Rookie Tip: Before You Apply for Credit Cards…

Raise your hand if you like calling credit card companies.

MileValue Reader Meetup at FTU DC!

If you're going to the Frequent Traveler University this weekend, let's meet up! At the last FTU meetup in Los Angeles, we were able to meet a ton of new people and put some faces to familiar names.

Anatomy of an Award: Roundtrip from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires with a Free Oneway

The second you move abroad, you become a lot more popular! That far flung country looks a lot better to family and friends as soon as they know they'll have a free bed and tour guide. My sister wanted to come visit me in Argentina in mid-May, so we set out to find her the best award ticket possible. Only one minor problem. As of two months ago, she had zero miles.

We ended up booking her a roundtrip from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires for a weeklong trip for 60,000 United miles.

The Way to Get Singapore Business Class Space Without Fuel Surcharges

The Avianca/TACA LifeMiles program sells miles for around 1.36 cents per mile, which means you can get into luxury seats like Singapore business class beds on an A380 for less than the cost of a paid economy ticket.

LifeMiles selling for 1.3 cents is not new. Scott wrote about that deal in September. Every month or two LifeMiles has a "2 for 1" promo that makes their miles a steal.

Anatomy of an Award: Buenos Aires to Denver in Business Class for 50k Miles

Unfortunately, all great trips must come to an end. Three-and-a-half months before the end of my stay in Argentina, it is time to book my oneway return to the US: from Buenos Aires (EZE) to Denver (DEN).

Planning

I need to be in Denver for a wedding at the end of July. Because of this, my travel dates are limited--I want to maximize my time in Argentina while still arriving in Denver before the wedding.

Spring Break 2013: Thai Airways A380 First Class Bangkok-Hong Kong

After a few eventful days in Bangkok, I was ready to head on over to Hong Kong. I initially booked my flights to Hong Kong on the specific purpose of flying Lufthansa's new 747-8i in First Class. As luck would have it, Lufthansa began flying to Hong Kong with the 747-8i two days before I was scheduled to fly that route.

Bangkok to Hong Kong has been operated by a Thai A380 because of Hong Kong's strong business-traveler demand.

I got to the airport at about 6:30AM for my 8:05 AM departure.

Spring Break 2013: Malaysia Airlines A380 First Class from Paris to Kuala Lumpur

It's been a long week for me as I have just spent a few days in Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The entire week was a blast and it was probably the best trip of my life. To make it even better, at the end of the week I was scheduled to fly Malaysia Airlines new A380 in their First Class cabin. Here's how it went.

I left Paris around 9AM to catch my 12PM departure. Originally, I was supposed to be dropped off but the train seemed like a more viable option.

Anatomy of an Award: Tahiti, New Zealand & Australia on One Trip Using Delta Skymiles

Update 11/6/14: Here is an Anatomy of an Award post in which we book the theoretical award below for an actual client!

Two of the most frequent destination requests we receive at our Award Booking Service are Bora Bora and Australia/New Zealand. These are the aspirational trips that families want to take after diligently saving their frequent flyer miles. Luckily, both trips can be accomplished in a single award. Even better--Delta SkyMiles are the mileage currency to use. We recently had a couple with a sizable SkyMiles balance who wanted to visit both places.

Spring Break 2013! A Proposed 26,000 Mile Journey

As many of you may know, I am a college student by day and the amusing, yet mystical, Bengali Miles Guru by night. After traveling almost 100,000 miles since January, I knew that my upcoming spring break trip would have to be amazing.

Getting to the Maldives on Etihad using American Airlines Miles

At our Award Booking Service, we receive numerous requests to get our clients to the Maldives.