Two Tricks I Used on My Last Award Booking

As you read this, I'm 35,000 feet up on my way to Medellin, Colombia.

I was in Tucson over the weekend for a tennis tournament, and I didn't have any exit flight booked. I really wanted to return to Colombia because I had enjoyed Bogota so much and heard even better things about Medellin, but award space didn't appear to be available for a Monday departure from Tucson to Medellin.

I used two tricks and a little bit of creativity to come up with a Saver award, save myself $75 in fees, and give myself a chance to hang

Anatomy of an Award: Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia with SkyMiles

I asked longtime award booker and occasional blog contributor JB to write about a very interesting Delta award he just booked.

A lot of people think Delta miles are worthless, but there are no other miles that could book a single convenient award with long stops in Tahiti and Sydney plus an overnight in Auckland.

A client contacted the MileValue Award Booking Service requesting a slightly modified version a MileValue classic: Tahiti, New Zealand & Australia on One Trip Using Delta Skymiles.

She had tried another award booking service that failed to convince Delta to book the award.

Pick My Flights to Colombia

Yesterday I wrote about the Four Easiest Places to Go with Miles.

Colombia was part of one of the regions that has plentiful award space, and it is on my radar at the moment as I book myself a two week trip there next month.

The problem is that award space is so good that I have way too many options. I haven't been able to book the outbound yet because there are ways to book it for 15,000 to 17,500 miles one way with all three alliances.

Anatomy of an Award: Three Cities in Asia on Two Awards

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Anatomy of an Award posts highlight real awards I’ve booked to show you the techniques needed to book your dream trip.

I recently booked my brother a pair of awards that will allow us to visit Hong Kong, Beijing, and Seoul together.

Booking Two Tickets on the Same United Flight

Last year I wrote "How to Book Multiple Awards from Different Accounts on the Same Flights."

The idea is that you can never transfer miles from one airline to another, even if they are airline partners, but you can book two seats on the exact same flights with two different types of miles.

Last week I used 30,000 Singapore miles and 35,000 Lufthansa miles to book myself and a friend one way First Class flights on United from Honolulu to San Francisco.

United flies one flight a day from Honolulu to San Francisco on a 767-400ER with fully

Why I’ll Never Use United Miles to Fly to Hawaii

Update July 1, 2014:

The current offer on the Premier Miles & More® World MasterCard® is 20,000 miles after first purchase and payment of $79 annual fee.

Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchase or balance transfer
Earn up to 15,000 award miles with balance transfers (1 mile per $1 transferred) within 30 days of account opening
Earn 2 award miles per $1 on ticket purchases directly from Miles &

Ten Minute Three Day Trip with Avios and Hawaiian Miles

Anatomy of an Award posts highlight real awards I’ve booked to show you the techniques needed to book your dream trip.

I recently made a last-second decision to head to Las Vegas and Phoenix for three days for a mix of work and pleasure.

I planned and booked the trip in 10 minutes with miles and points, saving myself $1,500 in the process and getting to fly First Class on one long flight.

Free One Way From Hawaii Using US Airways Dividend Miles

Anatomy of an Award posts highlight real awards I’ve booked to show you the techniques needed to book your dream trip.
Recently the MileValue Award Booking Service was contacted by a client who was wondering if he was able to add a "free" one way from Hawaii back to his home in New York City in connection with a dream trip for two to the Maldives using US Airways Dividend Miles.

Most often we are asked to add a "free" or "cheaper" one way to Hawaii or elsewhere in the US at the end of an award but this client

Using United Miles to Fly Copa Airlines Business Class to Central America for Three

Anatomy of an Award posts highlight real awards I've booked to show you the techniques needed to book your dream trip.

Recently the MileValue Award Booking Service had a client who was looking to travel to Costa Rica with his family of three in business class.

This. Times Four.

Anatomy of an Award: Cathay Pacific First Class and Qantas First Class on a Trip to Australia and Hong Kong

Recently a friend came to me with an award request along the lines of what I have done for hundreds of clients of the MileValue Award Booking Service.

He wanted to visit Sydney during its summer and Hong Kong on the same trip. He wanted to fly in some of the world's nicest airline products.