Best Lounge at Bogota El Dorado Airport, Colombia

This post should have narrow appeal, but should be of great use to people flying through Bogota El Dorado International Airport in Colombia. Priority Pass members--free with an American Express Platinum--get free access to the Salon VIP LAN and Avianca Sala VIP. Which is better?

I flew from Bogota to Dallas today on American Airlines.

How to Get to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia with Miles

I went to Angkor Wat this February, and I was blown away.

View from Inside Angkor Wat

The 900 year-old Hindu-turned-Buddhist temple just outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia is up there on the list of the most impressive historical sites I've visited with Machu Picchu and the Great Wall of China.

And it isn't just Angkor Wat.

Here’s When Buying Hyatt Miles for 1.85 Cents is a Good Deal

Until December 10, 2014, you can purchase Hyatt Gold Passport points for 1.85 cents each.

The sale offers a 30% bonus on the number of miles you receive for all purchases of at least 5,000 points, and you can purchase up to 55,000 points per calendar year.

35% Bonus on Purchase of Alaska Miles. Good Deal?

Until December 20, 2014, you can buy Alaska Airlines miles for as little as 2.19 cents each.

The sale is structured as a bonus on the normal number of miles you'd receive. The bonus is tiered, so the biggest 35% bonus comes from purchasing 35,000 to 40,000 miles at the normal price of about 2.96 cents each after tax.

To buy 47,250 miles (35,000 + 12,250 bonus) during this sale costs $1,034.69, which is 2.19 cents per mile.

Games 4 and 5, University of Virginia Basketball in Spain

Regular MileValue readers: ignore this post. It’s about college basketball, not miles.
UVA fans: ignore this blog. It’s about traveling free (in first class if you want) by efficiently collecting and redeeming frequent flyer miles, hotel points, and credit card points. If you don’t want to ignore that, start here.
Series So Far

Who I Am & Game 1
Games 2 & 3
Games 4 & 5 (this post)

Game 4, 72-62 Win vs. Sant Julia All Stars
Game 5, 85-49 Win vs.

How to Get to Machu Picchu with Miles

Machu Picchu is one the few places in the world that can't be over-hyped. Seriously, no matter how high your expectations are when you get there, I don't think you can be disappointed.

Even on my third visit, watching the sunrise over the mountains was spectacular.

So how do you get to Machu Picchu with miles?

It's actually very easy. The best miles to get to Machu Picchu are American Airlines miles. You can fly to Cuzco, the nearest airport, roundtrip for 35,000 American Airlines miles.

ThankYou Points Worldwide

I was eating a burrito at an obvious Chipotle knockoff in Bogota, Colombia (Sipote, it's awesome), and when I moved my tray, I noticed I had been sitting at a Citi ThankYou Points sponsored table.

Generally we Americans have by far the best credit card and frequent-flyer-mile-earning options, but ThankYou Points and Membership Rewards are offered to people around the world.

The program here in Colombia looks remarkably similar to what Citi offers Americans.

First, I can clearly see the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card on the table, which was actually the card I bought my dinner with to earn 3x

Anatomy of an Award: Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia with SkyMiles

I asked longtime award booker and occasional blog contributor JB to write about a very interesting Delta award he just booked.

A lot of people think Delta miles are worthless, but there are no other miles that could book a single convenient award with long stops in Tahiti and Sydney plus an overnight in Auckland.

A client contacted the MileValue Award Booking Service requesting a slightly modified version a MileValue classic: Tahiti, New Zealand & Australia on One Trip Using Delta Skymiles.

She had tried another award booking service that failed to convince Delta to book the award.

Take Your Whole Family to Europe This Summer

Aer Lingus, a partner of United MileagePlus and British Airways Avios, debuts a Washington-Dulles to Dublin route on May 1, 2015.

5 Best Products to Book One Way with SkyMiles

We are less than two months from 2015, and what I'm most looking forward to is being able to book one way awards with Delta SkyMiles. The 2015 award chart is already published and no Saver awards are going up in price.

Here are the roundtrip business class prices next year. One ways will be half the price.

2015 SkyMiles Business Class Award Chart

I have booked myself only one SkyMiles awards in the last three years, and the big reasons is that one way awards are often most convenient for my travel style.