Part II: Luxurious Ways to Burn 237,000 American Airlines Miles

Right now it’s easy to earn a boatload of American Airlines miles quickly.

False Alarm: Cathay Pacific 1st Still Bookable With Alaska Miles

There was a bit of a scare within the miles community last week that the ability to book First Class awards flying Cathay Pacific, one of the highest value awards you can book with Alaska miles, had evaporated.

@CTravelr tweeted the following to catch bloggers' attention:

Not sure if y’all have heard any official word on this because it pretty much kills CX redemptions @garyleff @OneMileataTime @thepointsguy @FrequentMiler
— Brian (@CTravlr) February 13, 2018

If Alaska blocked mileage redemptions within three days of departure, that would pretty much thwart the

Cathay Pacific’s New A350 Route: Vancouver to Hong Kong (With Lots of Business Class Award Space)

Cathay Pacific will begin a new route between Vancouver and Hong Kong on March 28, 2017 flying an Airbus A350. The A350 will depart Vancouver and Hong Kong on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays mornings.

These are not Cathay Pacific's only flights between Vancouver and Hong Kong, but the first on the airline's new A350 (and the airline's first A350 flight to North America to boot). The A350 features 38 fully flat bed Business Class, 28 premium economy, and 214 economy seats.

Here is the layout of Business Class. As you can see, every seat has aisle access.

5 Underpriced Awards on Obscure Award Charts

With the proliferation of transferable points like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints, Americans have access to cheap awards through tons of foreign programs.

Here are five underpriced awards on foreign award charts and how to get the miles needed to book the awards.
1. Singapore Awards Between Hawaii and the Americas
Singapore Airlines puts Hawaii and Central America--you know, those two places that are thousands of miles apart--into one region.

Where to Credit Butt in Seat Miles: Flying American Airlines

Update 6/30/2016: Alaska Airlines is changing the way you accrue redeemable Alaska miles when flying partner American Airlines for travel beginning August 1, 2016 to a

Redeem American Airlines Miles: Part 8 — East and Southeast Asia

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® 60,000 mile offer has expired. Check out the current best credit card offers here.

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Let’s talk about how to use American Airlines miles for awards to East and Southeast Asia.

Cathay Pacific First and Business Class Availability Patterns

Cathay Pacific frequently releases five Business Class and one First Class award seat on its flights between the United States and Hong Kong 11 months out. If you miss those, there are often up to two First Class and up to nine Business Class seats within a week of departure.

You can book these fantastically luxurious products with American Airlines miles and Alaska Airlines miles.

You Can Now Redeem American Airlines Miles to Indian Subcontinent via Asia! Woo-Hoo!

You can now redeem American Airlines miles to the Indian Subcontinent via Cathay Pacific or American Airlines flights that connect in Hong Kong.

Until today, you could only connect in Europe or the Middle East. Routing via Asia would break your trip into two awards--USA to East Asia + East Asia to Indian Subcontinent.

Round-the-World Example with Half in Flat Bed for 100,000 Miles

You can book yourself a tour around Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia stopping in four places for only 100,000 miles total with nearly half the trip in a flat bed. By stopping in four places, I am referring to actual destinations, not connections that have to be under 24 hours.

Much like the Mega Trip to the Caribbean and South America I wrote about a few days ago, this deal relies on piecing together some sweet spot awards (and this time also a low cost carrier flight within Europe) into one big trip.