Airline Miles Guide

Incredible: First Class to Hong Kong for 61,000 AA miles (with Web Special pricing)!

In early December American Airlines extended its “Web Special” pricing from Economy to Business and First Class. We have seen reports of some marginally discounted domestic first class award, but wonder if similar discounts will ever apply to international premium cabins—the crown jewel of mileage redemption—until now. This morning we spotted that AA has released a substantial amount of saver…
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Nobody knows how many miles Delta charges for international FIRST CLASS award … until NOW!

Delta SkyMiles, the most shadowy program of all times Delta Airlines is not famous for its transparency when it comes to mileage award. After all, once you see Delta charges 300,000 miles for a one-way award on its own metal between the United States and Asia, it should be pretty clear that they can do whatever they want … because…
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It’s Back! Cathay Pacific’s Business Class Award Again Bookable With Partners Miles

The award chart of AsiaMiles, Cathay Pacific’s loyalty program, underwent a drastic change in last month and the new chart went into effect on June 22nd. Since then, there have been lots of “glitches” in the system. For example, one major concern is that partners (e.g. AA, AS, and etc) cannot access Cathay’s saver-level business class award. Below is a screenshot…
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SURPRISE! Delta SkyMile Increases in Value Overnight!

No matter who your favorite airline is, one thing is for sure: Delta SkyMile kinda sucks. For years bloggers have been bashing Delta for (1) removing award chart, (2) inflating their redemption rate without notice, (3) charging a leg and an arm to redeem Delta’s long-haul business product, and most recently (4) putting restrictions on ticketing within 72 hours of departure….
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My AA Executive Platinum Status Expired, and I’m Happy

Since American Airlines decided go revenue-based and introduced Elite Qualifying Miles last year, many AA loyalists feel betrayed and don’t bother re-qualifying anymore (well, unless your corporate contract forces you to fly AA). As an half academic flyer/half leisure traveler, I don’t necessarily feel betrayed. Nonetheless, AA no longer appears appealing to me. In addition to changes in Elite Qualification,…
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How to Retroactively Request Airline Mileage Credit

This is an introduction to how to retroactively request mileage credit on the major U.S. airlines. There are a variety of reasons one might want to retroactively request mileage credit. For instance: The miles from a flight you took do not appear in your frequent flyer account after a certain period of time (varies by airline, as described below). You…
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A Beginner’s Guide to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (2017.5 Update: Added Finnair (AY) As A New Partner)

2017.05.22 Update: Alaska Air added Finnair (AY) as a new partner (official announcement)! You can already earn AS miles on Finnair, but redeeming miles on Finnair is not yet available. Award travel on Finnair is coming this fall. Introduction Alaska Airlines is a US-based airline based in Seattle serving over a hundred destinations in North America. Most of my domestic travel is in…
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Maximizing Compensation When Things Go Wrong in Flight

While overbooking and involuntary denied boarding compensation have been in the news a lot recently, airlines also offer compensation when their service and equipment falls short in other ways.  Recently, my wife and I were flying on paid British Airways Club World (business class) tickets from London to the West Coast of North America when we ran into a couple…
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American Airlines Award Availability – A Warning

Introduction American Airlines (AA) miles used to be one of the most sought after currencies for frequent fliers looking for outsized value when traveling on AA metal, both domestically and abroad. When AA completed their merger with US Airways in 2015, Saver award availability suddenly became scarce. With a few exceptions (flights to/from Asia), award availability remains relatively dismal. We recently told you about a 25%…
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