Hey there, you're reading an outdated post!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.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post!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

This is the twentieth 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.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post!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

This is the nineteenth 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. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flier miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.

Here are the basics of using aa.com for award bookings.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post!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

This is the eighteenth 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.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post!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

This is the seventeenth 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.

Congrats to my twitter follower @fdmerrill for being selected as the winner of the $66 AA gift card. Thanks to everyone who entered in one or several ways. The good news for those who didn't win this or the United Club pass I gave away a few weeks back is that the giveaways are just beginning.

Expect regular chances to win awesome things right here. I anticipate giving away a few $67 AA gift cards and some Membership Rewards points in the near future.

You might have hundreds of dollars in free Southwest credits that are about to expire! If you have any old Rapid Rewards credits sitting around, you might be able to exploit them to save $158 like I just did.

This is the first post in a new series called Anatomy of an Award. Anatomy of an Award posts will talk about every aspect of the process of booking awards. Eventually I should have multiple posts on each frequent flier program.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post!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

This is the sixteenth 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.

If you're new to milevalue, welcome! If you're a newbie in the points game, you may want to catch up with my in-progress series for beginners called Free First Class Next Month. It is a series of two-minute posts that will take you from where you are to a nascent miles expert in one month.

If you're already pretty well-versed, you might want to check out my systematic valuation series on Avios, AAdvantage, Rapid Rewards, and my future ones on United, Delta, US Airways, Hawaiian, Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, and others.

This post is part of a four-part series. In Part 1, we looked at the mechanics of the AAdvantage program. In Part 2, we looked at the mechanics of a stopover, including how to use them to get free oneway trips within North America. In Part 3, we valued specific AAdvantage awards. In Part 4, I’ll put a number on one AAdvantage mile.

In this post, I'll explain why I value one AAdvantage mile at 1.77 cents per mile, but your value will be different.