There will be a MileValue meet up tomorrow (2/17/14) at The Australian at 20 W 38th St in Manhattan from 5 PM to 8 PM.

I've wanted to hold a meet up in New York City for quite a long time. Unfortunately I will only be there from Monday through Thursday, so I can't hold a customary MileValue dinner. And I really apologize for not having my other plans set soon enough to give more than 24 hours notice.

But I hope everyone will be able to join me for Happy Hour at the Australian.

I surprised my family of four by booking them roundtrip business class tickets to Italy for Christmas using US Airways miles. It is very difficult to find four flatbed business class award seats to Europe during peak Christmas travel time. With a bit of flexibility, I was lucky to snag a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt on the outbound and the United flight below on the inbound. I previously reviewed Lufthansa's 747-8 business class, so I will skip ahead to the flight home.

United has recently increased their award chart prices to most regions.

Brussels Airlines award space now displays on United.com!

United.com prices a certain one way award from the Europe to the US entirely on partner metal at the United business class price of 57,500 miles though there is a big catch:

The intra-Europe 1hr20min flight is in business class (Hamburg to Zurich)
The region-connecting 9hr5min flight is in economy (Zurich to New York)

Still 57,500 miles--the United chart price--is intriguing instead of the partner business class price of 70k miles or the partner economy price of 30k miles.

I am well aware that this is a minor curiosity and not a major breakthrough that will help you

For flights between the US and Europe, Austrian Airlines releases its economy class award seats to partners 298 days before the flight and its business class award seats to partners 88 days before the flight.

Austrian routes between the US and Europe have economy award space up to 298 days out

Austrian is a Star Alliance member that operates five routes to North America from its hub in Vienna:

New York-JFK
Chicago
Washington-Dulles
Toronto (don't forget about routing to Europe via Canada)
Newark (begins July 2, 2014)

Austrian operates two cabin Boeing 777s and 767s

I just got back home from two nights at the Andaz Maui at Wailea.

It's a beautiful, luxurious, attentive resort with breathtaking sunset views.

It's also very expensive, poorly located for the activities that interested me on Maui, and charges a $30 mandatory valet fee per day if you come with a car.

What are my thoughts on the service, food, room, value, and more (with tons of pictures)?

Valet
There is no self-parking at the Andaz

There are a ton of Canada-to-Europe Star Alliance routes with better availability in economy and business class this summer than USA-to-Europe routes.

Connections from the US to Canada are easy to find, connecting in Canada generally leads to less flying than connecting in the US, and all airlines I can think of allow a connection in Canada between the US and Europe.

Since direct flight paths from the US to Europe cross Canada, connecting in Canada saves distance compared to connecting in the US.

What are the routes with award space?

Last year, United reduced its service to Buenos Aires. Across its entire system, United has only one daily flight to Buenos Aires, which leaves from Houston.

The U.S.

One of the most impossible premium cabin awards to find is now bookable!

Star Alliance carrier TAM has released excellent first class award space between its hub in Sao Paulo, Brazil and New York-JFK & Miami. In all my experiences at our Award Booking Service, I've never seen a TAM first class award seat....ever.

Check out the searches below using the ANA tool for two passengers. Both are during peak travel dates to South America: the World Cup this summer and in December when the weather is delectably hot.