New Amex Offers: 20k points for $1k Spend with Air France or KLM

American Express is offering some lucrative incentives to spend on their cards right now. Not everyone will have these Amex Offers available as they are targeted.

Big Changes to Flying Blue Effective June 1

REMINDER: These changes kick in this Friday, June 1. If you had your eye on a Flying Blue award, check this post and/or the Flying Blue Calculator to see if you should book now or post-June 1. I have updated the pricing changes section since last publication to include more Flying Blue award chart sweetspots, and how those prices will fare come June 1. 

As of June 1, Flying Blue--loyalty program of Air France, KLM, Aircalin, Hop!, Joon, Kenya Airways, Tarom, and transavia--is changing the way awards are priced.

Buy Flying Blue Miles & Earn 100% Bonus

Through September 25, 2017 you can buy Flying Blue miles with a 100% bonus. That brings the standard price of 3.28 cents a mile down to 1.64 cents a mile.

The minimum amount of miles you have to buy to earn the 100% bonus is 4,000 (for paying roughly $131.50 you'll receive a total of 8,000 miles).

Anatomy of an Award: Buenos Aires Rio on Aerolíneas Argentinas & Gol

In February, my parents flew down to South America to join me for a trip in Rio de Janiero, followed by a week spent in Buenos Aires, the location I call home for at least half the year.

I booked them in United Business between Charleston, SC and Rio de Janiero using United miles, and LATAM Business between Buenos Aires and Miami using American Airlines miles.

Maximizing Ultimate Rewards: Flying Blue

This post is part eight of a series about how to maximize value when transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards to loyalty program partners. 
Maximizing Your Ultimate Rewards

$168 Roundtrip Baltimore to the Caribbean

In December 2015, Norwegian launched service from New York, Baltimore, and Boston to Guadeloupe and Martinique. This month they also launch service between Fort Lauderdale and Guadeloupe.

12,500 Miles from Caribbean to Europe, Mid-East, or North Africa

Flying Blue's latest Promo Awards--click that link if you don't know what Promo Awards are--are complete stinkers for most Americans.

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.

Flying Blue Glitch: 12,500 Miles to Kauai

Flying Blue is the loyalty program of Air France and a 1:1 transfer partner of Chase, American Express, Citi, and SPG. Flying Blue has a number of well-documented sweet spots including 15,000 miles one way to Hawaii from the United States mainland.

Speaking of transferring Citi points, I have to take down the Citi Prestige 50k offer in five days. Last time I had to take down a Citi 50k offer, the sign up bonus went to zero.

Top 8 Uses for 96,000 Point Sign Up Bonuses of Citi Prestige and ThankYou Premier

You can get both the Citi Prestige with 40,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months and the Citi ThankYou Premier with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $3,000 in the first three months, as long as you apply at least eight days apart.

Meet both minimum spending requirements, and you'll have at least 96,000 ThankYou Points, in one account if you follow the simple steps to combine your accounts.

Here are the top eight ways I would use the 86,000 point sign up bonus for flights in Economy and First