How to Request United to Manually Sell Award Seats

Here's how I got United to "manually sell" me award seats for an itinerary. While this technique is not possible in most circumstances, in my case, it turned no award into my dream award!

I was in the midst of constructing a simple roundtrip itinerary from the US to Europe when I ran into some big trouble.

United's online award calendar displayed Austrian award space on the only day I could return to the States.

How to Get to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil for Cheap with Miles & Points

I just booked myself a roundtrip First Class award from Honolulu to Sao Paulo, Brazil during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I also booked myself five nights at a hotel in Sao Paulo.

Rooting for the Home Team (Poland) at the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup!

The cost?

125,000 US Airways miles
100,000 IHG Rewards points
$109

If you want to go see the biggest sporting event in the world in the world's best footballing (soccer) country, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

How to Transfer SPG Starpoints to Airline Miles

Update: My transfer took two days. I made the transfer on December 18 and received the miles on December 20. Yours may take more or less time.

Starpoints (or SPG points) are the points earned from the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express.

Starpoints are the most valuable mile or point in my opinion--worth about 2.5 cents each.

They can be used for free hotel nights, complete vacations, discounted hotel nights, or transferred to airline miles with over 30 airlines.

The Eight Habits of Highly Effective Award Bookers

Our Award Booking Service has been rocking and rolling lately. Busy frequent flyers love the personal attention we give each itinerary, as well as our expert knowledge of award programs.

The MileValue crew has a battle-tested recipe for award booking success.

How to Save 70,000 Miles on US Airways Awards to Southeast Asia

By using the principles of free oneways and an incredible sweet spot on the US Airways award chart, you can save up to 70,000 miles on your next US Airways award booking to Asia.

I'm flying Turkish Airlines Business Class on My Next US Airways AwardUS Airways charges ordinarily charges 120k miles roundtrip in business class to India or Thailand and 160k in first.

How to Search for Nonstop Award Space on AA.com

American Airlines' website is a great place to search for oneworld award space, especially on oneworld partners such as airberlin, Qantas, and Finnair. American's site is also useful for searching award space on non-oneworld partners like Hawaiian and Alaska. Scott wrote up a good introductory post on AA.com earlier this month.

This brief post will show you a quick tip on how to search for nonstop award segments on AA.com.

How do you manipulate aa.com to show only non-stop results? When would you want to do this?

American's site is intuitive and displays accurate award space.

How to Get 10 Nights in Hawaii and First Class Flights for Free

This post will explain how a couple can get 10 nights for free at a top-tier hotel in Hawaii plus First Class roundtrip flights all for about $150 per person total.

A Major Problem with Delta.com and The Only Solution

You can use delta.com to search Delta, Virgin Australia, Air France, KLM, Korean, and now Alitalia space. Korean space isn't searchable anywhere else. Virgin Australia space isn't convenient to search elsewhere.

Free First Class Next Month: Searching BA.com to Redeem American Airlines Miles

Hey! You're reading an outdated Free First Class Next Month series. Check out the latest version published in April of 2015 here.

This is the twenty-first post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flier miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.

Free First Class Next Month: Searching AA.com to Redeem American Airlines Miles

Hey! You're reading an outdated Free First Class Next Month series. Check out the latest version published in April of 2015 here.

This is the twentieth post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flier miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.