Last week my friend flew 24 hours of Lufthansa First Class and had a 3.5 hour layover in the famous Lufthansa First Class Terminal, which he booked for 125,000 United miles and $58.

Elite members of United’s MileagePlus frequent flyer program get access to extra Saver award seats in economy class. (Platinum and higher members also get extra business and first class seat availability.)

United credit card holders also get the extra Saver economy award space set aside for elites. That includes people with the United Explorer, Business Explorer, and Club cards.

I consider this one of the biggest benefits of the cards, and, oddly, it is a benefit that is completely unadvertised and possibly unintentional.
Recent Example
I have the United Business Explorer card and no elite status with United.

It seems that experflyer.com is not accurately displaying Air Tahiti Nui award space that Delta agents can book. Multiple Delta representatives confirmed with me over the phone that four seats in Business Class are available on seven different Air Tahiti Nui flights, all of which show zero award seats in Business Class available on expertflyer.com.
What Air Tahiti Nui Is and Why it Matters
Air Tahiti Nui, headquartered in Papeete, Tahiti, is one of seven airlines that flies into Fa'a'ā International Airport in Tahiti.

I'm a nomad. Here are my current travel plans. Also see Late 2015 Travel, Early 2016 Travel, and Where I Slept in 2015.

I have a clear picture of where I’ll be until about October 2016. Last week, I booked a flurry of awards, mostly with obscure mileage programs to lock in my dates for 2016.

For the second time, I used 5,000 ThankYou Points to book a one way Air Serbia flight award flight.

In 2014, American Express made it so you could get the bonus only once per lifetime on personal cards, and in February 2016 that rule was extended to business cards.

But there might be a targeted exception. Reader g passes along a targeted offer he got for the American Express Platinum Card.

The offer is to open the American Express Platinum Card with 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $5,000 in the first three months.

American Express is offering a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through May 31, 2016. For the next four weeks, 1,000 Membership Rewards will transfer to 1,300 Etihad Guest Miles.

This is huge news because there is also currently a 30% discount on Virgin Atlantic economy awards through May 11, 2016. Combining this transfer bonus with that sale means you can book awards from the Eastern United United States to London for 10,000 Membership Rewards plus $135 with great availability for the next 11 months if you act right now.

American Express just added Etihad as a Membership Rewards transfer partner in April, and it is now offering a 30% transfer bonus through June 15, 2016.

For the next six weeks, 1,000 Membership Rewards will transfer to 1,300 Etihad Guest Miles.
Good Deal?
Using Etihad Miles for Etihad Flights
Etihad Guest Miles aren’t very good for booking First Class on the Etihad A380, which is a current obsession of mine.

For instance, Etihad would charge 88,022 Etihad miles + $175 to book Abu Dhabi to London in First Class on the Etihad A380.

As of a few weeks ago, you can redeem American Airlines Miles to the Indian subcontinent via Hong Kong!
Why is this exciting news?
Before, you could only connect in Europe or the Middle East on the way to the Indian Subcontinent, and more routing options means more award space.