The card offer in this post has expired so its links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

LAN Airlines is putting its Boeing 787 Dreamliner into service between Los Angeles and Lima starting July 1st according to airlineroute.net, and the award space is widely available.

Like all LAN longhaul flights, the plane is configured with two cabins, economy and Premium Business with fully flat beds.

I've been posting about award space to Europe for this summer because that's what my Award Booking Service clients want. In that vein, Just Another Points Traveler just posted about a great deal that I have to pass on:

From New York to London--this summer--from 13,000 Membership Rewards or Ultimate Rewards plus $98.

The card offer in this post has expired so its links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

Do you still want to go to Europe this summer? You're not alone. That's the most popular request the MileValue Award Booking Service is getting at the moment.

While it's much easier to plan an award for summer 2014 to Europe--let's book 11 months in advance!--summer 2013 is still possible.

Do you want to know my secret weapon route?

American Airlines flies six nonstops daily from Chicago-O'Hare to London-Heathrow.

Update 3/6/14: This post is outdated. See Master Thread: Holds on United Awards

You can get a free hold of up to three days on United Airlines awards.

The four legacy carriers--United, Delta, US Airways, and American--all allow stopovers on award tickets (though stopover rules vary greatly.) Adding a stopover en route is a great way to add another city to your trip and get extra value from your award.

Usually adding a stopover increases the complexity of an award, but sometimes it makes your life easier. Sometimes adding a stopover is the best way to increase your award booking options.

I'll give an example of how taking a stopover can save 27,500 US Airways miles when booking an off peak award to Europe.

Disclaimer: I use the word "upgrade" a few times in the post. I am not referring to buying a cash ticket in economy and trying to use miles or cash to get it into business class. I am referring to using miles to change an award from economy to business. The first type of upgrade is almost universally a bad deal. The second type is a fine deal.

United has a litany of award fees. Booking by phone is $25. Cancelling is $150.

Two months ago, thexfactor emailed me to tell me that he'd booked something online at aa.com that was against one of the rules I laid out in The Five Cardinal Rules of American Airlines Awards.

His discovery greatly increases where you can take a free oneway when booking American Airlines awards online.

Or: A Letter to a Friend's Mom

My friend's mom wants to go from Los Angeles to London in early April with her American Airlines miles. This post contains all the information she needs to understand her options.

If you view the specifics of her situation as merely an example, this post should be hugely helpful to you in you want to plan an award to Europe with your American Airlines miles.

I recently had a reader ask me about the best miles to collect to get from Salt Lake City to Cozumel, Mexico. The answer illustrates the best ways to get to the Caribbean and Mexico, so I thought I'd share and expand upon it here.

Near international destinations like Cozumel can be an excellent deal on region-based award charts like those used by American, United, US Airways, and Delta.

There are a lot of cool things you can do with miles. One of the coolest things I've thought up, and one which I am strongly contemplating booking, would turn 57.5k United miles and 10k Avios into:

A trip to a Pacific atoll to be determined, Guam, and Japan. Three places I've never been.
Fourteen hours on the famous Island Hopper route.
Flat bed business class for seven hours.

The center piece for this plan is the Island Hopper route, which I became obsessed with last week and read everything a google search could find.