Best Practices for Maximizing the PointBreaks List for $35 a Night Hotels

There are several posts on yesterday's new PointBreaks list. Even if you've read those, read this.

How to Make Entree Reservations on American Airlines

American Airlines has recently added the option to reserve your entree in advance when flying in business or first class from a select, but expanding, number of cities.

This is a cool improvement that should ensure you're never without your first choice entree. (If this service is not available, remember the acronym FEBO. American caters from the Front on Even numbered flights and the Back on Odd. So you can choose your seat to maximize choices.)

Between 30 days and 24 hours before departure, you can reserve your entree.

Confessions of a Hotel Insider Article is a Treasure Trove of Hotel Advice

Right before Christmas, The Week published an article odd in tone and subject matter. The story "Confessions of a hotel insider" and subtitled "If you want the best room, sparkling service, and free booze, just follow these rules" was an excerpt of a new book "Heads in Beds" by Jacob Tomsky, a career hotel employee.

The first few tips fall under the general idea of being polite to the person checking you in because they have a ton of control over whether you end up in a good room or a bad room.

How I Pick a Hostel

Picking a hostel is a crucial part of my trips. Before I talk about how I pick one, let me give a quick advertisement for hostels.

Hostels are not just for young people.

Hostels are great for:

solo travelers of any age
budget travelers of any age
outgoing travelers of any age

My hostel in Queenstown had families with young children, a few solo travelers in their sixties, and everyone in between.

One common misconception is that hostels equal dorms. Most hostels house most guests in dorms, but there are usually private rooms too, often with private bathrooms.

How to Set a Kayak Price Alert, an Easy Way to Save Hundreds

Last week I saved $65 on a oneway flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles because I had set a price alert on Kayak.com. A few years ago I saved $400 on a trip from Washington DC to Buenos Aires.

Kayak price alerts are an extremely simple tool that everyone should know about to save money on cash tickets for prices you know you need to take. Here's how to set one.

Go to kayak.com and perform your regular flight search.

Getting to Tahiti with Delta Miles

See last week's post on getting to French Polynesia with American miles.

This post will be about getting to French Polynesia–Tahiti, Bora Bora, and more–with Delta SkyMiles. This is an award I get asked to book frequently through my Award Booking Service, and I wanted to share some free tips.

French Polynesia is a French-speaking “overseas country” controlled by France. It is south of Hawaii and east of Australia. The main tourist spots are Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Mo’orea. People go to French Polynesia for the absolutely stunning beach-and-island landscape.

American Airlines Domestic Availability Trick

In February from Nairobi, Kenya, I booked an American Airlines award 331 days out from Melbourne, Australia to Los Angeles in Qantas business class (with a later free oneway to Tampa.) See my Anatomy of an Award post on that booking.

On that booking, I noticed something odd about the way that American Airlines releases its domestic award space on some routes.

Forum Buzz: Alitalia’s 25% sale and goodbye Alitalia Japan, Hello Alitalia Russia?

For the past 24 hours, this thread on FlyerTalk has been buzzing with excitement about Alitalia's most recent discount code that gave a flat $315.30 discount off any flight booked up until 10/26/12 on Alitalia's Japanese website.

For several days, the US, Italian, German, British, Canadian, and Spanish Alitalia websites have been running a promotion that gives a 25% discount on flights booked using the e-Coupon code SPECIAL:

This was a nice upgrade from the 15% off promotion that Alitalia offered in September--covered in Mile Value's first Forum Buzz post.

More enticingly, the version of the promotion offered on Alitalia's

Anatomy of an Award: How to Book an Award on Southwest

Update 10/13/14: Southwest awards now cost 70 points per dollar of the cash fare instead of 60. Taxes are now $5.60 per direction within the United States instead of $2.50 per flight. Everything else is the same.

The other day I helped a friend book a roundtrip Southwest award from Los Angeles to Denver for 11,761 Rapid Rewards and $5, taking advantage of a 1,000 Ultimate Rewards transfer to make up a shortfall of points in her account. For some people, this post will be very basic.

How to Avoid the Phone Fee on Award Bookings

The legacy carriers--United, US Airways, Delta, American--all charge a fee if you ticket your award by phone instead of online. Here's your guide to avoiding those phone fees:

United

United charges $25 per passenger if you book by phone. They will not waive this phone fee just because a booking could not be completed online. That's frustrating because many multi-city and free-oneway awards can't be booked online. They generate error messages despite being within the routing rules.

Here's how you avoid the phone fee with United:

First, search for and reserve any United flight.