As of approximately 12:10 Eastern Daylight Time today, The Gate has moved back to BoardingArea. In the article I posted yesterday — which was officially the last article for The Gate here at FlyerTalk — questioning if commercial aviation is safe after four major incidents, I wrote at the end...

I read an article posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 called Rookie Wednesday: The "funny" little things you should know before you try FlyerTalk written by René deLambert, who is the author of the Delta Points weblog at BoardingArea.com...and although I have nothing personal against René — in fact, we even plan on flying as passengers together on flights operated by Delta Air Lines sometime in the future with the itinerary and exact dates yet to be determined; and we have discussed this idea more than once — that article is filled with so much misinformation that I do not even know where to begin. René admits...

An ATR72 aircraft which operated as TransAsia Airways flight 222 carrying 54 passengers and four members of the flight crew from Kaohsiung International Airport to Magong Airport reportedly crashed upon approach in the Penghu Islands west of the main island of Taiwan. Strong gusting winds — supposedly from Typhoon Matmo, which was impacting Taiwan at the time of the crash — was the reported cause of the aircraft bursting into flames after contacting the ground before reaching the runway. At least 47 people are reported dead; and 11 addition people...

“Do you think that the terrorist attacks on passenger planes is part of a trend that should change the our perception of the probability of flying?” asked FlyerTalk member shawbridge in this discussion. “Are the other crashes indicative of a trend in the flight-worthiness of planes (e.g., poorer maintenance or willingness to fly in bad conditions)? Or are these just akin to a few heads in a row in a sequence of random coin flips and shouldn’t change our assessment of the probability of plane accidents?” The reason why shawbridge is asking is because his “wife is concerned about our upcoming trip to Croatia and the Czech Republic (which is preceded by a weekend in Toronto). Her fear is that somehow terrorists will now be targeting passenger planes and maybe that the overall risk of flying is higher.” Recent events have understandably caused trepidation in some people when it comes to travel. Those recent events include but are not limited to...

To earn your 2,500 bonus Hilton HHonors frequent guest loyalty program points, simply register for the Summer Welcome promotion prior to checking in for your hotel room and book a reservation for your next stay from now through December 31, 2014 at any resort or hotel property located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa within the Hilton Worldwide Portfolio directly through either the official Internet web site of Hilton or of the Hilton HHonors frequent guest loyalty program. This promotion is supposedly only open to...

Stay two weekend nights and you can earn 20,000 Club Carlson Gold Points when you arrive Thursday through Sunday and stay two or more nights between now and 15 September 2014 at any of the 93 participating Radisson Blu or Park Inn by Radisson hotel properties in 27 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa listed below...

The global database of the State Department of the United States for processing passports and visas underwent unspecified problems which possibly caused major delays for — and also supposedly stranded — millions of people around the world who were awaiting their travel documents. The latest announcement issued from the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the State Department of the United States is as follows...

For the third consecutive year, I am proud to announce that FlyerTalk has once again been selected as the recipient of the GlobeRunner Award for Best General Travel Site based on votes by readers of Frequent Business Traveler magazine. Greater than 150,000 votes were cast by readers of Frequent Business Traveler magazine between the period of March 14, 2014 and May 31, 2014. Other winners include Hilton Hotels and Resorts — which swept the Best Hotel Chain category and won four GlobeRunner Awards for the third consecutive year; five if you count the award which the Hilton HHonors frequent guest loyalty program won — and the following list of other companies, frequent travel loyalty programs, airports and “bloggers“ which won GlobeRunner Awards in 2014...

Due to security reasons as a result of civil unrest — most notably, reports of a rocket or associated debris supposedly launched from the Gaza Strip and landed in Yehud near Ben Gurion International Airport, which serves the greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area — airlines have suspended flights to Israel until further notice. The airlines include but are not limited to the following...