How & When to Fly Thai 1st Class, MileagePlus Sweetspot Devaluing in 3 Months

It only costs 40,000 United miles to fly Thai Airways First Class between South Asia and Australia/New Zealand. A flight between Bangkok and Sydney is nine hours long. 40k is an incredible price for the travel time and quality of the product.

Sadly on November 1 of this year, the price will increase to 65,000 miles. That is not an unreasonable price, but the award will certainly lose its sweetspot status. The devaluation of this international award is not the only change we'll see to MileagePlus this fall.

$362+ Roundtrips to Hawaii from the West Coast All Year

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

United Airlines is offering roundtrip economy flights starting at $362 from various cities on the west coast to Honolulu, Maui, and Kona. Available travel dates span all the way from September through May of 2018.

United MileagePlus Changes Effective November 1, 2017

You might want grab a cup of something caffeinated for this one.

Three Easy Ways to Earn Miles This Week

Credit card sign up bonuses and buying cash flights tend to be the major opportunities to earn big chunks of rewards. But being a true miles and points enthusiast means taking advantage of even the little opportunities when you can, that only take a minute or two to sign up for/participate in and over time add up to big savings. Every penny–or mile–counts.

Here are three ways you can easily boost your balances this week.

Who Has the Most First Class Award Space to Kona?

There seemed to be enough interest in my original post on premium cabin award space to Honolulu that I followed up with the next most popular destination in Hawaii: Maui, and will now cover premium cabin award space to Kona (KOA), the third busiest airport in Hawaii on the big island.

Flash Sale on United Miles: 67% Bonus Through June 2

Through June 2, 2017 at 11:59 CT (today and tomorrow), United is offering up to a 67% bonus on purchased miles.

Who Has the Most First Class Award Space to Maui?

There seemed to be enough interest in my original post on this topic, Who Has the Most First Class Award Space to Honolulu?, that I followed up with the next most popular destination in Hawaii: Maui (OGG airport).

Comparison of United, Delta, & American Airlines Latest 2017 Award Charts

Which airline has the best miles and frequent flyer program? United, American, and Delta are the big three legacy carriers that most directly compete with each other in the United States. For that reason, I publish charts that compare their award prices.

United and American Airlines currently have award charts that were devalued in February 2014 and March 2016 respectively. Delta's is in a state of constant devaluation with frequent unannounced price changes that come into effect for flights flown a few months later.

Requesting Compensation from United for Flight Delays

In February, my parents flew down to South America to join me for a trip in Rio de Janiero, followed by a week spent in Buenos Aires, the location I call home for at least half the year.

I booked them in United Business between Charleston, SC and Rio de Janiero using United miles, and LATAM Business between Buenos Aires and Miami using American Airlines miles.

Ends in Two Days: Get SPG Cards Now to Book Europe in Business Class This Summer

The 35,000 point bonuses on the SPG personal and business cards end Wednesday (April 5, 2017.) This is the highest sign up bonus we’ve ever seen on the cards, tied with the same bonus that was offered last year at this time.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

Meet the spending requirements on both the personal and business SPG cards, and you'll have 83,000 SPG points, which can be transferred to 249,000 Marriott points