Fly a flat bed to Madrid for 25,500 Avios and low fuel surcharges this spring. Economy awards start at 12,750 Avios + $71 or 3,200 Avios and $181 one way.

Iberia is offering a 25% discount on economy and Business Class awards booked by today (2/14/17) between Madrid and:

Miami, New York, Boston, Chicago, Zurich, London, Vienna, Moscow, Bogota, Medellin, Johannesburg, Panama, Shanghai, Mexico City, Lima, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, and Havana

The discounts to/from the USA must be flown by June 14, 2017 with blackouts dates including all of April;

United partners with both Hawaiian Airlines and Island Air to offer codeshares within Hawaii.

You can redeem United miles for interisland flights on either airline. The cost is 6,000 miles + $5.60 one way.

You can also include Hawaiian or Island Air flights as part of a larger award, like Newark to Honolulu on United, connecting to Molokai on Hawaiian. Until very recently, though, United would price this as two separate awards.

This post is part eight of a series about how to maximize value when transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards to loyalty program partners. 
Maximizing Your Ultimate Rewards

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

AirAsia X is offering $129 one way and $291 roundtrip flights from Honolulu to Osaka, Japan.

I recently went to Patagonia with my friend from Hawaii.

I helped her book her trip with American Airlines and Singapore miles, and I learned some things along the way. Takeaways:

Days of the year with good award space
The only airline within the Americas with fuel surcharges
When to book and when to wait

The Plan
My friend and I wanted to see Chilean and Argentine Patagonia plus Buenos Aires.

25 Euro Flight Sale
Air Baltic has a sale for flights booked by February 14, 2017 and flown March 9 to April 10 with fares starting at 25 euros. Example fares:

Most deals are to or from Riga, Vilnius, or Tallinn. I highly recommend the Baltics because they are small countries with interesting histories that are accessible and cheap.

Within the Baltics, though, I wouldn't fly. I'd use buses and ferries. Here's my guide to buses and ferries for Baltic travel.

I'm Going to Belarus
I love Eastern Europe.

The majority of us earn heaps of miles through sign up bonuses, maximizing category bonuses on credit cards, and flying. And at the end of the day, credit cards are the bread and butter that enable most of us to fly free in First Class.

But there are lots of other ways to earn miles, many of which are passive and all of which require little effort.

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

Travel from New York to Singapore for $492 roundtrip throughout much of March and end of September through December. There is one stop in, Guangzhou, in both directions.

The Chase IHG Rewards Club Select comes with 60,000 IHG points after spending just $1,000 in the first three months in which you open it.

The bonus isn't what really makes this card valuable and worth keeping year after year, however.

Along with Platinum status at IHG Properties (think InterContinental, Crown Plaza, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo), you'll earn a free night at ANY IHG hotel each year after your card member anniversary. For an annual fee of only $49, that's stellar. And yea--the card is issued by Chase.

Update 2/7/2017: I received an email that I have earned the bonus on the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard. The miles are also now in my account.