This United Award is So Cheap It Took Me an Hour to Realize It Wasn’t a Mistake

United left one of the best values on their award chart when they devalued their chart in February.

You can fly between Southern South America--Brazil, Argentina, Chile--and Africa for 30k miles each way in economy and 45k miles each way in business class as long as your itinerary features South African Airways' flights between Sao Paulo and Johannesburg.

This is such a high value award that when reader Ryan pointed it out to me, we both thought it was a mistake.

Airlines are Responding to Bank, Accounting, and Consultant Pressures by Opening Up More Award Space

According to the Wall Street Journal, airlines are opening up more award space this year compared to last year because of pressure from banks, accounting rules, and consultant studies.

In the short term, that's good for us. More award space: woohoo!

But in the long run, these pressures could cause more airlines to move to revenue-based frequent flyer programs. Revenue-based redemptions: boohoo!

Every year IdeaWorks comes out with one of the worst-conceived studies imaginable in an attempt to quantify which frequent flyer programs make redemptions the easiest.

Azul Brazilian Airlines Award Space is Wide Open on united.com

United recently announced a new partner: Azul Brazilian Airlines.

25% Discount on United Awards to Japan, But There’s a Better Deal

United is offering 25% off Saver economy awards between the mainland United States and Japan for flights completed by April 30, 2014.

You can book flights to Japan for only 26,250 United miles each way this month only, and the price shows up automatically online. The normal price is 35,000 United miles each way.

Any discount is nice, but there are one or two drawbacks to consider.

Around the World in Cathay, Singapore, and Lufthansa First: United Flat Bed First Class from Honolulu to Newark

United flies two flights from Honolulu to the east coast on internationally-configured two-cabin planes. What is sold as First Class on these planes--and BusinessFirst if you fly internationally--is a fully flat bed in a 2-1-2 configuration across the cabin.

Flat bed first class on United flights between Honolulu and Newark and Washington-Dulles

This First Class is far superior to most domestic First Class, which is served by a recliner seat with only seven more inches of legroom than coach.

First Class Seat on a Hawaii to East Coast Flight.

Around the World in Cathay, Singapore, and Lufthansa First: Introduction

I haven't been home since February 16 when I boarded a plane from Honolulu for Newark.

I Changed a United Award to Lufthansa First Last Week at the Old Price

The 50k mile bonus offer is back on the Lufthansa card mentioned in this post until 6/30/14.

Look How Easy It Is to Get a Family of Four to Europe This Summer

Look how easy it is to get a family of four to Europe this summer!

For only 240k United miles total, there are ample options from the United States to many places in Europe. If 240k United miles sounds like a lot, it really isn't.

Value in First Class on the United Chart

On February 1, United miles became much less valuable for premium cabin flights.

Not only did all first class awards outside of the western hemisphere go way up in price, but partner first class awards went way, way up.

Since people who want to fly first class awards want the swankiest, most aspirational flights, the increase in the partner award price is a big problem.

United Global First is good.

United Ends Free Holds Online, But You Can Still Use This Trick

Update 3/6/14: This post is outdated. See Master Thread: Holds on United Awards

In What You Need to Know about United Award Holds, I ran through the two ways to hold a United award online:

Any award that contains a partner segment can be held for free if your account does not have sufficient miles to ticket the award immediately.