The sign up bonus that currently comes with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card when you apply online, 100,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $4,000 on the card within three months of opening it, will drop to 50,000 Ultimate Rewards for the same spending requirement this coming Thursday, January 12.

Award space is wide open in Business Class on Austrian flights from Los Angeles to Vienna for Spring and Summer 2017 for 2-6 people per flight. Flat bed award space from the West Coast to Europe is rare, so hop on this now!
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Austrian Business Class features a staggered layout so that your bed's foot area is under the arm rest of the row in front.

I'm mentally preparing for the Cigar Room, bubble bath, "First Class" stamped butter, Porsche rides, and the rest of the Lufthansa First Class Terminal and First Class experience because I just booked Lufthansa First Class from Zagreb to Washington-Dulles for 50,000 Asiana miles + $442.

This month I'll get to spend a day in Munich at Oktoberfest with my sister and then luxuriously fly back to the United States.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with 100,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on the card in the first three months.

The card earns 3 points per dollar on travel and dining expenses and 1 point per dollar on everything else.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on the card in the first three months, 5,000 bonus points for adding an authorized user, and 2 points per dollar on travel and dining.

The "dining" category on each card has just taken a hit.

Award space is wide open in Business Class on United flights to Brussels and Amsterdam for Summer 2017 for 2+ people. That means you can book your family flat beds to Europe for as little as 40,000 miles plus taxes with no fuel surcharges.
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United Business Class features a comfortable flat bed, but it isn't up to the standards of the absolute best products in the world because there are as many as eight narrow beds per row.

Only true aficionados will complain.

Avianca LifeMiles is offering a bonus of up to 125% on purchased miles through September 30, 2016. You can buy up to 150,000 LifeMiles during the sale and get up to 187,500 bonus miles.

LifeMiles cost 3.3 cents each, so with a 125% bonus, you get the miles for 1.47 cents each.

If you live in a western city with a direct American Airlines or Alaska Airlines post, skip this post and read All the 12,500 Avios Routes to Hawaii instead of this post. Currently that's Los Angeles, Phoenix, Anchorage, Bellingham, Seattle, Portland, Oakland, San Jose, and San Diego.

Destination weddings don’t need to break the bank for attendees.

In May, I visited the Sala VIP Pau Casals at Barcelona Airport. In August, I visited the very similar Sala VIP Miro. Here's what you can expect from these Priority Pass lounges that you can enter for free with a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Citi Prestige, or American Express Platinum Card.

The Sala VIP Pau Casals is available to passengers flying within the Schengen Area, and the Sala VIP Miro is after passport control for passengers leaving the Schengen Area.

Both offer a comfortable place to sit, free wifi, enough food for a meal, and free alcohol.

For the next 11 months, you can fly from the Eastern United States to London for 13,000 Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, or ThankYou Points plus $135. Or you can fly in Premium Economy that looks a lot like domestic First Class for 20,000 points and $265. From other parts of the country, you’ll pay only a few more miles.

On some routes, award space is WIDE OPEN year round, including the heart of summer. Here is the award space for July 2017 from New York to London.

Travel from Miami, Florida to Oslo, Norway or Copenhagen, Denmark for $99+ one way on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). Most of the availability for these deals is the very end of this month and through next month (September and October 2016).