My sister asked me a few weeks ago: "Didn't you say there are no stopovers allowed on American Airlines awards?"

"Yes," I replied. "In April, American removed the ability to add a free stopover to awards under all circumstances.

Last week, I did a 2 day/1 night hike on the Great Wall of China near Beijing that included 10 miles of hiking on the Wall, several meals, transportation, lodging, and a massage. My brother and I paid $370 per person.

Hiking the Great Wall was one of my best travel experiences ever. The history, the scenery, the outdoor exercise, and spending time with my brother were a potent combination.

I went with Great Wall Hiking (which gave me no discount and doesn't know I'm writing this review), and I enjoyed the tour immensely.

Through Monday September 22, 2014, you can buy 100,000+ IHG Rewards points for 0.575 cents each.

Buying IHG points for under 0.6 cents each means you can book certain IHG hotel rooms for less than $30 per night.

This sale virtually ties the cheapest I've ever seen the points for sale.

I just arrived in Los Angeles after 10 hours flying Asiana First Class on its brand new A380. I booked my seat last month for 70,000 United miles (at pre-devaluation prices using this trick.)

This is a really important trip report because Asiana First Class is a true luxury product that is extremely easy to book with miles!

Award space on the Asiana A380 is wide open in Business Class and First Class between Los Angeles and Seoul, especially at the last minute.

Enjoy one of these 50 free upgrade codes to six months of Award Wallet Plus. Award Wallet is the free way I track my 35 miles and points balances and store my login information for those programs.

Read more about Award Wallet.

Sign up for Award Wallet.

Click "Continue Reading" to see the codes.

I'm sitting in the Asiana First Class Lounge in Seoul, about to fly one of the newest and hopefully best First Class products in the world on the Asiana A380.

I booked the ticket for 70,000 United miles and around $150 all in because you can still book awards at the old pre-devaluation United award prices.

On a whim, I checked the cash price for the ticket.

I recently received an email about changes to the Virgin Atlantic route network.

Virgin Atlantic is a London-based carrier that is not a member of any of the three major alliances, but does have a partnership with Delta.

Using 125,000 Delta miles for a roundtrip in Upper Class from anywhere in the United States to anywhere in Europe is a fantastic use of SkyMiles.

I checked a few of the Virgin Atlantic routes for award space for May 2015 and found award space nearly every day on one route

IHG Rewards has a fantastic promotion called Into the Nights in which you can turn a few cheap stays into free stays at top tier hotels worldwide.

Everyone is given several tasks to complete that vary in difficulty. Each task has an associated amount of bonus points.

If you THINK BIG, and take an amazing multi-destination trip, you'll need to book several tickets to hop between destinations.

In the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia, flights are fairly cheap because of the many competing airlines, including low cost carriers. In other regions, like Africa and South America, short flights can be exorbitantly expensive as a lack of competition drives up prices.

When ticket prices are expensive, that's the time to use miles. I've already laid out the cheapest intra-region bargain awards with American Airlines and United miles.

All 30 spots are full and there is a wait list for cancellations that is already 10+ deep, so no new RSVPs can be accepted. I love the great response, so I'll try to have more.

I'm excited to announce a MileValue dinner this Sunday, September 21, in Los Angeles (90006) at 6 PM. I chose an earlier start time, since it's a work night.

This is the first one in Los Angeles in eleven months, and I think the fourth LA dinner overall.