Announcing a MileValue Dinner in Honolulu on Saturday, January 25

I’m very excited to announce the first MileValue dinner since October on Saturday, January 25 at 7 PM on Oahu, either in Waikiki or Honolulu.

As a special treat, I've confirmed the attendance of Rene from Delta Points. Rene is the go-to expert on all things Delta from status, to the myriad credit card offerings, to redemptions, to aircraft, to getting bumped, to... you get the idea.

Delta and SkyTeam are major players from HNL.

Delta is well represented at HNL.

My Take on the Chicago Seminars

The Chicago Seminars wrapped up today after a weekend filled with information, networking, and free candy.

MileValue sponsored the event, so we had a table where I was giving out free t-shirts and information on our Award Booking Service.

I think everyone looks better in a MileValue t-shirt.

And here's some of the best award bookers I know in front of the MileValue table.

At the table, I had printed some of my favorite photos from my nine months on the road this year, and there was even a contest where I awarded a $50 gift card to loyal reader

My Plan for the Chicago Seminars

I arrived yesterday to Elk Grove, Illinois to get ready (and get over jet lag) for the Chicago Seminars tomorrow.

Announcing a MileValue Dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 19

Update: The response has been overwhelming. The slots are all gone. In fact, I have the sad task of having to email some folks now and say they weren't in the first 30.

I'm very excited to announce the first MileValue dinner since February on Saturday, October 19 at 8 PM in Los Angeles.

MileValue Reader Meetup at FTU DC!

If you're going to the Frequent Traveler University this weekend, let's meet up! At the last FTU meetup in Los Angeles, we were able to meet a ton of new people and put some faces to familiar names.

Announcing Upcoming MileValue Dinners in Los Angeles, Tampa, and Baltimore

I've hosted two MileValue dinners in Los Angeles that were both a ton of fun and informative. I know I learned a lot at each one. Throw in some good, cheap food and a chance to meet other travelers or reconnect with people from the Chicago Seminars or an FTU and it's a recipe for a great Saturday night.

If you haven't been, MileValue dinners are very informal. We get a big table (or more than one at the last dinner with over 25 readers), and I try to move around and talk to everyone.

Bill’s Frequent Traveler University Report Card–First Timer Perspective

First, and most importantly, it was great to attend Frequent Traveler University hear all of the positive feedback about the blog. Scott has really created excitement over his creative oneway awards and expert routing knowlege. It's a lot of fun to part of something special like this. I just hope to contribute a small fraction to MileValue now and in the future.

As I posted early Saturday morning, I didn't really know what to expect in attending Frequent Traveler University.

Los Angeles Frequent Traveler University Recap

This weekend I spoke at the Los Angeles Frequent Traveler University at the Sheraton Gateway LAX.

I drove the 25 minutes to the airport on Friday afternoon, getting in an hour before the cocktail party started.

My First Frequent Traveler University!

I have to say, the journey to Frequent Traveler University has been a long strange one. I first “discovered” this hobby about five years ago. A small finance blog (now long defunct) casually mentioned the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card as a great addition to anyone’s wallet, and the ball rolled from there. I then accidentally tripped over FlyerTalk and was initially overwhelmed by the sheer amount of knowledge and expertise it contained.

After perusing FlyerTalk, I started following one travel blog (incidentally, the Frugal Travel Guy).

LAX FTU Meet Ups

I am speaking at the Los Angeles Frequent Traveler University (LAX FTU) this weekend.