Latest Posts

Did You Receive 10k Free Alaska Miles Over the Weekend?

UPDATE 1/10/17: If you have a Virgin America Elevate account and an Alaska Mileage Plan account that were both opened prior to December 5, 2016, you should have gotten/be getting the 10k Alaska mile…

Six Ultra-Luxurious First Classes to Book with American Airlines Miles

“Redeeming American Airlines Miles” Series Index Part 1 — 5 Ways to Stretch American Airlines Miles on Economy Redemptions Part 2 — 6 Ultra-Luxurious First Classes to Book with American Airlines…

Maximizing Ultimate Rewards: Singapore Krisflyer #2

This post is part three of a series about how to maximize value when transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards to loyalty program partners.  Maximizing Your Ultimate Rewards Series Index Maximizing…

Video of My Ground Experience at Lufthansa First Class Terminal

In addition to my written trip report of my recent trip to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal, here is a video I shot, which shows the tarmac Porsche ride and the inside of the terminal.

Video of Me Hitchhiking in Patagonia (Argentina to Chile)

Last week, I flew from Buenos Aires to Rio Gallegos, Argentina with no intention of going to Rio Gallegos, Argentina. Instead, my plan was to walk out of the airport, stick my thumb out, and try to…

Maximizing Ultimate Rewards: Singapore Krisflyer #1

This post is part two of a series about how to maximize value when transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards to loyalty program partners.  Maximizing Your Ultimate Rewards Series Index Maximizing…

How to Achieve Your New Year’s Travel Resolution

What are your New Year's resolutions this year? If you've managed to stumble upon this blog, chances are somewhere in your list of goals for 2017 you've got some dream trips lined up. If you don't,…

2017 Travel Goals

Greetings from Patagonia! With 2016 in the books, and my rundown of last year’s travel here, I thought I’d share my upcoming travel plans. I pretty much know exactly where I’ll be in January and half…

2016 Year in Review

2016 was a great year of travel for me, and hopefully for you too. The year started on the tarmac in Nagoya, Japan, about to take off in Thai Business Class on a Dreamliner to Bangkok. The year will…

ENDS TODAY: SPG Points 50% Off, Lowest Price Ever!

Until today (December 31, 2016), you can buy up to 30,000 Starpoints with up to a 50% discount on the normal purchase price. The discounts are targeted. To see your discount, sign into your SPG…

ENDS TODAY: Buy Alaska Miles with 40% Bonus. Should You?

Until today (December 31, 2016), you can buy Alaska Airlines miles with up to a 40% bonus. Log in to your account at this link to see your offer. The sale is structured as a bonus on the normal…

January 6 is Last Day for SPG to Virgin America Transfers

Starwood Preferred Guest and Virgin America Elevate are ending their partnership on January 6, 2017, making that the last day that you can transfer SPG points to Virgin America Points. Why does this…

Miles With Free (or Almost Free) Change & Cancellation Fees

There are lots of obvious reasons why miles are better than cash, like the ability they give us to book mini palaces on planes that look like this... Etihad First Class Apartment on an A380 ...or…

New York to Norway or Sweden Only $195 Roundtrip!

Right now you can book a roundtrip in economy between New York (JFK) and Oslo or Stockholm for $195 for travel January through March, 2017. That is nuts. There are also $250 roundtrip economy fares…

How to Earn and Redeem 106,000 American Airlines Miles Right Now

The personal and business American Airlines credit cards are each offering 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months. Getting both cards and meeting their combined minimum…

Maximizing Ultimate Rewards: United MileagePlus

This post is part one of a series about how to maximize value when transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards to loyalty program partners.  Maximizing Your Ultimate Rewards Series Index Maximizing…

Merry Christmas Eve MileValue Readers!

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas everyone. Scott and I toasted MileValue and the new year over steaks and malbec last night here in Buenos Aires. We hope your holiday is full of too much food, interesting…

5 Lovely Boutique Hotels in South America

For a limited time, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus is offering with 50,000 bonus Arrival miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. Arrival miles are perfect for covering cheap…

Citi ThankYou Premier 40,000 Point Sign Up Bonus Returns!

The Citi ThankYou Premier Card is once again offering 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Citi dropped the sign up bonus on the…

What to Do With Leftover ThankYou Points if Canceling Prestige or Premier

Citi issues lots of cards that earn ThankYou Points, but not all of them earn a type of Thank You Point that can be transferred to airline and hotel loyalty programs partners like the Citi Prestige…

Rentler: Pay Rent on a Credit Card With 2.5% Fee

We received a tip from a reader to check out Rentler, a platform connecting landlords and tenants that (among other things) allows you to pay rent on your credit card with a 2.5% processing fee. You…

Alaska Airlines and Delta End Partnership Effective May 1, 2017

Delta and Alaska Airlines are ending their partnership May 1, 2017. There will be no more codeshares, no more mileage earning on each other's flights, no more reciprocal elite benefits, and no more…

1 Virgin America Point = 1.3 Alaska Miles, 1 SPG = 1.625 Alaska

Virgin America and Alaska Airlines have merged. Starting January 9, 2017, you can link your Alaska Mileage Plan and Virgin America Elevate accounts. Then you can transfer 1 Virgin America points to…

Change to United Free One Way Rules

You can no longer tack on an Excursionist perk, the essentially free segment within one region that United gives you on a "roundtrip", to the end of an itinerary any more.

My Disappointing Trip to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal

Update 1/1/17: I've added a video of the ground experience to the end of this post Recently I flew from Croatia to the United States in Lufthansa First Class for 40,000 Starpoints + $300. Here’s how…