Getting to the Big Island of Hawaii from the United States mainland is easy with miles. There are a ton of direct flights on several airlines, most of which have fantastic award space. Several of the flights can even be booked for as little as 12,500 miles each way.

I've been on the Kona side of Hawaii Island this week with my family, and it has been fantastic.

The snorkeling on this coast is the best I've ever experienced.

A generous "Cave Dweller" has donated a pair of United Club passes that expire October 31, 2015 to one lucky MileValue reader.

Here are the United Club locations to check whether you’ll be able to use a pass on your next trip.

If you can use the passes in the next 16 months, there are two ways to enter:

Comment on this post.

A generous "Cave Dweller" has donated three Southwest drink coupons that expire December 31, 2014 for one lucky winner.

If you're flying Southwest before then, leave a comment explaining why you could use a few drinks.

Update July 1, 2014:

The current offer on the Premier Miles & More® World MasterCard® is 20,000 miles after first purchase and payment of $79 annual fee.

Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchase or balance transfer
Earn up to 15,000 award miles with balance transfers (1 mile per $1 transferred) within 30 days of account opening
Earn 2 award miles per $1 on ticket purchases directly from Miles &

The best award on the entire US Airways award chart could save you 70,000 miles on your next two trips.

United announced yesterday on Twitter that it would begin a new daily service from Houston to Santiago, Chile on December 7, 2014.

Today is the second day of the last week of five weeks of discounted travel packages sponsored by the US Travel Association and American Express called Daily Getaways. Every weekday at 1 PM ET, a discounted travel package or packages will go on sale and will usually sell out in a few minutes.

US Airways has announced a new Share Miles promotion through June 30, 2014.

US Airways Share Miles promotions are routinely my favorite way to buy US Airways miles for myself.

Update July 1, 2014:

The current offer on the Premier Miles & More® World MasterCard® is 20,000 miles after first purchase and payment of $79 annual fee.

Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchase or balance transfer
Earn up to 15,000 award miles with balance transfers (1 mile per $1 transferred) within 30 days of account opening
Earn 2 award miles per $1 on ticket purchases directly from Miles &

You can now route through the Middle East on Qatar Airways on your way from the United States to Africa with American Airlines miles.

American Airlines has a unique routing rule that you cannot transit a third region on an award between two other regions. Under this rule, flying from the United States to the Middle East to Africa would require two awards, one from the United States to the Middle East and one from the Middle East to Africa.