Free Giveaway: Pair of United Club Passes exp Dec 2015

A generous Cave Dweller has donated a pair of United Club passes that expire December 31, 2015 to one MileValue reader. (Congrats to Kim who won last week's pair of passes.)

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 by December 31, 2015, there are two ways to enter to win them!

Comment on this post.

Can You Get the Annual Fee Waived on Your US Airways Card?

Reader Joanna emailed me to let me know the results of calling Barclaycard:

"My US Airways® Premier World MasterCard® annual fee was due August 29. I called and got 5,000 miles for $1,000 spend over 90 days and annual fee waived for a year."

Barclaycard is really going all out to get people to get this card, keep this card, and use this card, and Joanna's email is another example.

Airline Change Fee Waivers for Iselle and Julio Hurricanes Hawaii

Hurricanes Iselle and Julio are scheduled to hit Hawaii in the next few days.

Free First Class 2014: British Airways Avios Basics

This is the seventeenth post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flyer miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.

I've covered how to earn miles and the redemption options for miles.

Half Off Purchase of US Airways Miles through 8/22

US Airways is offering a targeted 50% discount on purchasing 60,000 to 100,000 US Airways miles.

With the discount, US Airways miles cost 1.88 cents each.

Who is targeted?
Is this a good deal?
What can you do with US Airways miles?

The sale price of 1.88 cents each is not the price I'd want to pay for US Airways miles most of the time, but it would allow you to book a roundtrip in Business Class to Europe for about $2,000 all in, including taxes and fees.

Or if you buy 100,000 miles for $1

Free First Class 2014: US Airways Dividend Miles Basics

This is the sixteenth post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flyer miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.

I've covered how to earn miles and the redemption options for miles.

How to Get Part of Your Annual Fee Back from Citi

The offer mentioned in this post is out of date, so all links have been removed. For the best current rewards card offers, see here.

In my experience, if you cancel a Citi card, Citi will refund you a prorated portion of your annual fee.

Excellent Finnair Business Class Space to Europe in 2015

Finnair is offering excellent Business Class award space in a state-of-the-art bed next year from New York and Miami to Helsinki and beyond in Europe.

Since Finnair is a member of the oneworld alliance, you can book the business class award space for 50,000 American Airlines miles each way or 100,000 US Airways miles each way.

Finnair space is searchable on aa.com.

What is the Finnair Business class product?
What is the award space picture for Spring and Summer 2015?
How can you book awards with Finnair flights

Free First Class 2014: Delta SkyMiles Basics

This is the fifteenth post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flyer miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.

I've covered how to earn miles and the redemption options for miles.

There Is No Transitive Property of Miles

Let me clear up one of the most common types of questions I get from beginners.

There is no transitive property of miles.

Just because Airline A partners with Airline B and Airline B partners with Airline C does NOT mean Airlines A and C are partners.

For instance, in yesterday's post Fully Flat Business Class to Europe for 25,000 Miles, I wrote:
I searched award space on Aer Lingus' routes from Chicago, Boston, and New York to Dublin for one passenger next April through July.

I searched on united.com.