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October 2013 was a big month for me. The month started in Brussels. I whirlwinded through Oslo and Amsterdam before getting to Munich in time for the end of Oktoberfest.
Munich was the last stop on my eight month world tour. I landed back in the US for the first time since February just in time for the Chicago Seminars.
The Seminars were a blast, and I had a chance to check out the Park Hyatt for two nights afterwards while exploring the city. From Chicago, I flew to Los Angeles, where I hosted a MileValue dinner and reacquainted myself with taco trucks!
From Los Angeles, I flew to Honolulu to make Oahu my new home. This is my month of crossing 12 time zones visually.
October was big for me, but bigger for MileValue. Old readers enjoyed some great posts about the month’s US Airways promos and an all-time-classic post by Bill about a huge sweet spot on the US Airways chart.
New readers found the blog in droves because of an immensely popular Mashable post featuring our award booking techniques prominently. Readership continues to grow rapidly, which brings me closer to the goal of helping everyone travel more, better, and cheaper.
What were the most popular pages, trip reports, and posts for October 2013? There are several you can not miss.
Most Popular Pages
The Award Booking Service continued to thrive.
My Free Credit Card Consultations continued to offer personalized answers to which card is best for a particular trip.
Trip Reports
Paris to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia Airlines First Class on an A380
Most Popular Posts
Blog News
I ran a contest. Submissions are closed, but winners have not been picked: Let Me Be Your Miles Personal Assistant For Free
Big Credit Card News
Application Link: Citi ThankYou® Premier Card
I covered the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express in You Can Easily Get 6% Back on All Your Grocery Purchases, But Should You?
I posted for everyone the hand out I gave out at the Chicago Seminars: The Best Cards to Earn United, American, Delta, US Airways, Alaska, Southwest, and British Airways Miles
And I covered a nice niche card: The 50k Lufthansa Mile Offer is Back for a Limited Time!
Promo News
The big promo news was technically posted September 30: US Airways Share Miles with 100% Bonus = 1.13 Cent Dividend Miles. Related US Airways promo posts included:
Barclay’s offering US Airways Offering Cardholders up to 50% Back on Redeemed Miles
How to Combine US Airways Promotions to Get Two Tickets to Europe for $284 Each
I discussed the offer of 25,000 American Airlines Miles for 5 Hilton Stays.
I gave my experience with the Big Win, which still has two months left: I won the Big Win for 154k Bonus Points–Why to Nail the Big Hotel Promo Each Year
I broke down the ongoing transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic, which everyone should consider: Membership Rewards 30% Transfer Bonus to Virgin Atlantic Means 14k Point Awards to Europe and 35k Roundtrips to Argentina
Miles News
Qatar Award Space Now Bookable with British Airways Avios Online and American Airlines Miles
How to Save 70,000 Miles on US Airways Awards to Southeast Asia & its Anatomy of an Award: Southeast Asian and Mexican Vacations in Business Class for 90k US Airways Miles, 30k Arrival Miles, and Zero Cash
I made a resource: When Does British Airways Add Fuel Surcharges to Avios Awards?
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
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Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
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Envy !!!!!!!!!! Love your Oktoberfest photo I’m sure I can learn to speak German as well as I speak French as in none ..What did that huge glass of real beer cost ??
Great French Cave Dweller …..
We would probably get along. Like outgoing women, hire people who don’t necessarily have those skills to interact.
[…] Best of MileValue October 2013 Author admin Date November 2, 2013 Comments: Leave a comment […]
Hey Scott and MileValue readers,
I have a dilemma and I need your opinion. Next year in July, my wife and I have a trip planned to Japan, Hong Kong and Guam via a combination of United Miles and Lifemiles. We jumped in the US Airways share miles promotion and got 80k and 85K miles. I’m thinking if it makes sense to cancel the initial booking with Lifemiles and United (I believe it would cost $250 in fees) to go ahead and use the 90k miles to Asia via Europe as you pointed out in your blog. My fear is that once US Airways merge with AA (if it happens) this great deal will disappear. I would have to wait until around June 2014 to book a trip around June 2015 with US Airways, and I’m not sure if by next year, the merge would have gone through and the award chart changed.
Please advise (if you have time =D ) if this move makes sense.
Thanks Scott and great blog btw, I always get excited to red your posts when I get the email with the updates
Adriano
Adriano, it’s so tough to predict. I would suggest taking the trip you want to take more. Whichever miles are devalued next, there will still be some value for your unused miles for your next trip.
Scott,
A few posts back you wrote about how to get an extra 20K with your Chase Explorer card if you missed the 50K sign-up bonus and only got the 30K bonus. You explained how to send a secret message to Chase to ask for it, and in many instances, the extra 20K have been granted. I can no longer find you post where you explained how to do this. Could you please send the link to your post again. Thank you.