Which airline has the best miles and frequent flyer program? United, American, and Delta are the big three legacy carriers that most directly compete with each other in the United States. For that reason, I publish charts that compare their award prices.

United and American Airlines currently have award charts that were devalued in February 2014 and March 2016 respectively. Delta's is in a state of constant devaluation with frequent unannounced price changes that come into effect for flights flown a few months later.

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.

The 35,000 point bonuses on the SPG personal and business cards end Wednesday (April 5, 2017.) This is the highest sign up bonus we’ve ever seen on the cards, tied with the same bonus that was offered last year at this time.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

Meet the spending requirements on both the personal and business SPG cards, and you'll have 83,000 SPG points, which can be transferred to 249,000 Marriott points

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

Qantas, Virgin Australia, and United are offering cheap roundtrip flights between San Francisco/Los Angeles and Australia/New Zealand.

Swiss Airlines is releasing two Business Class award seats during Fall 2017 and Winter 2018 on its American routes, including from the West Coast.

Swiss flies the following routes to Zurich with connections throughout Europe.

You can book this rare award space in a top-notch flat bed for 55,000 Aeroplan miles, 63,000 LifeMiles, or 70,000 United miles. None of those programs collect fuel surcharges on Swiss awards, and all allow connecting United flights free of charge.
The Product
Swiss has a few Business Class products that you can check out on Seat Guru.

Hawaii is one of the best places in the world to visit, and judging by the number of inquiries I get about booking awards to Hawaii, it's clear that many people agree. There are a number of cheap ways to get there that I'll list in order.

1. Korean Miles Award: 25,000 Korean Miles and $11 Roundtrip, First Class 45,000 Korean Miles Roundtrip

Korean miles can book a roundtrip in Delta economy from anywhere in the United States to any of the four major Hawaiian islands for 25,000 Korean miles.

I just booked myself a one way award from Honolulu, Hawaii to Charlottesville, Virginia for 17,500 Singapore miles and $6.

While writing yesterday's post about United now allowing free Hawaii flights on awards, I had a separate idea about United miles and Hawaii flights that I didn't want anyone to miss:
You can see four Hawaiian islands on a single award that costs 6,000 United miles and $5.60.
United charges 6,000 for intra-Hawaii flights on Hawaiian Airlines or Island Air.

This is Hawaiian's route map.

United partners with both Hawaiian Airlines and Island Air to offer codeshares within Hawaii.

You can redeem United miles for interisland flights on either airline. The cost is 6,000 miles + $5.60 one way.

You can also include Hawaiian or Island Air flights as part of a larger award, like Newark to Honolulu on United, connecting to Molokai on Hawaiian. Until very recently, though, United would price this as two separate awards.

I recently went to Patagonia with my friend from Hawaii.

I helped her book her trip with American Airlines and Singapore miles, and I learned some things along the way. Takeaways:

Days of the year with good award space
The only airline within the Americas with fuel surcharges
When to book and when to wait

The Plan
My friend and I wanted to see Chilean and Argentine Patagonia plus Buenos Aires.