showers. Finally free shuttle bus from our hotels to the Official La Tomatina Party. Free entry to PP pax who catch the special hotel shuttle.

During the naughties the numbers that came to Bunol exploded. The last straw was in 2012 when about 50,000 descended upon this small village. In 2013 the local council introduced for the first time a ticket system. All people must have a wristband to enter and PP Travel was selected as one of the few tour operators that could supply these wristbands entry as part of our package. 20,000 tickets were issued making the now reduced capacity tomato fight a much, much better event to attend.

PP Travel will have a limited number of entry passes and these are included in the cost of all our La Tomatina tour packages.

That is why choosing who you travel with to La Tomatina is of such importance. The actual awesome but crazy fight lasts just hour and without proper preparation you can miss it all.

PP is one of the longest running, most experienced and largest operator to La Tomatina. Annually around 1000 passengers choose travel to Spain with us and we are proud to say that all were given the opportunity to experience Tomatina to the absolute max!

Whether wanting to be in the middle of the carnage or experiencing it a bit more on the sidelines, we are certain all our passengers got the most out this unbelievable event. And with the even getting bigger and bigger and more packed, the leadership you will get from the PP crew is now even more valuable.

Naturally, to operate a tour of this kind, you have to be totally organised and professional. This is why each year thousands of passengers put their trust in PP at Europe's major events like Munich's Oktoberfest. At La Tomatina PP's renowned level of service will again come to the fore. Our La Tomatina parties are awesome and entry to all are included in all packages. The evening before La Tom, at the Terrace Umbarcle club, right in the heart of the Arts and Sciences area (next to most of our hotets). On the day we have our exclusive pre-tomato fight party zone in the heart of Bunol. Later that even join the massive post Tomatina event - the famous official La Tomatina after party.

And to top it all off, we offer five fantastic very modern comfortable hotels - all situated in a superb position in Valencia, all at a very economical tour price.

Or you can join our day tour from Valencia to Bunol instead, which also includes all the parties and entry to La Tomatina.

From start to finish our experienced team will be with you the whole way to ensure you are ready and get the most of this once in a lifetime fiesta - we can't wait to serve you in Spain.

La Tomatina FAQ's

• Holiday Inn Express Valencia (Ciudad De Las Ciencia) 3* Escritor Rafael Ferreres 22, Valencia 46013
• NH Valencia Las Ciencias 3* Avenida Instituto Obrero 28, Valencia 46013
• NH Ciudad 3* Avinguda del Port 214, Valencia 46023
• NH Las Artes 4* Avenida Instituto Obrero 28, Valencia 46013
• The Westin Hotel 5* Carrer d'Amadeu de Savoia 16, Valencia 46010 This exclusive hotel is housed in one of Valencia's most impressive Modernist buildings, 0.6 miles from the Cathedral. Truly a magnificent and luxurious hotel in a wonderful setting close to Valencia's old town centre.

• 2 nights accommodation in your choice of top quality 3* , 4* or 5* hotels in central Valencia with Triples, Twins, Doubles and Single rooms.
• Large hot and cold buffet breakfast each morning.
• Tuesday nights exclusive PP Travel welcome party at the fabulous MYA/Umbracle Terrace nightclub, right in the heart of the City of Sciences and Arts. Free entry before midnight to all PP pax.
• Coach transfers to and from Bunol for La Tomatina on Wednesday.
• Official La Tomatina Entry Ticket.
• Special Bunol party "funzone", just metres from the tomato fight for pre and post events
• Free entry* (on special PP hotel 9pm shuttle) to the official La Tomatina after Party.
• Souvenir T-Shirt.
• Experienced PP Travel Tour Guide - to ensure you get the most out of the Battle of the Tomato.
• Tuesday nights exclusive PP Travel welcome party at the fabulous MYA/Umbracle Terrace nightclub, right in the heart of the City of Sciences and Arts. Free entry before midnight.
• Special Bunol party zone, just metres from the tomato fight for pre and post events
• Free entry* (until 9pm) to the official La Tomatina after Party.

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Timeline of Trump rally shooting and investigation into attempted assassination

An apparent lone gunman opened fire at a crowded rally in Western Pennsylvania Saturday night in what the FBI said is being investigated as an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump .

The shooting broke out just minutes before 6:15 p.m. in the city of Butler, a city about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Trump was rushed off stage by U.S. Secret Service Saturday after at least six shots rang out, rattling the crowd and injuring the president during a rally in Western Pennsylvania.

The gunman was killed by Secret Service agents, officials said. One spectator was killed and two others were "critically injured," the Secret Service said.

Here's a timeline of the events starting from the time the rally kicked off:

Where was Trump rally? PA appearance was site of shooting Saturday

Timeline of Trump shooting

6:03 p.m. ET − Trump took the stage Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the USA,” and waved to the crowd.

6:05 p.m. −The song concluded and Trump began speaking.

6:11 p.m. − As Trump spoke to the audience, the suspected shooter  fired multiple shots  toward the stage and Trump grabbed his ear, then dropped the ground and someone could be heard saying, "shots shots shots."

6:12 p.m. − Secret Service agents jump on top of Trump and escort him off stage into a vehicle. He gives a thumbs up

6:14 p.m. - Trump's motorcade leaves the fairgrounds surrounded by law enforcement vehicles.

6:42 p.m. −The Secret Service issued a statement confirming “an incident” took place at the rally and that Trump “is safe.” Not long after, the Trump campaign issued a statement of its own saying Trump “is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility."

7:49 p.m. - Secret Service Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi releases a statement saying agents neutralized the shooter and that he was dead. The statement also said one person was killed and two spectators were seriously injured.

8:13 p.m. − During a short televised briefing, Biden said he was trying to call Trump to speak with him as soon as possible.

"There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick," the president said, condemning the shooting. “The bottom line is, the Trump rally was a rally that should have been able to be conducted peacefully and without any problem. But the idea – the idea – that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this, is just unheard of, it’s just not appropriate."

8:42 p.m. − Trump posted on Truth Social again confirming he was shot:

“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead,” the ex-president said. “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

9:33 p.m. − The FBI Pittsburgh said it had assumed the role of the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation of the shooting.

11:52 p.m. − During a news conference Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh FBI office, called the shooting an attempted assassination on the former president. He also said investigators were working to determine a motive in the shooting.

"Our hearts go out to the victims to the heinous actions that took place today," Rojek said, calling the fairgrounds an active crime scene. "At this time we are not prepared to share who the shooter is."

Trump's plane landed in Newark, New Jersey shortly after 12 a.m. for his returns to Trump National Golf Club in Bedmnister.

Anyone who was on scene who saw anything is asked to contact the FBI.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

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Is your plane safe from a tornado?

Passengers report nerve-wracking waits on the tarmac during tornado warnings.

The message appeared on social media channels late Monday night: “Severe weather is imminent at O’Hare International Airport.” The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings. Wind gusts roared at 75 mph. Federal Aviation Administration workers briefly evacuated areas at the airport, including the control tower.

Aviation officials in Chicago said Tuesday that the severe weather hit O’Hare and Midway International airports around 9:20 p.m. local time. Both airports engaged their safety plans, requiring travelers and workers to seek shelter away from windows into underground locations.

From the tarmac, several people who reported they were sitting on planes during the storms asked : what about us?

Travelers took to social media to describe waiting on board at O’Hare while aircraft rocked in the wind, listening to storm alerts blare from their phones. Similar scenes unfolded at Chicago Midway.

“We sit here in a tin can with wings,” wrote one X user, posting a video showing rain streaming down a window and lightning flashing.

@raspberry_protocol The flight attendants went from calmly telling us to get off, to screaming “hurry get off now!”while the plane shook intensely. Scariest moment of our lives but so grateful we are safe. ♬ original sound - Raspberry Protocol

On TikTok, a user posted a video from a basement area at O’Hare and wrote that her flight actually boarded before a flight attendant told everyone to get out due to a tornado.

“I was expecting the plane to just be torn in half at some point,” Justin Smolenski, who was stuck on a Spirit Airlines plane, told The Washington Post. When it wasn’t, he decided that “either planes are built really well, or we were very lucky.”

NWS would later confirm 11 tornadoes were in the Chicago forecast area during the storm, but planned to continue investigating potential damage paths on Wednesday to identify additional sites.

Tornado protocol for airports

Because of their aerodynamic designs, aircraft are easy to loft if air flows over the wings quickly enough. If wind speeds reach, say, 90 or 100 mph, you’ll start seeing commercial aircraft moved or smaller aircraft thrown. And that’s just for straight-line winds.

Tornadoes, meanwhile, bring their own lift with them. They are vortices of powerful upward suction. Even a lower-end tornado, like a high-end EF1 with 100 mph winds, could flip aircraft. And a “significant” tornado with 120 mph winds could throw them, especially considering a tornado’s rotating or changing winds. If a tornado hit a fully loaded passenger aircraft, a mass casualty event could ensue. The majority of tornado fatalities stem from head injuries and blunt force trauma, which could result if a plane were thrown.

It wasn’t clear why passengers on Monday night had been loaded onto planes and sent onto the tarmac ahead of the line of severe storms. Chicago aviation officials directed questions about aircraft movements to the FAA. That agency referred questions about why passengers were boarded to airlines.

Once fliers were out on the tarmac, aviation experts say, that’s where they had to stay for their own safety. A tornado striking a plane could be disastrous, but so could leaving the shelter of the aircraft.

“In a situation like this, the safest option is for customers and crews to stay in the aircraft and for our teams to stay indoors,” United Airlines spokesman Charles Hobart said in an email.

He said that the carrier works to operate “safely and efficiently” ahead of a storm hitting, but adjusting immediate plans too far ahead of an impact could disrupt customers’ travel plans.

“We rely on our safety procedures to ensure we are making the right decisions, operate when we can and clearly pause when we can’t,” Hobart wrote.

Other carriers contacted by The Washington Post, including American and Spirit, did not explain when asked about their decisions to board passengers before the Monday evening storms hit.

Denver International Airport, located in an area that has seen dozens of tornadoes in the past 50 years, said in an email that operations teams would not send people out to aircraft with stair trucks and buses during a tornado warning. Airlines make decisions about how they are going to operate their planes, the airport’s statement said.

“If an airplane is boarding or deplaning during an event, the plan is for passengers and flight crew to deplane and immediately go to shelter,” the statement said.

Mike McCormick, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with more than three decades of experience at the FAA, said in an interview that once lighting is spotted, ramp activity stops at the airport. That would make returning to the gate “not a practical alternative.”

Doug Moss, a retired airline pilot, aviation instructor and safety consultant, said in an email that ramp workers are needed for a plane to back out from a gate or park at one. He said he’s been in that situation many times.

“We were just about ready to push back and we get a call from Ops that all the ramp workers were ordered inside,” he wrote. “Therefore, we just had to sit there until the thunderstorm and lightning passed.”

Leaving a plane via stairs or a jet bridge could be risky due to wind or lightning, Kathleen Bangs, a former pilot and the spokeswoman for the flight-tracking site FlightAware , said in an email.

Chris Cooper, an adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota’s Aviation Department, said airlines will make the call whether to delay or cancel a flight due to approaching weather. But sometimes a flight might be boarded and ready to go when weather suddenly worsens. At an airport with limited space, there may not be anywhere to go.

“You’re certainly not going to fly right into the weather,” said Cooper, who is also an airline pilot.

McCormick and Cooper both said that planes can withstand high winds on the ground. Moving a plane in bad weather could also be dangerous because of reduced visibility. McCormick said the risk “is generally going to be greater if you try to move versus waiting it out.”

No one at either Chicago airport was injured Monday, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Staffers found minor damage to the outside of some O’Hare facilities, but did not immediately spot damage at Midway.

American Airlines said in a statement that employees “worked swiftly to return aircraft to the gate” once ground operations resumed at O’Hare following the storm-related pause. The statement said American works with Chicago aviation officials and the FAA to “closely monitor airport and airfield conditions in inclement weather.”

“After the all-clear was given and the FAA resumed its staffing, airlines — including United — were able to resume their operation and safely move aircraft,” Hobart wrote. “Our staff and crew do their best to always ensure everyone’s safety.”

After workers cleared debris from the airfields, operations started shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday. Normal FAA operations resumed just after 11 p.m.; the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center assumed the airspace during the evacuation, the agency said. FAA, which routes planes away from bad weather, “briefly paused” flights into O’Hare and Midway on Monday night.

According to FlightAware , there were 786 delays and 132 cancellations at O’Hare and 214 delays and 71 cancellations at Midway on Monday.

Past tornadoes and close calls

Over the years, dangerous weather, including tornadoes and tropical storm-level winds, have swept by — and even through — airports. The National Weather Service warns that tornadoes “are capable of completely destroying well-made structures, uprooting trees, and hurling objects through the air like deadly missiles.”

In the early morning hours of March 3, 2020, tornadoes plowed through parts of Nashville and hit John C. Tune Airport, a sister facility to Nashville International that caters to smaller regional, corporate and private planes. It caused nearly $100 million in infrastructure damage, but that estimated cost from the airport didn’t include 90 aircraft that were destroyed.

Wow. I am speechless at this photo. Jenny Pearcy took this from her balcony of SkyHouse Nashville as a tornado tore through downtown. @NC5 pic.twitter.com/1t15fKWsoi — Heather Mathis (@NC5_HMathis) March 3, 2020

A 2011 tornado at St. Louis Lambert International Airport tore off part of the roof of a concourse, sent people scrambling for shelter in restrooms and pushed planes away from jet bridges, CNN reported . One passenger reported that the plane she was on shook violently and experienced air pressure changes.

After Oklahoma City officials issued a tornado warning in May 2015, two arriving Delta planes were stranded on the tarmac at the Will Rogers World Airport. Ground crews fled to an underground tunnel for safety, unintentionally leaving the passengers onboard. About 15 minutes later, according to local reports, help arrived and the travelers were escorted to a shelter.

In July 2023, a funnel alighted near Chicago O’Hare. The airlines canceled nearly 170 flights and delayed 500 takeoffs, according to FlightAware. Inside the airport, video from that evening showed passengers cramming into a concourse for safety.

In late May of this year, powerful storms with winds gusting up to 80 mph pushed an American Airlines plane parked at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

One long night

At O’Hare on Monday night, Smolenski and his family were looking forward to returning home to San Diego when they found themselves trapped on the plane after boarding a leg to Las Vegas.

“We got on the plane , taxied onto the runway, and we stopped, and we waited, and we waited, and we waited some more,” he said. “And while we’re waiting, it started to rain and it started to thunder.”

Soon afterward, he and the rest of the flight received emergency broadcast alerts on their phones, warning of possible tornadoes in the area. Though the pilot spoke over the loudspeaker to tell the passengers not to worry about the alerts — “it’s just a little rain,” Smolenski remembered him saying — the father of young kids could feel the plane shaking.

As the storm raged, he said his kids were “absolutely panicking.” The wait on the tarmac ended up stretching to four hours, Smolenski said.

By the time the plane took off from O’Hare and landed in Las Vegas, it was late at night, and the family had missed their connecting flight. Without a hotel voucher, they slept in the airport until finding an early morning flight to San Diego, with another connection in Sacramento, and arriving home over 12 hours later than anticipated.

“It was brutal,” Smolenski said, calling the whole ordeal an “absolute nightmare.”

He said there was one final indignity.

“On top of it all, Spirit’s like, ‘Yeah, we lost your bags,'” he said.

Staff writer Andrea Sachs contributed to this report

More on air travel

Leave flying to the pros: Think you could land a plane in an emergency? Experts say you’re wrong . Here’s what you should actually do if something goes awry during a flight .

Pet peeves: Why do “gate lice” line up early for a flight ? Psychologists explained for us. Another move that annoys airline workers: abusing the flight attendant call button . For more on how to behave on a flight, check out our 52 definitive rules of flying .

Plane mess: Stories about extremely disgusting airplanes have been grossing out travelers. The question of plane cleanups became the subject of a recent debate after a flight attendant allegedly told a pregnant passenger to pick up the popcorn spilled by her toddler.

Frequent flying: Airline status isn’t what it used to be, but at least there are some good movies and TV shows to watch in the air. And somewhere out there, experts are trying to make airline food taste good.

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