Disclaimer: I use the word "upgrade" a few times in the post. I am not referring to buying a cash ticket in economy and trying to use miles or cash to get it into business class. I am referring to using miles to change an award from economy to business. The first type of upgrade is almost universally a bad deal. The second type is a fine deal.

United has a litany of award fees. Booking by phone is $25. Cancelling is $150.

Two months ago, thexfactor emailed me to tell me that he'd booked something online at aa.com that was against one of the rules I laid out in The Five Cardinal Rules of American Airlines Awards.

His discovery greatly increases where you can take a free oneway when booking American Airlines awards online.

The Miles & More® Premier World MasterCard® comes with 20,000 bonus Lufthansa Miles & More miles after first purchase.

The card comes with an annual companion ticket for paid economy class tickets on Miles & More airlines.

The card earns 2 miles per dollar on ticket purchases made directly from Miles & More integrated airlines and 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases.

Miles &

Or: A Letter to a Friend's Mom

My friend's mom wants to go from Los Angeles to London in early April with her American Airlines miles. This post contains all the information she needs to understand her options.

If you view the specifics of her situation as merely an example, this post should be hugely helpful to you in you want to plan an award to Europe with your American Airlines miles.

Read Part 1 First.

In Part 2: Ruta de Siete Lagos, beer tour, and more

Day 3—Sunday

Sunday began with a hike to the top of Cerro Campanario, a spot with absolutely stunning views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. You can take Bus 20 from the center of town and have them drop you off at Kilometer 17 on Avenue Exequiel Bustillo. From the road, it is a 40 minute hike up a relatively steep incline.

The cards mentioned in this post have had their links removed because the offers listed have expired. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

The 50k mile bonus offer is back on the Lufthansa card mentioned in this post until 6/30/14.

San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina is a mountain town in the Lake District of Patagoina, located about 50km from the Chilean border. It sits right on the edge of the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, drawing visitors from all over to admire the spectacular lake and mountain views.

 Scott and I recently decided to use Avios to fly LAN from Buenos Aires to Bariloche for five days. The southern hemisphere has just entered fall. In Patagonia, that means cold weather quickly.

I recently had a reader ask me about the best miles to collect to get from Salt Lake City to Cozumel, Mexico. The answer illustrates the best ways to get to the Caribbean and Mexico, so I thought I'd share and expand upon it here.

Near international destinations like Cozumel can be an excellent deal on region-based award charts like those used by American, United, US Airways, and Delta.

The current best deal is this offer for the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

Earn 30K bonus miles after you make $1K in purchases on your new Card within your first 3 months and a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months.
Earn As You Spend: Get 2X miles on Delta purchases and 1X miles for all other eligible dollars spent.
Check your first bag free on every Delta flight - that's a savings of up to $200 per round trip for a family of four.

Edit: Airfare deals come and go quickly. This is dead. But type in your email address on the top left of the page for one, free daily email to your inbox with tips and tricks to travel cheap or free!

The offers for the cards listed in this post have also expired, so the links have been removed.