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Andy Shuman

Andy Shuman

Andy Shuman is a freelance travel blogger and the author of the Lazy Travelers Handbook series. He is also a miles and points aficionado with a strong knowledge of frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. Most of all, he is a travel junkie who wants to be on the road as much as possible.

Loyalty programs: American, United, US Airways, Delta, Alaska Airlines, Southwest, Jet Blue, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Iberia, LAN, Japan Airways, Air Nippon, Bangkok Airways.

Favorite program: American Airlines. It is still the best despite some shortcomings.

Favorite travel destinations: Latin America, Southeast Asia.

Most memorable trip: Argentina/Brazil 2005. Buenos Aires, Iguassu Falls, Oktoberfest in Blumenau and short resort stay in Camboriu.

Travel rewards credit cards: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Amex Platinum, Chase IHG Club, Citi AAdvantage, Chase Ink Bold, Chase Ink Plus, Barclays Arrival, etc. I’d better stop right here or it will take up the whole page.

Favorite rewards: Chase Ultimate Rewards. You can transfer your points to several airline and hotel programs, book travel, or redeem for cash. It’s a very versatile program.

Andy Shuman Andy Shuman’s posts:

Using Stopovers on United to See More: The Caribbean and Central America

United’s frequent flyer program, MileagePlus, puts Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America into one region. That means that you can fly from the U.S. to anywhere in the region for 35,000 miles in economy. United also lets you take one free stopover per roundtrip, so you can visit two destinations in this region for the same amount of miles.

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Visit Santorini and Island Hop the Aegean

Visit Santorini and Island Hop the Aegean

White houses with blue domes, and idyllic beaches with beautiful sunsets can all be found on the Greek island of Santorini. Located in the Aegean Sea, this volcanic island also serves as a great home base for island hopping. You can easily visit other popular spots in the Cyclades, a group of Greek islands southeast of the mainland including Mykonos, Naxos and Paros, or some smaller, less crowded islands, such as Folegandros.

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Using Stopovers on United to See More: Hawaii and Beyond

United’s frequent flyer program, MileagePlus, allows you to use one stopover and two open jaws for free on a round-trip award ticket. By taking advantage of this generous booking policy, you can see more places without paying more miles. For example, you could spend a few days in Hawaii on your way to Japan for the same cost as flying directly to Tokyo.

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Using Stopovers on United to Save Miles: The Middle East and China

United allows MileagePlus members to use a stopover and two open jaws for free on a round-trip award flight. You can use this policy to your advantage and fly to more places for free. Sometimes you can even save miles by adding a stopover to your itinerary. In this post, we’ll see how to maximize the destinations on your itinerary and save miles at the same time.

A stopover is when you stop somewhere on your way to your final destination for more than four hours on a domestic flight, or for more than 24 hours on an international flight. On a United award ticket, you can visit two cities in Europe or two cities on different continents for the price of a round-trip flight.

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American Express Business Green Rewards Card Review

Who Is the Amex Business Green Rewards Card Good For?

The Business Green Rewards Card is part of the American Express Membership Rewards program. This entry-level business charge card is designed for those who are self-employed or own small businesses, and would like to earn reward points on their purchases.

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Using Open Jaws on United to See More

We’re continuing our series on how to get the most out of United award tickets by looking at the airline’s free open jaw. With an open jaw, you can fly to one destination and return from another, or you can depart from one city and return to a different one. Either way, you can visit more places for the same price as a round-trip award ticket.

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Flying to Iceland in Style

Flying to Iceland in Style

Iceland is unique and fascinating, which is proof that you don’t have to travel far to see something new. It’s easy to get there, especially if you live on the East Coast. Flights between New York and Iceland are only five-and-a-half hours. That’s less time than you’d spend flying from New York to Los Angeles.

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Using Stopovers on United to Save Miles: The Middle East and Japan

Using United’s free stopover, you can see more places for the same amount of miles. But did you know that you can save miles by adding a stopover to your itinerary?

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Using Stopovers on United to See More: Europe and Asia

In our last post on stopovers, we talked about how to use United’s free stopovers to see two places in Europe for the same amount of miles as a roundtrip. In this post, we’ll discuss how to visit two destinations on two continents using United stopovers.

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American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card Review

Who Is the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card Good For

The American Express Premier Rewards Gold card is a premium charge card that allows you to earn and redeem Membership Rewards points. Membership Rewards is one of the best general rewards programs for anyone who’s interested in air travel, particularly if you’re looking for flexibility and don’t want to stick to one particular frequent flyer program.

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What Are Stopovers?

Stopovers are an underutilized mechanism that can be used to see more places on an award ticket for the same amount of miles as a direct flight. While most people want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, seasoned travelers know how to get the most for their miles.

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Moorea: An Island Paradise in French Polynesia

Moorea: An Island Paradise in French Polynesia

Moorea is one of the Society Islands, an archipelago in French Polynesia. This beautiful and idyllic island, located a few miles off the northwest coast of Tahiti, is the perfect destination if you’ve always wanted to stay at a luxury tropical resort without blowing your budget. Moorea is less costly than its more famous cousin Bora Bora, but no less amazing. So get ready for your overwater bungalow experience, and get there with miles.

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Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card Review

Who Is the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card From Bank of America Good For?

Alaska Airlines may be smaller than the three big U.S. carriers—Delta, American and United—but it has an extensive domestic network of routes, as well as flights to some vacation hot spots in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. The airline isn’t just for visiting Alaska, which makes the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card valuable to anyone who often flies in the U.S., regardless of where you live.

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Tasmania’s Unique Natural Beauty and Stunning Biodiversity

Tasmania’s Unique Natural Beauty and Stunning Biodiversity

Tasmania is located 150 miles south of mainland Australia, across the Bass Strait. While the biggest island is called Tasmania, this Australian island state is composed of over 330 islands.

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Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card Review

Who Is the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card From American Express Good For?

If you fly on Delta and are trying to reach or maintain elite status, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card can be a great tool. This premium card offers a welcome bonus and allows you to earn Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) that count toward elite status.
Although the Platinum Delta card does come with a higher annual fee than both the basic and Gold Delta SkyMiles cards, it offers a greater potential for earning miles, with a slightly higher welcome bonus, as well as the ability to earn more bonus miles if you spend more.

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The Maldives: Clear Blue Waters, Relaxing Beaches and Luxurious Resorts

The Maldives: Clear Blue Waters, Relaxing Beaches and Luxurious Resorts

The Maldives is an archipelago of 26 coral atolls with over 1,000 islands. Only 200 of them are inhabited. They lie in the Indian Ocean, about an hour by plane from Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. In the last 40 years, the Maldives has transformed from a virtually unknown British colony to one of the most popular travel destinations in the world.

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How to Transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Partner Airlines

Citi ThankYou Rewards is a flexible reward program that competes with American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Diners Club Rewards. Citi ThankYou points can be redeemed in a variety of ways.

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Middle East Airlines Cedar Miles Program Review

Middle East Airlines, or MEA, is the flag carrier of Lebanon. It flies to 39 destinations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa out of BeirutRafic Hariri International Airport. MEA does not fly to the United States.

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American Express Green Card Review

amex green card

Who is the Green Card from American Express Good For?

The Green Card is an American Express Membership Rewards charge card. It doesn’t offer the same level of benefits provided by its more upscale cousins, such as the Premier Rewards Gold card and Platinum cards, but its annual fee is also considerably less. At only $95 a year, versus $160 for the Gold Card and $450 for the Platinum, some might consider it a bargain.

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Jerusalem: The Holy City

Jerusalem: The Holy City

Known as the City of Gold, Jerusalem is a holy place for three major world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. One of the oldest cities in the world, no trip to Israel is complete without visiting its ancient religious sites, such as the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount. The ancient walled quarter in the center of town, known as the Old City, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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