I run the MileValue Award Booking Service. We use your miles and your goals to book your dream trip. How does it work? And how can you use an award booking service properly?

Choose one award booking service when you know the who, where, and when
Fill out the submission form thoroughly
Be responsive to email
Enjoy your trip

1. Choose one award booking service when you know the who, where, and when
2. Fill out the submission form thoroughly
There are several award booking services of varying quality.

Open jaw awards are valuable because they allow you to see two cities for the price of one. You can always book American Airlines awards to include one or even two open jaws, right on aa.com.

So, what is an open jaw anyway?

An open jaw happens when the origin of one direction of an award does not match up with the destination of the other.

In January, I'll be in the United States, and I'll need to get back down to Southern South America.

In January, I'll be in the United States, and I'll need to get back down to Southern South America.

There is fantastic flat bed Business Class award space for two people on Delta flights to Europe next summer for the Level 1 (on the former, now deleted chart) price

United now shows its award routing rules online. (Dummy) book an award, and on the page where you review your complete award itinerary, click "View fare rules and restrictions."

You will get a very long list of the award rules that pertain to your award ticket.

United now shows its award routing rules online. (Dummy) book an award, and on the page where you review your complete award itinerary, click "View fare rules and restrictions."

You will get a very long list of the award rules that pertain to your award ticket.

How many miles would it cost to book a United award in economy from Aruba to Panama City to Bogota to the Galapagos with stops for as long as you'd like in each place? 

There is a layover in Quito, but that doesn't affect the price. For reference, this single award would look something like this:

This award costs only 20,000 United miles.

American Airlines is releasing a ton of First Class award space from Miami and Dallas to Madrid for May through July, 2016.

This award space is easy to connect to from anywhere in the United States, and you can get anywhere in Europe with an Iberia flight from Madrid. These connecting flights do not add to the First Class mileage price of 62,500 American Airlines miles each way.

I'm reprinting this post today because tomorrow (Saturday August 21, 2015) at 10:33 AM ET, I will be on the Rudy Maxa's World radio show talking about segment-by-segment searching.