Today only, Southwest is offering 40% off roundtrip flights flown between 12/11/12 and 2/12/13 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

That's a massive savings if you can take advantage. Unfortunately I literally need a flight for February 13, the day after the promo period. Alanis Morisette would probably call that "ironic" since she doesn't know what that word means.

The deals are pretty incredible.

Here's a transcon for $221.

British Airways is offering a 25% discount on its longhaul awards--flown by BA or Iberia. That would be great except British Airways charges humungous surcharges that make any redemptions an awful deal in my mind. To wit, British Airways business class from New York to London:
As the screen shot indicates, this is normally a 40,000 Avios award, so there is a 10,000 Avios, or 25%, discount. But the taxes and fees of $438 oneway make this an award I would not purchase.

Priority Club is running a promotion during which they are giving a 50% bonus on purchased points (AKA a 33% reduction in the price of points.) Right now you can buy 4,000 Priority Club points for the normal price of $54 and receive 2,000 points free for a total of 6,000 points.

This sale is noteworthy for planning purposes. Priority Club interests me for exactly one reason. Every two months they release a PointBreaks list of hotels that are available for 5,000 points per night.

On February 19, 2013, I am moving to Argentina. This will not negatively impact the blog.

In July, my law school buddy called me while I was in Hawaii. He told me that when his Judge Advocate General (JAG) commitment ended at the end of the year, he was moving to Buenos Aires.

That sounded like a heck of a plan. For the last nine years--since I first left North America--I've wanted to live abroad at some point.

American Airlines eliminated free stopovers in April 2014, killing the possibility of free one ways on American Airlines awards.

Joanne writes:

"I have accumulated approximately 55,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards. I see that I have a Southwest flight credit that is expiring, and Southwest wants me to use 18,000 points to create a reward flight. I have my eye on a roundtrip award to Phoenix that costs 29,000 points. Is it worth it to do this? I am so confused. Any help is appreciated."

I can sympathize with Joanne's confusion.

Introduction to Free One Ways (this post)
Free Oneways on American Airlines Awards (dead as of April 2014)
Free One Ways on United Awards
Free One Ways on Delta Awards
Free One Ways on US Airways Awards
Free One Ways on Alaska Airlines Awards
Three Vacations on Two Awards

A free oneway is a oneway itinerary to or from your home airport added on to another award for no additional miles.

The Delta SkyMiles program has a lot of drawbacks. One of the most annoying is that it charges fuel surcharges on award redemptions on several of its partners. For this post, I've compiled a list of SkyMiles partners that fly to the US, and I've priced out a roundtrip award from the US to their hubs in either economy or business class.

Delta miles can't be used for three-cabin first class redemptions. Awards cost the roundtrip price whether you fly oneway or roundtrip.

I've noted which awards incur surcharges and how much those surcharges are.

I'm excited to announce a new writer has joined the MileValue team: Bill Wilkes.

Bill was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. The son of an American Airlines pilot, he grew up with airplanes being his home away from home. He currently works for the baseball team in Baltimore, MD assisting with Major League rules interpretation and administration. Some of his favorite destinations to travel (with miles, of course) are Spain, Argentina, and Hawaii.

Small Business Saturday from American Express is back. Registration opens November 18.

On November 18, we'll register all our AMEX issued and AMEX processed cards (except prepaids). Then on November 24, we'll spend $25+ at small business with each card to get a $25 credit on each statement.

Last Thanksgiving I was in Hawaii, so I bought $25 gift certificates to all my sister's favorite restaurants. We used some, and I gave her the rest when I left.