There are data points rolling in from Reddit of people claiming the $450 annual fee on their American Express Business Platinum card is (unexpectedly) waived the first year.

This is not true of every single report, but many have noticed in their card agreements with American Express a line about the $450 annual fee being waived for the first year of card membership.

In case you missed the news: through January 25, 2017, the American Express Business Platinum Card is offering 100,000 total bonus Membership Rewards after spending $15,000 in the first three months.

This is the second 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
Trip Report Part II: United BusinessFirst Houston to Buenos Aires (this post)
Anatomy of an Award: Booking United BusinessFirst with Singapore Miles (future post)
Changing a Singapore Award (future post)

United Airlines Flight 819
Houston (IAH) – Buenos Aires (EZE)
Depart: 9:40 PM on Wednesday October 5, 2016
Arrive: 9:45 AM next

Through November 31, 2016, United MileagePlus is offering a transfer bonus when you move points over from a hotel loyalty program.

Transfer from most chain hotels earn a 25% bonus
Transfers from Club Carlson earn a 40% bonus
Transfers from Choice Privileges earn a 50% bonus

Since Marriott bought Starwood, one of the benefits the company has announced to members of both loyalty programs is the ability to transfer reward points between accounts.

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.

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.