Latest Posts

United recently acquired several Boeing 787 Dreamliners and announced the first international routes that will be serviced by the plane. But before those routes start, United will fly the plane…

I've had a lot of new readers joining the site lately, so I wanted to let them know of some of my best posts that they should read right away to get a feeling for what they can expect from…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the twenty-first post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read…

This is a blog about frequent flier miles. Almost everything I write is designed to help you accumulate miles and points efficiently then redeem them for free travel--up front if possible. But…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the twentieth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and…

Some people are plane enthusiasts. They'll do anything to fly the new mega-jet A380, which I'll be doing in Qantas business in January. Or one of the new Dreamliners, which United's taking more…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the nineteenth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and…

This is another post in my Anatomy of an Award series, in which I take a real award I’ve booked and break it down step-by-step to elucidate the award booking process.

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the eighteenth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and…

Sometimes airlines have seemingly interminable hold times before you can talk to an agent. This mainly happens during disruptions to the normal routine like a big storm that is causing a ton of…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the seventeenth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the sixteenth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and…

To everyone in LA: Long-time reader Mark proposed dinner on Friday, September 7 at 8:00 PM, and I accepted. I suggested an authentic Mexican restaurant in the 90006 zip code. It has chicken mole…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the fifteenth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the fourteenth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and…

Per the LA Times, the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner routes will be: Houston (IAH) to Amsterdam (AMS) starting December 4 Houston (IAH) to London (LHR) starting February 4 Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo (NRT)…

Yesterday I talked about some great sweet spots on the US Airways chart for awards originating in South America. Maybe you thought that post was irrelevant for Americans. But Americans can still get…

Tom writes: I've seen you mention wikipedia a couple of times when talking about building awards and figuring out where airlines fly - what exactly do you use wikipedia for?  Have you done a post…

I always like to scan award charts for sweet spots. I would define a sweet spot as one of three things: An award that is much cheaper with one airline's miles than another airline's miles.  In this…

There's an ongoing discussion in the miles-sphere about the value of a mile started when Gary and Ben disagreed about the value of a Hilton Point.

A few months ago I bought a ticket to the Chicago Seminars frequent-flier conference. I immediately booked my flights from LAX to Chicago. On the way there, I went with a direct flight to Midway, so…

A few weeks ago I got this letter in the mail: Always read your junk mail from credit card companies! My offer is 3x American Airlines miles on purchases at supermarkets, restaurants, pharmacies, and…

Hey there, you're reading an outdated post! The updated series from April 2015 can be found here. This is the twelfth post in a monthlong series. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may…

This is another post in my Anatomy of an Award series, in which I take a real award I’ve booked and break it down step-by-step to elucidate the award booking process.

Anyone without United status is charged a hefty $75 fee to book an award within 21 days of departure. There are two tricks to reduce or eliminate this fee. Trick 1- Transfer your Ultimate Rewards to…