Business Class award space for at least two travelers is plentiful right now from the United States to Australia, mid November through December. There aren't a lot of return options on Qantas, so you'll likely need to find other award space for the other direction (think Air New Zealand, United, or American if you want to fly back to the United States).

Yes, I realize that it's just outbound award space and most people have to fly home.

United MileagePlus Shopping is offering big shopping portal bonuses at specific retailers through February 19, 2018 at 11:59 PM ET.

Get excited, because you can now book Singapore Krisflyer awards flying Star Alliance partner United online! Why should you be excited? Because being able to book anything online versus having to call and speak to a representative, which was previously the only option, is going to save you a significant amount of time.

Last month my good friend and CPA wrote to me with various  questions regarding the hobby. He touches on a few pertinent topics that I think are worth sharing with you guys.

My response is in normal font and his original questions are in italics. Anything I added to the email to better explain something to you guys is in blue and in parentheses.

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Hey Vinnie!
Hope India was great. We're freezing our a$$es off in Maryland. The United States is miserably cold right now. Man.

Update 2/5/18: I originally wrote this post in October of last year but wanted to let you guys know that the site in which US, Australian, Japanese, and Canadian Nationals can process Brazilian tourist visas online is live! This is big in terms of upping the convenience factor.

For a limited time, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select World Elite™ MasterCard® is offering 60,000 bonus American Airlines miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months. While we don't know when exactly, according to the Points Guy, this 60k bonus is disappearing soon.

If you don't already have a Singapore Krisflyer account, sign up by March 31, 2018 and enter promo code JOINKFSQ on your application for a 1,000 mile bonus.

Scratching your head? Wondering why you would need an account with a loyalty program based on the other side of the world?
Star Alliance Access
Singapore Airlines is in the Star Alliance. Aside from redeeming Singapore miles on their own world renowned premium cabins, you can also redeem their miles on any Star Alliance carrier like United.

American Airlines has released Business Class award space between the United States and Europe, primarily for the spring but also further into 2018 as well.

For a while Hilton has offered all of the following co-branded credit cards:

Hilton Honors Card from American Express with no annual fee
Citi Hilton Honors Card with no annual fee
Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express with a $75 annual fee
Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Card with a $95 annual fee

But that's changing tomorrow. We've known for a while that Hilton dropped its partnership with Citi in favor of an exclusive co-branding partnership with Amex.

AAdvantage is giving out elite status--Gold tier--and you might be one of the lucky targeted customers.

Here is the landing page for the link of the promotion given out in the targeted email. The promo code is HV18G. Check now to see if you get Gold status benefits through May 25!

What do you get with Gold status?
Some of the highlights are...

Complimentary upgrades on flights 500 miles or less within North America (confirmed as early as 24 hours before departure)
Priority through the airport at check-in, security and boarding
7 award miles/U.S.