My Two New Rewards Cards and Why I Chose Them

As you've heard me say many times at this point, I reside in Buenos Aires for the majority of the year (9ish months out of 12), but was in the United States recently visiting. While home, I took the opportunity to sign up for a couple new cards to bring back with me to Argentina--the Asiana Visa Signature Card and the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature.

Price of Avios Redemptions Cut in Half for American Airlines Domestic First Class

Prior to this weekend, American Airlines classified the premium cabin on all domestic flights (domestic First Class) as First Class, whether or not the plane had two cabins or three. It was distinguished with fare code F, A, or P.

Half Price Hilton Points. Buy Now?

Until December 5, 2016, you can buy 10,000-160,000 Hilton HHonors points for 50% off.

Hilton points normally cost 1 cent each. With the 50% discount, the price drops to 0.5 cents per point. This is the cheapest I’ve ever seen them, and is the exact same price as Hilton's more common "100% bonus" sales.

Here is the Hilton award chart.

When to Buy (Math)
Is buying Hilton points for 0.5 cents each a good deal?

I would not buy Hilton points speculatively for 0.5 cents each because I value them at 0.4 cents each.

I’ve Had My Citi Prestige For Almost a Year. Now What?

About a year ago I excitedly opened a Citi Prestige card, ready for my 50,000 ThankYou point bonus and lounge access, among other things. Since the, the bonus has dropped to 40,000 ThankYou Points, but considering the myriad of other benefits the card maintained, it's still worth getting if you haven't had it yet. Read our full review of the Citi Prestige.

11 months into holding any card that's got an annual fee, I do a cost/benefit analysis to figure out if I'm getting enough value from the card to keep it open.

$99 Flights to Iceland, $149 to Europe

WOW Air is again offering $99 airfare to Iceland as well as $149 flights to Europe.

Miles + Cash Option Lets You Buy Etihad Miles For .9 Cents Each

Etihad Airways is the second biggest carrier in the United Arab Emirates that flies an incredible product renowned around the world. Etihad miles have gotten easier and easier to come by as Etihad Guest is now a transfer partner of three out of the four big transferrable point currencies.

SPG Points transfer 1:1 to Etihad
Membership Rewards transfer 1:1 to Etihad
ThankYou Points transfer 1:1 to Etihad

An Etihad First Class Apartment on an A380

What you've seen us write about in the past is redeeming Etihad miles on partner awards, like

Tons of Free Nights at Hiltons Around Egypt & the Miles To Get There

The Hilton chain has a large presence in Egypt. There are a number of beautiful Hiltons in interesting places, many of which are classified as Category 1, 2, or 3.

But before I get ahead of myself, let's start with how to get to Egypt--you should always book airline awards first since they are capacity controlled and hotel loyalty programs are not.
How to Get to Egypt With Miles
All Nipon Airways (ANA) and Singapore have some of the cheapest awards to the Northern Africa region.

Trip Report: Lufthansa First Class Lounge, Munich

Last month I flew from Croatia to the United States in Lufthansa First Class for 40,000 Starpoints + $300. Here's how I booked the award.

Trip Report: Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Munich (this post)
Trip Report: Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt (future post)
Trip Report: Lufthansa 747-8 First Class Frankfurt to Washington-Dulles (future post)

The award started with an early morning flight from Zagreb to Munich to meet my sister for a day at Oktoberfest.

Anatomy of an Award: Buenos Aires to Honolulu for 25,000 Miles Singapore Miles (Sweet Spot)

Last month, I booked an award from Buenos Aires to Honolulu for 25,000 Singapore miles and about $100 in taxes. The booking illustrates a few topics:

Sweet spots and how to find them
Awards you should book speculatively
Booking awards with foreign programs

The Problem
I have to get to Hawaii for my brother's wedding in February. The main problem is that I don't know where I'll be in February to book the ticket to Hawaii.

Earn Credit Towards Travel Through the Barclaycard Travel Community

In case you aren't familiar with Arrival miles, they are a type of reward earned by the Barclaycard Arrival