Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the twenty-third post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete.

Bad news for anyone who wants to book awards to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, the Maldives, and even Europe with United miles.

United's relationship with Qatar Airways ends September 14. Tickets booked by then can include Qatar segments up to 337 days out or so, which is generally how far in advance you can book United awards.

I've been on a Dreamliner kick the last few days. This is the last post on the topic for a while. I just had to share two even cheaper ways to get on one of United's Dreamliners on a BusinessFirst bed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJEA3JQA_FM&feature=player_embedded

I always chuckle at that video. "You got an upgrade. And the seats go completely flat."

Upgrades are mainly a domestic phenomenon. Flat seats are mostly an international phenomenon.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the twenty-second post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete.

How lucky are they?

For the wedding, I'm staying with some friends at the Westin Pittsburgh. There is something in the room that we hung on the door knob that declined housekeeping during the stay in exchange for a $5 coupon per day or 500 SPG points per day.

Since 500 SPG points are worth more than $10, I told my friend to take that option.

Yesterday, I wrote about the United Dreamliners' domestic routes being announced for this fall, and how you can score six and a half hours of flying on one of its beds for only 25k United miles.

I advised locking up space yesterday--reserving not purchasing--because today was the day United said its schedule would be updated to reflect the aircraft change, and I was worried United wouldn't offer space on the Dreamliner flights.

Well today I went to united.com to see if space is still available.

United recently acquired several Boeing 787 Dreamliners and announced the first international routes that will be serviced by the plane.

But before those routes start, United will fly the plane between its domestic hubs. The very first flights haven't been announced, but United did release the routes the planes will fly between November 4 and March 31. (H/T Mommy Points.)

To me, this is huge news.

I've had a lot of new readers joining the site lately, so I wanted to let them know of some of my best posts that they should read right away to get a feeling for what they can expect from milevalue.com.

Free Oneways on United Awards

Free Oneways on United Awards is my most viewed post of all time.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the twenty-first post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete.

This is a blog about frequent flier miles. Almost everything I write is designed to help you accumulate miles and points efficiently then redeem them for free travel--up front if possible.

But sometimes using points for a ticket is a huge mistake. Sometimes, just book with cash. JBWC. I'll give two examples, and I'll tell you how to figure out whether you should book with cash or miles on a particular trip.

LAX to Honolulu

The first example comes from yesterday.