Educational Posts on Loyalty Programs

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How to Book Qantas Frequent Flyer Awards

Qantas, Australia’s flag carrier, is a great airline for flights between the U.S. and Australia. It has excellent service, a fantastic first class cabin and direct flights to Australia from Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Dallas.

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How to Book a Flight with Citi ThankYou Points

thankyou points

Booking flights through the Citi ThankYou portal can be a better value than other redemption options. For example, booking flights with points earned on the Citi Premier card can yield a 60% bonus over a gift card if you book a flight with American Airlines/US Airways through the Citi ThankYou travel portal, where 30,000 points is equal to $480 toward a ticket on American or US Airways, or $399 on any other airline compared to a $300 value in gift cards if you went that redemption route.

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How to Book Korean Air SKYPASS Awards

korean air

Joining Korean Air’s frequent flyer program, SKYPASS, may not be on your list of priorities, but maybe it should be. As one of the founding members of the SkyTeam, you can book flights on 20 different alliance members, including Delta, Air France, KLM and Aeromexico. It’s also partners with Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, American, Emirates and Etihad Airways, among others.

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How to Get Free WiFi in the Air

wi-fi

Hurdling through the air at 500 miles per hour at an altitude of 35,000 feet is a marvel in itself, but today’s on-the-go society wants more. Airlines are responding by adding new-fangled entertainment systems and wireless internet access. But, that isn’t enough. Passengers don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it. Luckily, there are some airlines that connectivity is a modern-day necessity, not a luxury, and they provide free Internet to help pass the time. Hop aboard one of these airlines to take advantage of it and remain productive inflight.

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How to Book Emirates Skywards Awards

emirates award ticket

Emirates is perhaps best known for its flashy and luxurious first class cabin. It’s one of only two airlines in the world that offers in-flight showers. And if first class passengers don’t find what they want in their personal in-seat minibar, they can head to the lounge which has a full bar, including a bartender.

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Loyalty Programs You Should Consider to Boost Your Balance

boost balance

So you’re savvy enough to collect points and miles from airlines and hotels, but did you realize that you might be missing out on other perks by not signing up for some of these lesser known loyalty programs.

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6 Great Ways to Redeem Your American AAdvantage Miles after the Devaluation

redeem miles

American Airlines recently introduced significant changes to their award charts that drastically raise prices in many cases, as well as creating two separate charts for travel on American Airlines vs. partner airlines. However, this doesn’t mean you won’t still find some good opportunities to use those miles for incredible vacations.

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New Opportunities from Flying Blue and Ultimate Rewards Partnership

flying blue

Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most valuable bank rewards programs. Points can be redeemed for almost any flight booked through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal at a value of 1.2 cents each, or you can transfer them to a variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs. Most third party programs restricted the amount of award availability, but they have the advantage that you could get much more value for your points.

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Six Great Ways to Redeem Your Delta SkyMiles in the U.S. and Abroad

delta skymiles

Delta’s frequent flyer miles have been derisively nicknamed “SkyPesos” for their low value, but in fact there are still many good opportunities to redeem them for valuable awards. Unless noted, all rates below are for round-trip travel.

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6 Great Ways to Redeem United Airlines Miles for International Award Travel

united airlines miles

After all the hard work you’ve invested in earning miles with the United MileagePlus program, you’ll want to know that you can redeem them for a truly valuable trip. The most common award redemption is a domestic flight for 25,000 miles round trip in economy class. Of course, many people could pay for that out of pocket.

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American Airlines Devaluation: Book AA Seats at Former Levels via Etihad Airways

Etihad is an American Airlines partner that still features old AAdvantage award levels. At some point in the future, they will update their chart, but for now you can book American Airlines awards the old way.

Unfortunately, there is no way to book partners on the Etihad website. You have to search for an award on AA.com and then call Etihad to book it.

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American Airlines Devaluation: Book AA Seats at Former Levels via Alaska Airlines

If you feel nostalgic about the old American Airlines’ award chart, you’re not alone. AAdvantage used to be the most valuable frequent flyer program bar none, but since March 22nd it’s more on par with other legacy programs like United and Delta that have undergone severe business and first class award devaluations.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing a Rewards Credit Card

There are a lot of travel rewards cards to choose from. Some are co-branded with airlines, and others are part of rewards programs, like American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou. No single card is right for everyone, and deciding which one to get depends on how you plan to use the card and what you want to do with your points or miles.

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The Seven Longest Flights By Distance And How To Fly Them Using Award Miles

Longest flights have been a thing since the Wright Brothers flew 852′ in 1903. A few years ago, Singapore Airlines flew the longest flight in the world which was Newark, New Jersey, to Singapore for a distance of 9,539 miles, the longest scheduled route in the world ever flown commercially with passengers. They plan to reinstate this route using the new Airbus A350s at some future date yet to be announced.

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How Many Ways Can I Use My Award Miles?

Let’s face it, some of you are mileage hoarders. You’ve earned all those miles and you don’t know what to do with them. Or you are saving for that special trip. Some people even end up letting miles expire unknowingly. Then you have to contact the airline and beg for forgiveness. Sometimes that works, and other times it doesn’t.

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Chase and Amex Travel Booking Portals: What’s the Deal?

When the travel hacking bug hits, most newcomers to the hobby only think about earning points that can be transferred to an airline or hotel in order to book an award. However, two major players in this field—Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards—offer so much more than a simple transfer of their points to an external travel loyalty program. Let’s delve into the travel booking portals from both of these companies so you know all of your options when it comes to using your hard-earned points.

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Save Money with Hidden City Ticketing and Other Tricks Using ITA Matrix

ITA Matrix is popular among frequent flyers and travel hackers because it provides so much control over the parameters of your search. You can force connections in a certain city, exclude airlines, and even pick exact flight numbers. Some of these functions are possible with other websites but can be extremely cumbersome. Finding a great itinerary with ITA Matrix can make it easier to reconstruct elsewhere for cash or award tickets.

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More than Miles: Other Benefits to Consider when Choosing a Travel Card

We are all familiar with the points and miles game. Signing up for cards with big bonuses, using specific cards for certain types of spending, staying abreast of promotions and watching out for deals on travel. However, there are some things you may not have considered when applying for a travel card or booking a flight. Things that may be important especially if you are a frequent traveler like free baggage check, lounge access, member status and other ancillary benefits.

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Find Better Flights on ITA Matrix with Advanced Routing Language

The best feature of ITA Matrix is the advanced routing language that can be used to specify a traveler’s exact needs. Many other airlines and online travel agencies use the same technology as ITA Matrix precisely because of powerful abilities like this.

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How to Use ITA Matrix: The Most Powerful Airfare Search Tool

There are many ways to search for flights: airline websites, online travel agencies (OTAs), search aggregators like Kayak, and even visiting a human travel agent. However, many of these tools are trying to sell you something — a ticket for your next business trip or vacation — and may not always provide the most useful information.

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