Air New Zealand Adds Dreamliner (Flat Bed Business) to Honolulu-Auckland Route

Air New Zealand is now flying a 787 Dreamliner between Auckland and Honolulu.

This is great news because the Air New Zealand Dreamliner has flat beds in Business Class in a 1-1-1 con

Trip Report: Azul Brazilian Airlines

"It is possible that because of the weather, your aircraft will not be able to land.

SALE: Delta Discounting Domestic Economy Award Travel

Delta domestic economy and Delta Comfort+ award tickets are on sale for as little as 5,500 miles one way.

Book by June 7, 2016
Travel August 23 - November 16, 2016 (except September 1 - 8)
Fly one of 8,000 routes on sale (although only a few dozen are listed)

I searched for Columbus to Los Angeles and found the sale price widely available in economy and Comfort+;

Unbeatable Sweet Spot: 75,000 Miles Roundtrip in Flat Bed to Japan

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has reduced fuel surcharges drastically on awards that travel to or from Japan. Now you can fly to Tokyo from the United States for 75,000 miles in flat bed Business Class roundtrip plus low taxes plus a $4--yes four dollar--fuel surcharge. That's tens of thousands of miles fewer than competitors charge.

The above screenshot is of a roundtrip Business Class award flying ANA between Los Angeles and Tokyo in February 2017.
Routing Rules
ANA has two award charts.

Cheapest Economy and First Class Award Space From Low Tax Countries in Europe

Today (May 11, 2016) is the last day to take advantage of the 30% discount on Virgin Atlantic economy awards that brings the price of an award between select U.S cities and London down to only 12,250 Virgin Atlantic miles and $134.60 in taxes and fuel surcharges.

If you stack that Virgin Atlantic economy sale with the current deal American Express is offering-- a 30% transfer bonus of Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic through May 31, 2016--then you can book an award to London for only 10,000 Membership Rewards +$134.60!! Book now, but not as a roundtrip.
Why

3 Hidden Credit Card Offers that Will Earn You More Miles

The current public sign-up bonus offers for the Cit AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard, CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard, and the Citi ThankYou Premier Mastercard are 30k, 30k, and 0 (no bonus) respectively.

But you can do much better.

The following links have surfaced with much higher sign-up bonus offers:

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard®
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard®
Citi ThankYou® Premier MasterCard®

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard®

This card's public sign-up offer is 30,000 American Airlines miles for spending $1,000 within three months of opening the account.

15% Discount on JetBlue Awards: TODAY ONLY

Book any JetBlue award by 11:59 PM EST TODAY (May 10, 2016) for travel from now to June 30, 2016, and you’ll get 15% of the points back a month to six weeks after your flight.

JetBlue's loyalty program is revenue based, meaning the number of points you need is based on the ticket price. JetBlue points are worth roughly 1.5 cents each toward a ticket. Read this post to learn the basics about JetBlue awards.

The highest value award is for Mint Class between New York and Los Angeles and New York and San Francisco.

The Beginning Section of a Manual I Created for Award Booking

A few years ago, I created a manual for award booking. I thought the best way to organize it was to explain the key concepts of all awards in the beginning, and then explain each major program in detail afterwards. Here is the first section of the manual--nine key concepts of all award bookings. I've edited it slightly today to make sure it is up to date.

Are there any other key concepts you would add to a manual of award booking?
Key Concept 1
Each type of miles has its own rules.

Earn 700 American Airlines Miles in Five Minutes

You can earn 700 AAdvantage miles by entering American Airlines' Miles for Milestones giveaway, a celebration of the 35th anniversary of the American Airlines AAdvantage® program. 35 winners will be chosen for the grand prize of 350,000 AAdvantage miles.                                                           _

Getting approximately $12 worth of miles for about five minutes of work is a great deal for me, especially since it resets the expiration clock in your American Airlines account, extending your entire mileage balance's expiration for 18 months.
What to Do
1.

Is Plastiq Worth It? Paying Your Bills Online with Credit Cards to Earn Miles

Regarding any information in this post about taxes: this is miles information, not tax advice. Consult a tax professional before paying your taxes with a credit card.

Plastiq is an online bill payment processing system that "empowers you to use your existing debit and credit cards to pay any bill, regardless of acceptance". The charge for that convenience is 2.5% of each payment on a credit card and 1% on a debit card.