I am giving away two Express Arrival Cards for entry into Australia and one Express Departure Card.

An Express Arrival Card gives you priority access to passport checks on international arrivals in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

If you've answered "No" to the customs declaration form, you will also get priority Customs access.

An Express Departure Card

The offers for the cards listed in this post have expired. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

The merger of American Airlines and US Airways, announced today, is no news in the near term, fantastic news in the medium term, and bad news in the long term for me and similarly situated frequent flyer mile hackers.

No News in the Near Term

Your US Airways Dividend Miles are still there.

American Airlines is offering 15,000 miles per direction awards to Hawaii. (Hat tip Lucky)

My first thought: we can do better!

1. American Airlines Award Free Oneway- On any award returning from Europe, you should be able to get a free or cheap oneway to Hawaii. Zero miles or 9,000 Avios is a better deal than 15,000 AA miles.

2. Allegiant Air $358+ roundtrip- Allegiant Air is a super-low cost carrier that announced flights to Hawaii that will start in November.

Or: The Whole is Less than Either of its Parts

If you take a look at the American Airlines award chart, you'll see that Honolulu to Dallas costs 22,500 miles each way in economy. And Dallas to Buenos Aires costs 30,000 miles each way in economy.

Luckily both Hawaii and South America Zone 2 (most of South America including Argentina) have some dates when you can fly in economy at a discount.

Hawaii's off peak pricing of 17,500 miles each way runs from January 12 to March 8 and August 22 to December 15.

I recently booked a fascinating award that shows just how simply you can turn a good itinerary into a great itinerary using the the concept I laid out in a post titled 7,500 Miles to Europe and Negative 7,500 Miles to South America.

The basic premise is the inverse of a free oneway. If you are booking an award within the US on American Airlines, consider adding on an international leg to the domestic leg for very little extra.

My client Mark came to me with 105,000 American Airlines miles and 103,000 Ultimate Rewards.

Hey! You're reading an outdated Free First Class Next Month series. Check out the latest version published in April of 2015 here.

This is the seventeenth post in a monthlong series that started here. 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.

Chauffeur Service

Pre-Departure Services and Emirates Club Auckland

Emirates First: Suite, Seat, and Bed

Emirates First: Service and Food

Emirates First: Shower Spa

__________________________________________________

Emirates 413
Auckland (AKL) – Sydney (SYD)
Depart: 6:40 PM on Saturday, January 12
Arrive: 8:05 PM
Duration: 3:25
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Seat: 3A (First Class)

There's one reason why Emirates First Class on an A380 is famous: the on board shower.

Hey! You're reading an outdated Free First Class Next Month series. Check out the latest version published in April of 2015 here.

This is the fifteenth post in a monthlong series that started here. 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.

Hey! You're reading an outdated Free First Class Next Month series. Check out the latest version published in April of 2015 here.

This is the fourteenth post in a monthlong series that started here. 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.

Several months ago, American Express had a very limited time offer of 70,000 bonus SkyMiles for signing up for the American Express Delta card. Delta miles aren't worth as much to me as miles from American, United, US Airways, Frontier, Southwest, Virgin America, or many other airlines, but 70,000 miles is a lot--especially since the normal bonus is 30,000 miles.

I jumped at the chance, and I was approved for the card.