Anatomy of an Award: Booking Singapore Suites

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Application Link: Citi Prestige® Card

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I have wanted to fly Singapore Suites since seeing Tahsir's trip report of a flying double bed.

Review: British Airways Galleries Lounge North at Heathrow Terminal 5

I recently had a chance to relax and refuel in the British Airways Galleries Lounge North at Heathrow Terminal 5 before my Dreamliner flight to Stockholm.

The lounge features incredible food, a wide selection of booze, some cool aircraft views, and a variety of seating areas. It is very crowded, but overall I'd give the lounge very high marks.

Just after passing security, the lounge was on my left.

Upon presenting a business class ticket, I was admitted by an agent who I later saw was surfing the BA FlyerTalk forum from her desk.

Earn 18 JetBlue Points Per Dollar on Flights Booked by 9/10/13

JetBlue has announced a 5x points promo on flights booked by Tuesday.

Ordinarily one earns 6 TrueBlue points per dollar on JetBlue bookings made online.

British Airways 787 Dreamliner to Fly Austin to London with Incredible Business Class Award Space Next Summer

Last week, British Airways announced a new, and surprising, route to be served by its Dreamliner 787: Austin, Texas <-> London-Heathrow, starting March 3, 2014.

Image from gcmap.com

The Austin route is the third Dreamliner route announced. The plane is already flying to Toronto and starts service to Newark on October 1, 2013.

I had a chance to speak to Simon Brooks, BA's Head of Sales for North America about the new route, for which tickets are already on sale.

The Newest Category Bonus for Business Gold Rewards Card

The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN is one of the best credit cards on the market with 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $5k in three months, several lucrative category bonuses, and automatic 5-10% discounts from dozens of companies through American Express OPEN Savings.

A new category bonus has been added to the card.

Trip Report of the Brand New British Airways 787 with Tons of Pictures

I recently had a chance to fly both a British Airways A380 and a British Airways 787 on intra-European flights in fully-flat business class beds for peanuts. The circumstances of the flights and some photos of the A380 are here.

I booked myself a business class bed on the 787 from London-Heathrow to Stockholm for 7,500 Avios and $140.

Asian Low-Cost Carriers Are So Cheap that It Affects United and American Award Bookings

I recently booked two flights for only $102 total on Asian low-cost carriers. Asian low-cost carriers are so cheap that there are effects on United and American awards you might be considering booking.

I booked Kuala Lumpur to Lankawi for $27 on Air Asia, and I spent another $75 on a Firefly flight from Penang to Phuket.

Basically Free $35 Worth of Shopping at AAdvantage eShopping Mall

American Airlines' AAdvantage eShopping mall just sent me the following:

If I spend $35 of more, I get 2,000 bonus AAdvantage miles on top of the normal mileage earning from the mall. Since I value 2,000 bonus AAdvantage miles at $35.40, it's like being rebated my $35 worth of shopping in miles.

Gold-Mine Award Space on Royal Jordanian Now Searchable on AA.com

Royal Jordanian award space is now searchable on aa.com. You can now search the following airlines' award space on aa.com:

American
Alaska
British Airways
Hawaiian
Qantas
Royal Jordanian
Finnair
airberlin

Because aa.com is very easy to use for searches up to one month at a time and has a pleasant interface, this is great news.

Where does Royal Jordanian fly in the US? How is the award space picture?

Royal Jordanian flies three North American routes.

Detroit-Montreal-Amman
Chicago-Amman
New York-Amman

All of the routes have near-perfect availability in economy and business class.

Analysis of the US Airways Card “New Benefits” Email

US Airways emailed me the following yesterday:

It's some slick marketing, but I won't be taking advantage of any of the "new" benefits. I have a US Airways Premier World MasterCard, so you'd think I'd be excited, but I'm not.

Why won't I be taking advantage of any of these generous-seeming new benefits? Let's go through the "additional travel benefits":

Zone 2 Boarding and First Class Check In: While nice, these aren't new and have been benefits of the card for a while.