In Part 1, I shared my experiences at the 2012 Euro Cup and how they informed my plan for the World Cup. I also discussed the flight and hotel awards I booked for myself.

I just booked myself a roundtrip First Class award from Honolulu to Sao Paulo, Brazil during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I also booked myself five nights at a hotel in Sao Paulo.

Rooting for the Home Team (Poland) at the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup!

The cost?

125,000 US Airways miles
100,000 IHG Rewards points
$109

If you want to go see the biggest sporting event in the world in the world's best footballing (soccer) country, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The offers for the cards listed in this post have expired, so their links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

The 50k mile bonus offer is back on the Lufthansa card mentioned in this post until 6/30/14.

Update at 5:49 PM ET on 12/20/13: Many commenters are saying they've had problems with aa.com showing "phantom award space" on airberlin flights. I have never had that experience, so I was surprised by the reports, but I'm sure they're accurate. My advice changes in light of this info.

United announced a massive devaluation of its miles on Halloween to take effect for awards booked February 1, 2014 or later. Until January 31, 2014, I’ll be running posts about the best ways to burn United miles.

Maybe I should have written this last week because I'm cutting it very close, and I might already be too late! But here goes...

It's your last chance to earn and burn United miles before the United miles devaluation kicks in February 1, 2014.

Currently, the following United award (Newark to London, returning Paris to Newark) would cost 60k miles in economy.

Add in a stopover in Newark on the return, and a later one way trip to Jamaica and the price drops 2,500 miles to only 57,500 miles in economy!

 

Unfortunately, this deal I first wrote about last year dies in six weeks!

Did you miss 20k Miles (or Less) to All of South America All Year yesterday? That post is a competing trick with this one, and it might be an even better deal for you.

Chicago to Santiago "should" cost 30,000 American Airlines miles each way in economy.

Mighty Travels interviewed me about miles, travel, and this blog. As usual, I went on and on and on and ... ;)

My favorite question and answer:

What is your biggest learning from earning so many miles and points?

The best use of miles is often to give them away.

In 2013, I traveled nine months outside the US to 20+ countries. And yet I had more miles than I could use.

Or: Save 10k Miles by Adding a Free Oneway

Summer airfare--during our summer or theirs--to Southern South America usually tops $1,000 per person in economy.

But you can get to South America this summer for only 20k American Airlines miles one way.

All the legacy carriers--Delta, United, American, and US Airways--charge 60k miles roundtrip on Saver economy awards to Southern South America, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

American and United let you go one way for half the price while US Airways and Delta charge 60k miles for one ways.

American is even more generous with

I almost never write about hotel promotions because they are constant and usually underwhelming except as a few extra points for business travelers who have their rooms paid for. The IHG Big Win is an exception.

IHG Rewards has announced a repeat of its current Big Win promotion for January 1 to April 30, 2014. The current Big Win has been running since September 1, 2013, and I've already earned 153,700 bonus IHG Rewards points for participating in it.

You can register for The New Big Win today to see your offers, which vary by person.