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You can increase the value of all your miles by using them for their highest-value uses. You can get more out of this hobby by collecting the right miles for your goal trip.

The first truism is why I started the MileValue Award Booking Service. The second is why I offer Free Credit Card Consultations.

I've already written about last second award space to Europe and to Asia this summer. The gist is that some airlines release unsold seats as award seats in the last few days or weeks before travel.

TAP Portugal does a bit of that on its three routes to the US, but it also has award space available in August to Europe in economy and business class, which is very scarce at the moment.

United scared me on Friday, and I wrote about that fear on Sunday, by saying changes were coming to the MileagePlus program.

That fear was unfounded as United introduced unambiguously good changes to MileagePlus, though very minor changes from my perspective, in the form of a partnership with Marriott.

What does this mean for you?

Status Match

If you're United Gold or higher, you'll get Marriott Gold Status through January 2014.

United scared me on Friday, and I wrote about that fear on Sunday, by saying changes were coming to the MileagePlus program.

That fear was unfounded as United introduced unambiguously good changes to MileagePlus, though very minor changes from my perspective, in the form of a partnership with Marriott.

What does this mean for you?

Status Match

If you're United Gold or higher, you'll get Marriott Gold Status through January 2014.

United scared me a lot on Friday when it tweeted that changes were coming to MileagePlus.

United still hasn't told us what those changes are, but insists we'll like them.

It's very unlikely I'll like them much. It could be a minor enhancement, but there are very few things I would change about United MileagePlus that United would also change.

United scared me a lot on Friday when it tweeted that changes were coming to MileagePlus.

United still hasn't told us what those changes are, but insists we'll like them.

It's very unlikely I'll like them much. It could be a minor enhancement, but there are very few things I would change about United MileagePlus that United would also change.

Swiss Business Class is one of the nicest ways to cross the Atlantic in a fully-flat bed, and it's definitely a product I'm anxious to try.

Update 12/17/13: The 50k mile offer is dead.

Update: United has now instituted a four-flights-per-one-way-rule. That limits you to three 23-hour layovers.

Deborah writes:
Goal: I want to start planning for a trip to Japan. My home airport is Washington-Dulles. Assuming I am starting from scratch, for which airline does it make most sense to start collecting miles?
So which program is best from the east coast to Japan? My advice and reasoning after the jump.

I would definitely focus on United miles if I were Deborah.