Next week I am going to Paraguay for eight days. A trip out of Argentina is necessary to renew my 90 day tourist visa, and I wanted to check the sixth South American country off my list, instead of repeating Uruguay, the easy choice. (Only four more CONMEBOL countries to go!)

I've never been to Paraguay. I'm sure tons of you have (even though until American Airlines launched a Miami-Asuncion route in November, there were no direct flights between the US and Paraguay.)

I will arrive in Asuncion and leave from Ciudad del Este. I speak Spanish.

Raise your hand if you like calling credit card companies.

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.

The second you move abroad, you become a lot more popular! That far flung country looks a lot better to family and friends as soon as they know they'll have a free bed and tour guide. My sister wanted to come visit me in Argentina in mid-May, so we set out to find her the best award ticket possible. Only one minor problem. As of two months ago, she had zero miles.

We ended up booking her a roundtrip from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires for a weeklong trip for 60,000 United miles.

EVA Air--Taiwan's second largest carrier--has announced that it will join the Star Alliance June 18, 2013.

EVA Air--Taiwan's second largest carrier--has announced that it will join the Star Alliance June 18, 2013.

Reader Christopher emailed me an exciting tip the other day: free oneways are possible on United awards within the continental USA and Canada. I already knew free oneways were possible on international United awards and awards to Hawaii, but this was news.

He sent me some screenshots, and I was able to replicate his findings and add some more of my own. I learned four things:

Christopher's tip: You can get a free oneway on roundtrip Standard economy awards within the US and Canada. That means three oneway Standard awards for 50k United miles.

United, US Airways, American, and Delta among others rely on award charts to determine the price of your award.

The MileValue Award Booking Service now costs $111 per person per award (for most awards--more pricing info below.) As always, you don't pay if we don't find an award that meets your needs.

United has added its Dreamliners back to the schedule, which is good news for plane geeks. The FAA grounded United's 787-8 Dreamliners in January, but they are back on the upcoming flight schedule starting May 31.

Why This Is Cool

United recently acquired several Boeing 787 Dreamliners and announced the first international routes that will be serviced by the plane.

The plane has no first class (Global First), 36 business class seats (BusinessFirst), and a few hundred economy seats.