There are data points rolling in from Reddit of people claiming the $450 annual fee on their American Express Business Platinum card is (unexpectedly) waived the first year.

This is not true of every single report, but many have noticed in their card agreements with American Express a line about the $450 annual fee being waived for the first year of card membership.

In case you missed the news: through January 25, 2017, the American Express Business Platinum Card is offering 100,000 total bonus Membership Rewards after spending $15,000 in the first three months.

This is the second post in a series about how I used Singapore miles to book United BusinessFirst between San Francisco and Buenos Aires, as well as a review of the product and travel experience. 

Trip Report Part I: United Clubs in San Francisco and Houston
Trip Report Part II: United BusinessFirst Houston to Buenos Aires (this post)
Anatomy of an Award: Booking United BusinessFirst with Singapore Miles (future post)
Changing a Singapore Award (future post)

United Airlines Flight 819
Houston (IAH) – Buenos Aires (EZE)
Depart: 9:40 PM on Wednesday October 5, 2016
Arrive: 9:45 AM next

Through November 31, 2016, United MileagePlus is offering a transfer bonus when you move points over from a hotel loyalty program.

Transfer from most chain hotels earn a 25% bonus
Transfers from Club Carlson earn a 40% bonus
Transfers from Choice Privileges earn a 50% bonus

Since Marriott bought Starwood, one of the benefits the company has announced to members of both loyalty programs is the ability to transfer reward points between accounts.

Earlier this year I published a series about how to maximize each type of transferrable point when redeeming on domestic awards. By doing so, all the major types of miles were covered.
Series Index

How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: Ultimate Rewards
How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: Membership Rewards
How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: ThankYou Points
How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: Starpoints (SPG)

Let's talk about the highlights of what we've learned. Below I'll include basic details of valuable ways to redeem your miles on an award within the United States.

This is the first post in a series about how I used Singapore miles to book United BusinessFirst between San Francisco and Buenos Aires, as well as a review of the product and travel experience. 

Trip Report Part I: United Clubs in San Francisco and Houston (this post)
Trip Report Part II: United BusinessFirst Houston to Buenos Aires
Anatomy of an Award: Booking United BusinessFirst with Singapore Miles
Changing a Singapore Award Last Minute

About two weeks ago I flew from San Francisco to Buenos Aires.

Last week I booked myself an award from Chicago to Buenos Aires in United economy for 30,000 United miles + $5.60. This award was very simple, but it illustrated three interesting concepts:

When will last second award space open up?
United's secret extra award space.
The trick to save $75 on last second United award bookings.

Last Second Award Space
I had been searching award space for months from Chicago to Buenos Aires, and there was never any on the inflexible date I wanted to fly.

On Saturday in Chicago, I gave two presentations–one on the award chart sweet spots and the other a “Live” American Airlines Award Booking.

In this post, I'll recap the “Live” American Airlines Award Booking, including the audio of the award booking phone call.

On Saturday in Chicago, I gave two presentations--the first a "Live" American Airlines Award Booking and the second on the award chart sweet spots.

I will have a post later this week from the "Live" American Airlines Award Booking. Here, I wanted to share the slides from the Award Chart Sweet Spots talk for the people in attendance and those who couldn't make it.

As I mentioned in Chicago, the information for this presentation mainly comes from a post, which I update frequently: How to Book a RTW Trip in 2016.

MileValue was nominated by USA Today as the Best Miles-and-Points Blog. Through November 7, 2016, you can vote for MileValue here.

You can vote once per day, just by clicking vote without having to give any personal information.

Winning this beauty contest would be nice, but I already feel like a winner. I've written a miles-and-points blog for almost five years. My job is to help people achieve lifelong travel dreams.

Through December 31, 2016, you can earn double the rewards on purchases that normally fall into the non-bonused category of spend when you use your Amex card at eligible small businesses. The only stipulation is that you register your card first.