Delta miles can now be redeemed for Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy.

This is the first time miles issued by one of the big three legacy carriers--American, Delta, United--can be redeemed for Premium Economy.

Brussels Airlines is a partner of Etihad miles, and this is the amazing award chart for roundtrip redemptions, including 36,620 Etihad miles roundtrip in Business Class between New York and Brussels, or about a quarter of the miles United would charge for the same booking:

Brussels award space in Business Class is wide open on united.com for Summer 2017 at the moment, and Etihad miles are easy to get as a 1:1 transfer partner of Citi ThankYou Points and Amex Membership rewards, so I figured some serious investigation was in order.

How to Book a Brussels Airlines Flight

Nothing cries out for a BIG trip idea like a few weeks with nowhere to be.

I'm considering going from Hawaii to Croatia from mid-February to mid-March.

Until December 5, 2016, you can buy 10,000-160,000 Hilton HHonors points for 50% off.

Hilton points normally cost 1 cent each. With the 50% discount, the price drops to 0.5 cents per point. This is the cheapest I’ve ever seen them, and is the exact same price as Hilton's more common "100% bonus" sales.

Here is the Hilton award chart.

When to Buy (Math)
Is buying Hilton points for 0.5 cents each a good deal?

I would not buy Hilton points speculatively for 0.5 cents each because I value them at 0.4 cents each.

Last month I flew from Croatia to the United States in Lufthansa First Class for 40,000 Starpoints + $300. Here's how I booked the award.

Trip Report: Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Munich (this post)
Trip Report: Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt (future post)
Trip Report: Lufthansa 747-8 First Class Frankfurt to Washington-Dulles (future post)

The award started with an early morning flight from Zagreb to Munich to meet my sister for a day at Oktoberfest.

Last month, I booked an award from Buenos Aires to Honolulu for 25,000 Singapore miles and about $100 in taxes. The booking illustrates a few topics:

Sweet spots and how to find them
Awards you should book speculatively
Booking awards with foreign programs

The Problem
I have to get to Hawaii for my brother's wedding in February. The main problem is that I don't know where I'll be in February to book the ticket to Hawaii.

Virgin Atlantic is dramatically altering its award charts for bookings made January 16, 2017 or later.

The United States goes from two regions to three.
The year round price is no more. Now we will have off peak and peak prices.
Economy and Premium Economy prices for most of the year drop dramatically.

For about a month, the Delta Gold and Platinum cards have had 50,000 to 70,000 point sign up bonuses.

Chase will launch a new business card, the Ink Business Preferred Card, some time in 2016 and stop accepting new applications for the Ink Plus Business Card at the same time. Here's a side-by-side look at the two offers:

Obviously when the Ink Business Preferred is released, I'll write about it, break down its offer further, and rank it among the very best credit card offers.

Hainan Airlines partnered with Alaska Airlines earlier this year, and their flights are now bookable on alaskaair.com. Their award chart is dirt cheap.

That's right, 50,000 miles one way in a flat bed for over 13 hours, with connections all over Asia. The only other deal that can compare is using Alaska miles to book Cathay Pacific flights for the same amount of miles and a little less out of pocket expenses (Hainan charges mild fuel surcharges-- about $140 per one way).