Earlier this year I published a series about how to maximize each type of transferrable point when redeeming on domestic awards. By doing so, all the major types of miles were covered.
Series Index

How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: Ultimate Rewards
How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: Membership Rewards
How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: ThankYou Points
How to Maximize Domestic Award Redemptions: Starpoints (SPG)

Let's talk about the highlights of what we've learned. Below I'll include basic details of valuable ways to redeem your miles on an award within the United States.

This is the first post in a series about how I used Singapore miles to book United BusinessFirst between San Francisco and Buenos Aires, as well as a review of the product and travel experience. 

Trip Report Part I: United Clubs in San Francisco and Houston (this post)
Trip Report Part II: United BusinessFirst Houston to Buenos Aires
Anatomy of an Award: Booking United BusinessFirst with Singapore Miles
Changing a Singapore Award Last Minute

About two weeks ago I flew from San Francisco to Buenos Aires.

Through December 31, 2016, you can earn double the rewards on purchases that normally fall into the non-bonused category of spend when you use your Amex card at eligible small businesses. The only stipulation is that you register your card first.

Until October 31, 2016, you can buy between 10,000 and 55,000 Hyatt Gold Passport Points and get a 40% bonus on the number of points you purchase.

Hyatt points normally cost 2.4 cents each.

To sum it up one sentence and rip off the Band-Aid: The results from a basic United award search now define all possible routing options if you want the flights to price as one award. Building your own itinerary if you don't like what the computer gives you has become considerably more expensive.

In the past, if you didn't like what United's award search tool displayed, you could search segment-by-segment and piece them together as one award as long as you followed United's award rules.

Through Friday (September 30, 2016), you can buy IHG Rewards Club points with a 100% bonus.

The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express Open now comes with 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $5,000 on your card in the first three months the account is open.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

The normal offer for the Business Gold Rewards Card is 25,000 points after spending $5,000. This improved offer is twice is good as it was before, and the best we've seen in years.

Through September 30th, 2016, sign up to receive emails from Virgin Hotels and Virgin Sport and earn 500 Virgin America points for each.

Sign up for Virgin Hotels promotional emails here
Sign up for Virgin Sport promotional emails here

These aren’t huge miles, but they are easy to get, since signing up will take no time and is free.

Considering I value Virgin America Elevate miles more than any other mile at 2.3 cents each, signing up for both of these emails is a no brainer.

As you might already know, the wording of the terms and conditions for Citi credit card sign up offers has changed and now you are only eligible to earn a sign up bonus if you haven’t opened or closed a card from the same type (brand or co-brand) within the last 24 months.

This is significantly different from the prior rule which only restricted you to earning a sign up bonus on a card 24 months after you opened or closed the same card.

In light of this new rule, I thought it would be helpful to know what kind

SPG Moments offer one-of-a-kind musical, sporting, or cultural experiences to Starwood Preferred Guest members. SPG Moments are unique in that they provide an experience that would be very difficult, or next to impossible, to put together yourself. After last night, I can attest to this statement.

Yesterday I attended the US Open evening session and was lucky enough to watch world class tennis from Starwood Preferred Guest's Luxury Suite.