Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the fifth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete.

I travel very differently than many of my readers. I'm up front in a premium class, but then when I land, I take my one carry on and zero checked bags to the house of a complete stranger where I stay for free. I couchsurf.

Couchsurfing refers to two things: the act of sleeping on a strangers couch or guest bed for free and the website couchsurfing.org--the main facilitator of couchsurfing in 2012.

Couchsurfing enriches and "en-cheapens" my travels so significantly that I wanted to evangelize about it for a post.

Every three months, Priority Club releases its list of PointBreaks hotels. That's huge news because you can stay at any hotel--any Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites--on the list for $35 a night between now and October 15, if the hotel has award availability.

Priority Club releases a PointBreaks hotels list every quarter as a loss leader.

This is another post in my Anatomy of an Award series, in which I take a real award I’ve booked and break it down step-by-step to elucidate the award booking process. If you have a real award you’d like to write up in a similar post, please contact me, and you can write a guest post.

Etihad Diamond First Class looks like an aspirational award if I've ever seen one. Here's a YouTube promotional video of the suite .

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the fourth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the third post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flier miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.

The main source of frequent-flier miles is credit card sign up bonuses.

When I skewered the British Airways Travel Together companion pass a few days back because of the gigantic out of pocket cost of the surcharges, a natural question emerged: how can you fly in British Airways First Class without paying $1,000 plus miles.

The short answer is to fly from Brazil to Europe with American Airlines miles.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the second post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete.

I'm rebooting the Free First Class Next Month series. It will basically be the same content as before, but the posts will be enhanced, updated, and reordered to improve them. See directly below this post for post #1.

My dad uncovered my first loyalty card ever. I would guess this is from about 1993, but I'm not sure.

Type in your name and email address here for a 20% off code for you (and a companion if you like) on a Virgin America flight.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here.

This is the first post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete.