Ends Today! Biggest Bonus Ever: 35,000 SPG Points on Personal and Business Cards

The Starwood Preferred Guest personal and business credit cards from American Express now come with 35,000 bonus Starpoints for spending $3,000 and $5,000 respectively in the first three months of cardmembership.

Links:

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express (personal)
Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express

The normal sign up bonus is 25,000 points, the twice yearly limited time offer is 30,000 points. This is the highest public sign up bonus ever on these cards.

Two Foundational Questions in Miles Collecting

When collecting miles, its easy to find yourself in a situation where you have a bunch of miles and points spread over a number of different programs. You might not have enough in one account for the award you want, so you might want to combine miles between programs or between your account and a friend's in the same program.

Master Thread: United Three One Ways Awards

On roundtrip United awards, you get one free stopover in addition to your destination and up to two open jaws.

What I Told My Friend to Do to Become a Miles Expert in a Day

I was having lunch with my friend the other day, and we started talking about miles and points. She has some credit cards and has even made a few redemptions, but from the conversation it was clear that there was a lot about our world she didn't know.

I gave her one homework assignment that I thought would greatly improve her grasp on miles.

Comprehensive Spread Sheets of Eight Star Alliance Award Charts: Cheapest Awards to Every Region

Updated 1/29/16 to reflect new Aeroplan award prices effective for awards booked 12/15/15 or later.
Updated 10/6/15 to reflect new ANA award prices effective for awards booked 10/15/15 or later.

In the last few weeks, I have published some comparative charts of Star Alliance award charts. I'm putting all of those charts into this post for easier reference.

You can use any type of Star Alliance miles to book almost any Star Alliance flight. (Swiss, Lufthansa, and Singapore hold back some premium cabin award space for their own members.

How to Earn and Redeem 106,000 American Airlines Miles in the Next Few Months

The personal and business American Airlines credit cards are each offering 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months. Getting both cards and meeting their combined minimum spending requirement of $6,000 will earn you 106,000+ American Airlines miles, which you can use for up to four international roundtrips.

How to Get the Cards (and Who Is Eligible)
Meeting the Minimum Spending Requirements
Redeeming the Miles for Family Vacations, Luxurious First Class, and More

How to Get the Cards
Some credit card offers in this post have expired, but they might come back.

How to Earn and Redeem 106,000 American Airlines Miles in the Next Few Months

The personal and business American Airlines credit cards are each offering 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months. Getting both cards and meeting their combined minimum spending requirement of $6,000 will earn you 106,000+ American Airlines miles, which you can use for up to four international roundtrips.

How to Get the Cards (and Who Is Eligible)
Meeting the Minimum Spending Requirements
Redeeming the Miles for Family Vacations, Luxurious First Class, and More

How to Get the Cards
Some credit card offers in this post have expired, but they might come back.

Comprehensive Spread Sheet of 8 Star Alliance Award Charts: Cheapest Awards to Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania

Because you can use any type of Star Alliance miles to book any Star Alliance flight, I’ve put the eight best Star Alliance award charts into one spreadsheet. Check out why I chose these eight award charts and how Americans can get these miles here.

Which Programs Have One Ways, Stopovers, Fuel Surcharges

Longtime reader Eddy emailed me:
Do you know of someplace that has the rules of the various frequent flyer programs? I'm looking at trip to China next Spring and there are so many options, so I’d like to know for each program: (1) allow one ways? (2) permit stop overs? (3) charge for fuel? Any idea if this info is collected in one place anywhere?

Comprehensive Spread Sheet of 8 Star Alliance Award Charts: Cheapest Awards to Indian Subcontinent

Because you can use any type of Star Alliance miles to book any Star Alliance flight, I’ve put the eight best Star Alliance award charts into one spreadsheet. Check out why I chose these eight award charts and how Americans can get these miles here.