The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard®

Regarding any information in this post about taxes: this is miles information, not tax advice. Consult a tax professional before paying your taxes with a credit card.

Plastiq is an online bill payment processing system that "empowers you to use your existing debit and credit cards to pay any bill, regardless of acceptance". The charge for that convenience is 2.5% of each payment on a credit card and 1% on a debit card.

As of a few weeks ago, you can redeem American Airlines Miles to the Indian subcontinent via Hong Kong!
Why is this exciting news?
Before, you could only connect in Europe or the Middle East on the way to the Indian Subcontinent, and more routing options means more award space.

LAN Airlines is releasing seven flat bed Business Class award seats per flight for most flights from Washington-Dulles to Lima for the next 11 months.

LAN launches the new route on May 2, 2016 flying Sundays, Monday, and Thursdays in both directions.

Lima to Washington-Dulles departing 9:00 AM arriving 5:50 PM (LA2800)
Washington-Dulles to Lima departing 11:30 PM arriving 6:20 AM the next day (LA2801)

There are seven Business Class seats and seven economy award seats you can book with American Airlines miles on nearly every flight from May 2, 2016 through late March 2017. Business

Qatar Airways First Class on its A380 is available nearly every day between Paris and Doha and widely available between Doha and Bangkok.

I have Global Entry. For $100, the time it took to fill out a detailed form (an hour), and a twenty minute interview at an international airport, I can skip the immigration and customs lines every time I land in the United States for five years. Plus getting Global Entry enrolls you in TSA Precheck, which saves time at security on all flights in the United States.

The $100 is a great price for all the time I've saved, and you can easily avoid the $100 fee.

American Airlines offers discounted MileSAAver awards within the United States and Canada to select cardholders, including people with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard®, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard® and the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard®.

With all of those cards, you can book one way awards within the USA and Canada for as little as 6,500 miles for flights less than 500 miles flown or 8,750 miles one way for longer flights.

Every two months, American Airlines publishes a list of new destinations in the United States and Canada eligible for

You can book yourself a tour around the Caribbean and South America stopping in three places for only 64,500 miles total with half the trip in a flat bed. By stopping in three places, I am referring to actual destinations, not connections that have to be under 24 hours.

This incredible deal relies on piecing together four sweet spots awards into one big trip.

Last month I wrote about sweet spots on the new devalued American Airlines award chart.

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® currently has a 50,000 mile sign-up bonus after spending $5,000 in three months.

One of the perks of the devaluation that hit American Airlines' award charts March 22, 2016 is the new price of awards from the United States to the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico. It now only costs 12,500 miles one way in Economy during the off peak season for those regions.