Anatomy of an Award: Negative 7,500 Miles to Fiji/Bora Bora Using United Miles

At MileValue, we constantly champion the free oneway on award tickets. Adding a free oneway is possible (to varying degrees) using all four legacy carrier's miles. For more information, make sure to check out Scott's comprehensive posts below:

Master Thread: Free Oneways on United Awards
Master Thread: Free Oneways on American Awards
Master Thread: Free Oneways on Delta Awards
Master Thread: Free Oneways on US Airways Awards

Free oneways are great, but nothing gets us more excited than "negative" awards.

The Big Trick for Searching BA.com

Yesterday I said you can't search Lima to Cuzco on ba.com. It turns out I was wrong! To search Lima to Cuzco, though, you do need to use a trick.

Reader Coleman emailed me to say:
Just wanted to let you know that although you cannot search LIM-CUZ, you are able to search CUZ-LIM. Obviously this will still need to be called in since nobody originates in CUZ, but at least you can view availability ahead of time by playing with the dates.
Coleman is right that you can search Cuzco to Lima on ba.com and be shown results.

Beware Phantom Award Availability on United.com

Searching for award space can often be an exercise in frustration. The dates you want don't have availability and premium cabin seats are often scarce. There is nothing in the world, however, more frustrating than phantom availability. You think you've found your dream trip only to have the rug yanked out from under you.

We recently received a request through the Award Booking Service where this came into play. A family of four was looking to travel from New York to Johannesburg, Africa in July using their US Airways miles.

Free Oneway Principles on ANA Awards

Update at 9:31 AM ET on 3/8/13. Disregard most of this post. Commentor Angel pointed out trouble getting ANA to price this, and I found the problem. ANA rule: "The departure airport and the final destination on the itinerary may differ, but must be in the same country." I'll try to figure out a way to salvage some of this idea.

Yesterday I was effusive about the fact that ANA--a Japanese airlines most of us have never flown--stopped charging fuel surcharges on United and US Airways flights booked with ANA miles.

A Major Problem with Delta.com and The Only Solution

You can use delta.com to search Delta, Virgin Australia, Air France, KLM, Korean, and now Alitalia space. Korean space isn't searchable anywhere else. Virgin Australia space isn't convenient to search elsewhere.

Free First Class Next Month: Searching United.com to Redeem United and US Airways Miles

Hey! You're reading an outdated Free First Class Next Month series. Check out the latest version published in April of 2015 here.

This is the seventeenth post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flier miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.

American Airlines Explorer Award: Planning a RTW Trip

This is the second part of a multi-post Anatomy of an Award series about American Airlines Explorer Awards, which are ideal for around-the-world trips, trips with multiple destinations, and other "trick" itineraries. Previously: The Rules

A client contacted the Award Booking Service wanting to book an around the world trip with American Airlines miles.

American Airlines Explorer Award: The Rules

This is the first part of a multi-post Anatomy of an Award series about American Airlines Explorer Awards, which are ideal for around-the-world trips, trips with multiple destinations, and other "trick" itineraries.

American Airlines Explorer Awards are an incredible value with three main uses:

around-the-world (RTW) trips
trips with many destinations in one region
combining multiple trips within one year onto one Explorer Award

When I say "incredible value," I mean 150,000 miles to go around the world with ten stops in business class.

My Experience With Booking Singapore Airlines Awards

Singapore Airlines is probably one of the best airlines in the world.

I've had the privilege to fly Singapore Airlines almost 2-4 times a year since I was born. I was even one of the first "children" to fly the nonstop LAX-SIN flight which was then dubbed as the A345 Leadership. Although I always flew in Economy, in the next few days, I'll be flying Singapore's Suites product from Singapore-Los Angeles. I've dreamed of this day since I first knew what the First Class product looked like.

How To Get A Discounted Stopover on a United Airlines One Way Award

By now, you may be well aware of the rule that on a United oneway award, you can't take a stopover. On a roundtrip award, you get one stopover. (This is just for awards booked with United miles.