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According to Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Americans now own a smartphone. Data from Flurry, an analytics company, reveals the members of this group spend an average of five hours a day on their mobile devices browsing the Internet and utilizing a variety of apps.

Summer is a popular time for families to vacation together, and according to AAA, more than a third of Americans expect to take a journey that is at least 50 miles away from home. With 79 percent planning a road trip, 51 percent preparing to visit a national park, and 33 percent anticipating a visit to an international destination, the opportunity for educational experiences abound.

Alaska Airlines miles are some of the most valuable airline miles out there. The Mileage Plan award program has some very unique and useful features but also some restrictions that can make their miles more difficult to use than other programs.
Here’s why I love Alaska Airlines miles even though they can be tough to use (and some considerations to make them less tough to use).

Healthcare in the U.S. is notoriously expensive. According to the number crunchers at the Department of Health and Human Services, national health expenditures were expected to hit $3.35 trillion last year—or an average or $10,345 for each man, woman and child in America. Hospitals collected 32 percent of this spending while doctors and other clinicians snagged 20 percent for their services. Prescription drugs purchased through pharmacies accounted for another 10 percent.

Google Flights is one of the most powerful tools for finding the best airline deals and routing. It can save you a ton of time relative to searching around on the websites of individual airlines, and it works well for both domestic and foreign airlines. It even has features built in to help you find great airfares even if you don’t know exactly where you want to go. More on that below. But first, what it it is how it works.

If you’ve ever been in an airport with time to spare, odds are that you stopped for some quick grub at a kiosk or sat down with your travel companions for nice meal. After all, eating is a big part of the airport experience, especially if you have a connection and there’s not much else to do. But few travelers are aware of the story behind the restaurants they find at the airport.

The only U.S. credit card rewards program that allows you to transfer points to the United MileagePlus program is Chase Ultimate Rewards. But what if you don’t have Ultimate Rewards points? Does it mean you can’t use points from other rewards program to book an award flight on United?

Is it worth booking an award flight as soon as it becomes available? You might get the cheapest redemption or a hard-to-find first class seat on a popular flight, but your reservation will be about a year out. A lot can change in that time. Knowing how much you’ll have to pay to change or cancel that flight can determine if it’s worth taking the chance.

Airplanes can take you anywhere there’s a runway, but there are enormous and complicated systems behind the scenes that make it possible for millions of flights a year to go smoothly.

With the launch of the new World of Hyatt Program, Hyatt is really upping their game when it comes to their new top-tier status, which will now be called Globalist Status. Previously, this was referred to as Hyatt Diamond status in the former Hyatt Gold Passport Program. With new benefits added, we’re going to see how Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum status compares.

Transferring points from credit card rewards programs, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, or American Express Membership Rewards is a great way to fly on their partner airlines, but that’s just the beginning. Since so many airlines are members of airline alliances (and those that aren’t can partner with other airlines in ways you wouldn’t expect), it feels sometimes that you can use points to fly on almost every one of them.

Knowing where and how to search for award space is one of the most important, and most complicated aspects to using your frequent flyer miles effectively.
Unfortunately, the airlines do not make this an easy task. Some airlines only show awards for some partners, other airlines won’t show you all of the valid connections you can make – just to name some of the challenges you are likely going to run into. Oftentimes, you won’t even know that these things are problems.

Competition in the premium travel rewards card segment continues to heat up. Chase and Amex have been going at it lately with Chase introducing the Sapphire Reserve card and Amex making enhancements to both the personal and business versions of the Platinum card. Now we have a new entrant into the fray: the Altitude Reserve card from US Bank.

Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, you don’t want to leave your business behind. That’s where Hightail comes in, allowing colleagues to view complex information and make critical decisions from all parts of the globe. According to Hightail’s Chief Marketing Officer, Deborah Holstein, “Everyone is able to participate regardless of where they are geographically.”

Do you live to travel? If you’ve found your way to RewardExpert, it’s a safe bet that you do. After all, earning enough points and miles to score free airline tickets requires diligence and a well-crafted plan—two things your average sporadic vacationer rarely has. It’s even possible you love traveling so much that you’ve imagined quitting your job and spending the rest of your years journeying around the globe. But while that’s an attractive daydream, it doesn’t leave much room for family, friends, or future retirement savings.

If you’re new to earning points and miles through credit cards, you have many options when it comes to what cards you can get and earn the bonus on.
This changes when someone has been signing up for cards for a while due to some rules that various credit card issues have. Deciding which cards to get first is pretty straightforward if you know what to look for.

The home page at Stride Travel includes a banner that says “Life’s too short for vanilla vacations.” While most of us would agree with that conclusion, planning that perfect combination of travel, accommodations and sightseeing is not an easy task.

There are a number of premium credit cards available and each one has it’s own set of benefits. Depending on your travel and spending patterns, one may be a significantly better choice for you than another. In some cases it may make sense to have more than one.
In this article we’re going to compare the major premium credit cards from American Express, Chase and Citi. U.S. Bank has also just entered the premium card market with the launch of it’s Altitude card. We’ll have more on that one next week.

Over the past several years, airlines have taken steps to differentiate their classes of product segment in order to maximize revenue. Cabin configurations traditionally consisted of either two classes (economy and business class) or three classes (economy, business and first class).
Now planes are configured with four or even five cabins, with the more recent additions being premium economy. In many cases, premium economy has become the new “middle class” as airlines have done away with first class, and are flying with planes that have standard economy, premium economy and business class.

Let’s take a closer look at premium economy products by comparing the products and services offered, as well as the booking process and elite upgrade rules.

Delta Airlines

Delta’s premium economy offering is called Comfort+. This product is clearly the best of the three legacy airlines. Comfort+ seats offer 3 inches of additional leg room compared with standard economy seats. The seats are located in front of the main economy cabin, so you will be able to exit the plane faster.
There is dedicated overhead bin space so you don’t have to worry about your roll-aboard getting checked at the ramp. You receive priority boarding so you can get on the plane and get settled more quickly. Delta offers complimentary alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and spirits. The seats include both connectivity and power so you can charge your devices while you fly.
You will have a choice of a variety of complimentary premium snacks instead of just the standard offerings like pretzels and peanuts. Longer transcontinental flights include additional sleeping and entertainment amenities such as a pillow, blanket, complimentary headset and amenity kit. The seats on these flights also recline up to 50% more than standard economy. In addition, since this is a true premium economy product, it is being sold as a separate class of service. This means that the seats can be booked directly as an award ticket for a price between the standard economy price and business/first class price.

There are a variety of details to keep in mind if you are an elite member looking to upgrade from a standard economy seat. The availability rules based on elite status are as follows:

• Diamond and Platinum elites can get confirmed upgrades at the time of booking
• Gold elites can be confirmed beginning 72 hours prior to departure
• Silver elites can be confirmed beginning 24 hours prior to departure

Elites may be upgraded along with one companion traveling on the same reservation. In a tweak to the program, companion upgrades are now based on the highest elite status of the two people. Previously, upgrades cleared based on the lowest status, which was very irritating to higher level elites who may have been passed over by passengers with a lower level of status because their companion had an even lower status.

There is one significant downside to the way Delta handles upgrades into Comfort+ seats. If you are cleared for an upgrade, the upgraded seat is automatically assigned based on availability. Therefore, you could have reserved a window or aisle seat in standard economy and be “upgraded” to a middle seat in the Comfort+ section. You will have to decide for yourself what is more important: avoiding a middle seat at all costs, or the extra legroom, snacks, and free drinks offered in Comfort+.
If you decide you’d rather not take the chance of ending up in a middle seat, there is an easy way to opt out. When you make a booking, and click on the upgrade request link, there are two separate boxes. One is for upgrades into first or business class, and the other is for upgrades into Comfort+. You may simply check the box for first/business class, and leave the box for Comfort+ unchecked. This will ensure you are only considered for upgrades into first or business class. The relevant portion of the screen will look like this:

American Airlines

American does not have a true premium economy offering on domestic flights. However, it does have a product called Main Cabin Extra. Some people simply refer to these seats as “extra legroom seating”. The list of amenities is quite short. The only real benefits are extra legroom and a position in the plane in front of the standard economy seats.

Unlike their true premium economy seats on long haul international flights, these Main Cabin Extra seats are not a separate class of service. This is nice because it means that an upgrade is not required; you simply select the seat at the time of booking. Main Cabin Extra seats are highlighted in red, and the price is displayed for those who do not receive complimentary access. As you can see, some of the seats that cost extra are simply the exit-row seats and are not located as far forward in the plane as the rest of the Main Cabin extra seats.

• AA elites with Platinum status or above have complimentary access to these seats.
• Gold elites may select these seats and receive a 50% discount at booking, and complimentary access if seats are still available within 24 hours of departure.

United Airlines

United is very similar to American in that they do not offer a true premium economy product on domestic flights, but they do offer extra legroom seats which are called Economy Plus. As with American, these seats are not sold as a separate class of service, but are available to select at the time of booking. The screenshot below shows an example seating map with Economy Plus seats in blue:

United has different rules for elite access and guest privileges.

• Those with Platinum elite status and above receive complimentary access for themselves and up to eight companions at the time of booking.
• Those with Gold elite status receive complimentary access for themselves and up to one companion at the time of booking.
• Silver elite members may receive complimentary access for themselves and up to one companion at the time of check-in.

It’s easy to get Virgin Atlantic miles because the carrier has a long list of transfer partners, but Virgin’s Flying Club program isn’t known for its generous redemptions. However, there are some great deals hidden in the program’s award charts that shouldn’t be overlooked.