American Airlines miles are now more valuable than they were last week…all thanks to a small modification to arcane routing rules on one partner airline. Put simply, AA has a general rule that you cannot transit “third regions” when making...
An Unattractive Alaska Mileage Plan Redemption Becomes Even More Unattractive
Prices are going up for economy class award redemptions on Icelandair using Alaska Airlines’ miles. Put another way, a poor value will become an even poorer value. Alaska has many superb partners in its Mileage Plan program. It also...
Book Delta Awards With Virgin Atlantic, Not Delta
It merits mentioning just what an incredible deal your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles are when redeeming on nonstop Delta flights, particularly in business class. We are in an odd era in which an airline charges significantly more miles...
United Restores TAP And Thai Award Space But Leaves Out Singapore Airlines
United Airlines has restored online award availability for TAP Air Portugal and Thai Airways. Singapore Airlines, however, is still missing. It was a welcome relief to see Thai Airways and TAP Air Portugal award flights on united.com last night....
ANA Award Space Blocked For United MileagePlus Members
Add ANA to the list of United MileagePlus Star Alliance partners that are currently not bookable using your United miles. This fix, however, will hopefully be quicker than the other partner award problems still present. Last night, All Nippon...
Still No Fix For Key Partner Award Redemptions With United MileagePlus
Last month I noted that United is blocking partner award space on Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and TAP Air Portugal. The problem has not been resolved. United still blames technical issues on the partner side for this problem and...
Lufthansa Spares Most Valuable US Award In Latest Miles & More Devaluation
Yesterday, Lufthansa announced an upcoming devaluation of its Miles & More award chart. Thankfully, the most valuable award for U.S. travelers was spared. Old award chart New award chart International longhaul awards are not a particularly good deal on...
United Blocking Award Space On Singapore, TAP, Thai Airways
You may have noticed that award space on Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, and Thai Airways has been missing lately on united.com. Unfortunately, United is deliberately blocking the space and has offered no timeframe for a fix. United has...
An Annoying British Airways Avios Booking Restriction
There’s a fine line between fraud protection and annoyance. The pendulum for British Airways Executive Club awards bookings has swung into the annoying direction. Yesterday I tried to book a JAL business class award for a friend from Los...
How You Can Experience My First Class Asiana Flight For Cheap
Earlier today, I published a glowing review of Asiana first class onboard the A380 from Seoul to Los Angeles. Now is a GREAT time to experience what I did for cheap. And when I mean cheap, I don’t just...
Competition For Lufthansa First Class Heats Up
If you read my blog regularly, you know that one of my favorite mileage redemptions is for Lufthansa First Class. It’s not that Lufthansa offers the best first class product in the world (though I love it). Rather, Lufthansa...
How High Is Too High? Fuel Surcharges Rise Again On British Airways
British Airways has substantially raised fuel surcharges on flights originating in the United States, especially for first class. How high is too high too for an “award” ticket? A round-trip business class ticket from the United States to London...
Lufthansa: From Incredible To Outrageous
I thought Lufthansa’s decision to operate an A319 from Germany to India and charge ridiculous prices was incredible, but now it has done something outrageous. A couple weeks ago, when booking a last-minute Lufthansa first class award with Aeroplan,...
United Makes Searching For Award Space More Difficult
It’s a small extra step, but an annoying one… Traditionally, you’ve been quickly able to check award space on United Airlines without logging in. Simply enter your airport city pairs, check off the award search box, and click “find...
Book Singapore Airlines A380 First Class Awards With Partner Miles!
Ever wanted to fly the on the Singapore Airlines A380 in first class but don’t have any Singapore Airlines miles? Now you have other options. The floodgates of award space available to Singapore’s own KrisFlyer members has not been...
Mistake? Singapore Airlines Award Space Appears And Vanishes Using Partner Miles
Last week, Singapore Airlines premium cabin award space suddenly popped up on Star Alliance partner redemption websites. Was this an error a new trend? First, note the space is gone as of this morning. I just spent 20 minutes...
How To Maximize The 40% Transfer Bonus From AMEX To British Airways
In short, the shorter the route, the more valuable the redemption. The British Airways redemption chart is distance-based and longhaul flights in premium cabins rarely make sense, especially when competitors offer the same flights for so much cheaper. But...
Warning: Fiji Airways + Malaysia Airlines Now Bookable On AA.com
Fiji Airways and Malaysia Airlines are now easily bookable online using your AA miles. I know I say this every time a partner is added online, but I do consider this bad news, not good news. Think of it...
How Delta SkyMiles Could Instantly Become A Leading Loyalty Program
Two words: first class. You can now book China Eastern First Class awards using your Delta miles. The value is not great, but it is fair…especially compared to how much Delta asks for some of its own flights. This...
Planning My Final Korean Air Award
August 24th is the last day to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Air SkyPass. That has me planning what could potentially be my final redemption on Korean Air. I’ve procrastinated flying Korean Air First Class for years....