The world is in a time-out

The travel world has certainly been turned upside down due to COVID-19. Every country around the globe has been changing travel restrictions on pretty much a weekly basis. Airlines are adjusting their routes and aircraft even more frequently.

At the moment, some airlines including Air Baltic, Ryanair, Avianca, and EasyJet have 100% of their fleet grounded. Air France and KLM have over 90% of their fleet grounded, with hopes to be 30% airborne in July. Singapore Airlines has been flying just 9 aircraft.

Airbnb can be a fantastic way to stay at a unique property or save money compared to staying at a hotel. Be sure to check out our previous article where we discussed details such as filtering the search results and strategies for saving money and earning points and miles.

Part I: Key Things You Need To Know About Booking An Airbnb. This post goes over the foundations of booking an Airbnb.

Part II: How to be an Airbnb Ninja - Ready for Anything. Today's post dives into more advanced search strategies and crisis avoidance/management.

In our previous article we discussed some tools, tips, and tricks to help you navigate booking air travel. In this article we’ll tackle accommodation. Specifically we’ll look at one of the biggest movers and shakers in the industry – Airbnb. Let’s move about the cabin and discuss accommodation on the ground.

Airbnb Basics

Airbnb has left VRBO and HomeAway in the dust while also overtaking some hotel chains based on US sales. There are over 7 million Airbnb listings worldwide and some 2 million people are staying in an Airbnb on a given night according to recent statistics.

Below are some tools, tips, and tricks to help you navigate the complexities of planning and booking air travel. Let’s move about the cabin and discuss how we got here.

Award Tickets

Using points and miles can be a fantastic way to leverage the costs of travel. By using credit cards which earn transferable points or airline miles, you'll be well on your way to nearly free travel.

For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on dining. These Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to 10 different airline programs.

Flying Blue, the award program of Air France and KLM, often flies under the radar. Even with dynamic award pricing, there are plenty of reasons to check it out. Let’s move about the cabin and take a look. 

The Basics

Flying Blue is the name of the mileage program for Air France and KLM, part of the SkyTeam Alliance which includes 17 other airlines such as Delta Airlines and Alitalia. That means when flying on a revenue (e.g.

Updated March 30, 2020 to include data points on award refunds

Updated March 27, 2020 to include data points on United's refund practices.

There’s nothing normal about travel during the COVID-19 outbreak. As with any travel decision, always do what you feel most comfortable with. It is our personal opinion that there are many good reasons to take this time to plan ahead for future travels and more.

Let’s move about the cabin and discuss.

Eventually We’ll Be Cleared For Takeoff

There will come a time when the virus is over.

A note from Sarah Page: You may know Kevin from the MileValue Award Booking Service. Together with his wife, their friends and family refer to them as K2, which you'll notice in the by line. They’re excited to contribute to MileValue and I'm happy to be able to share two new perspectives with all of you!

After months of waiting, we both have our Global Entry cards. It was definitely a marathon rather than a sprint. But as they say, good things come to those who wait.