Award Space on United’s East Coast to Hawaii Flights with Flat Beds

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United flies daily from Newark to Honolulu and weekly from Washington to Honolulu. Both routes have flat beds in First Class.

The 767-400ERs plying the routes have five across First Class beds in a 2-1-2 pattern.

Houston to Moscow Nonstop Roundtrip for $399

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.

Travel from Houston (IAH) to Moscow (DME) nonstop for $399 roundtrip on Singapore Airlines. Book by Monday August 10 and start travel by December 1.

Houston to Moscow Nonstop Roundtrip for $399

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.

Travel from Houston (IAH) to Moscow (DME) nonstop for $399 roundtrip on Singapore Airlines. Book by Monday August 10 and start travel by December 1.

Anatomy of an Award: Bogota to Buenos Aires in Business Class for 20,000 Singapore Miles

Last week I redeemed 20,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles and $27 for a one way trip in Business Class from Bogota to Buenos Aires with an overnight in Lima. I will fly the award in a few months.

That’s over seven hours of flying up front for only 20,000 miles. United would have charged 40,000 miles for me to book the exact same award space.

I GOT IT WRONG: Virgin Australia Miles and Singapore Miles Don’t Transfer Freely Back and Forth

Update 8/5/15 at noon ET:

I totally messed this one up. Transfers are 1.35 Singapore miles to 1 Virgin Australia point or 1.35 Virgin Australia points to 1 Singapore mile. In both directions you lose about a quarter of your miles, so this is a terrible deal.

I GOT IT WRONG: Virgin Australia Miles and Singapore Miles Don’t Transfer Freely Back and Forth

Update 8/5/15 at noon ET:

I totally messed this one up. Transfers are 1.35 Singapore miles to 1 Virgin Australia point or 1.35 Virgin Australia points to 1 Singapore mile. In both directions you lose about a quarter of your miles, so this is a terrible deal.

Amazing United Dreamliner Business Class Space to Rio and Santiago

United is offering tons of Business Class award space for the next 11 months on its flights to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Santiago, Chile.

Both routes will soon be flown by United's brand new 787-9 Dreamliners with flat beds in Business Class. You can book either route for as little as 35,000 miles one way.
United 787-9 Dreamliner
The United 787-9 Dreamliner has 48 beds in Business class in a 2-2-2 configuration. I would choose a middle seat, since both have direct aisle access.

Amazing United Dreamliner Business Class Space to Rio and Santiago

United is offering tons of Business Class award space for the next 11 months on its flights to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Santiago, Chile.

Both routes will soon be flown by United's brand new 787-9 Dreamliners with flat beds in Business Class. You can book either route for as little as 35,000 miles one way.
United 787-9 Dreamliner
The United 787-9 Dreamliner has 48 beds in Business class in a 2-2-2 configuration. I would choose a middle seat, since both have direct aisle access.

DREAM BIG: Five Things I Can Do with My Miles that I Wouldn’t Do with Cash

Cash is great because it can buy everything from travel to your basic necessities. But sometimes miles are better. There are a lot of things I can easily do with miles that I would never do with cash (at least until my bank account had a few more zeroes.)

Dream big with your miles. Better yet, dream big before your miles. Then get the right miles to turn that dream into a reality.

Using Singapore Miles to Europe in Economy is Better Than Using United Miles

It costs fewer Singapore miles to fly United economy flights to Europe than the same flight costs with United miles, and neither award has fuel surcharges.

Conclusion: book United economy awards to Europe with Singapore miles instead of United miles.

From Singapore's award chart:

27,500 miles one way in economy to Europe (United charges 30k)
65,000 miles one way in Business Class (United charges 57.5k)
80,000 miles one way in First Class (United charges the same)

Singapore does not collect fuel surcharges on awards of United flights, so those economy awards on United flights are just cheaper