Yesterday, I talked about how to book a stopover on an American Airlines award online. Booking an award with a stopover online saves time and money, so today I want to explain how to book a stopover on a United award online.

The main limitation when trying to book an award with a stopover online is that you can only book awards online when the airline whose miles you're using loads the availability of the partner whose planes you want to fly.

This post is part of a four-part series. In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the Delta Airlines program. In Part 2, we looked at its award chart and rules to find valuable awards. In Part 3, we valued specific SkyMiles awards. In Part 4, I’ll put a number on one SkyMile.

In this post, I’ll explain why I value one SkyMile at 1.22 cents, but your value will be different. To start I’ll go back to the values for the redemptions I found in Part 3.

Update: You can no longer book stopovers on American Airlines awards.

The card offers listed at the conclusion of this post have expired. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

American, Delta, United, and US Airways all offer some version of a free stopover on award itineraries booked with their miles. Free stopovers are a great way to add tremendous value to your awards, but free stopovers can add complication to the booking process.

A natural instinct might be to call up the airline to book whenever your dream award includes a free stopover.

This post is part of a four-part series. In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the Delta Airlines program. In Part 2, we looked at its award chart and rules to find valuable awards. In Part 3, we’ll value specific SkyMiles awards. In Part 4, I’ll put a number on one SkyMile.

Now that we’ve looked at the rules of the SkyMiles program, and we’ve looked at the chart to find some valuable awards, we’re going to value specific awards.

This is another post in my Anatomy of an Award series, in which I take a real award I've booked and break it down step-by-step to elucidate the award booking process. If you have a real award you'd like to write up in a similar post, please contact me, and you can write a guest post.

My brother and I are going to Australia in January 2013 for the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. He's got about ten days, and we decided to see Sydney, The Great Barrier Reef via Cairns, and Melbourne.

This post is part of a four-part series. In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the Delta Airlines program. In Part 2, we’ll look at its award chart and rules to find valuable awards. In Part 3, we’ll value specific SkyMiles awards. In Part 4, I’ll put a number on one SkyMile.

In this post, I’ll detail what I think are some of the best SkyMiles awards from North America.

This is the second post in my Anatomy of an Award series, in which I take a real award I've booked and break it down step-by-step to elucidate the award booking process. If you have a real award you'd like to write up in a similar post, please contact me, and you can write a guest post.

Last year, I signed up for two Citi AA cards and netted 150,000 AAdvantage miles.

This post is part of a four-part series. In Part 1, we will look at the mechanics of the Delta Airlines program. In Part 2, we’ll look at its award chart and rules to find valuable awards. In Part 3, we’ll value specific SkyMiles awards. In Part 4, I’ll put a number on one SkyMile.

Delta Airlines SkyMiles are the most reviled currency among mile mavens. In a nod to Latin America's currency woes, the nickname "SkyPesos" has stuck to describe how worthless and devalued most collectors find SkyMiles to be.

US Airways and American Airlines have merged since the publication of this post so it is no longer valid.

This post is part of a four-part series. In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the US Airways program. In Part 2, we looked at its award chart and rules to find valuable awards. In Part 3, we valued specific Dividend Miles awards. In Part 4, I’ll put a number on one Dividend Mile.

In this post, I’ll explain why I value one US Airways Dividend Mile at 1.95 cents, but your value will be different.

Amazon Local (think Groupon) is offering a $25 credit on Virgin America for $10 at this link. Virgin America's route map is here if you want to see where it flies.

Virgin America is a more pleasant coach flying experience than the legacy carriers for domestic travel. Beyond its catchy ad campaigns, Virgin America also offers a personal touch screen TV at every seat and one free checked bag each way.

The $25 credit must be used for roundtrip travel that is completed by June 13.