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McCown and I are working on researching a trip to Myanmar for sometime in 2015 and have been scouring the internet trying to learn all that we can about how to get there, what to see, where to stay, etc… We’ll have a few points related to our Myanmar trip planning over the next few weeks, but, first of all: What’s the best way to get to Myanmar using miles or points from North America?
Map of Myanmar/Burma. Yangon = home of the main international airport for the country. Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake are popular tourist destinations within the country.
There are essentially 3 major international [...]
As reported here, American Express is running a 40% bonus on transfers to British Airways Avios for the next ~6 weeks.
The Deal
For a limited time, all transfers from American Express Membership Rewards points to British Airways Avios will receive a 40% transfer bonus. It is reported that this deal will last until 1/31/2015, but it is always possible that it could end sooner– so, I would suggest jumping on it ASAP. The transfer is hard coded on the AMEX website at a rate of: 1,000 Membership Rewards® Points = 1,400 Avios.
You can use British Airways Avios miles to book oneworld alliance partner flights, including those on: American Airlines, US [...]
As I wrote about here (How-to: Book US Airways Flights With British Airways Avios), US Airways officially joined the Oneworld Alliance about a month ago. Joining the ranks of American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, LAN etc…, US Airways is now eligible for bookings with Avios. This opens up lots of opportunities for maximizing short, non-stop flights out of US Airways’ hub cities: Charlotte-CLT, Philadelphia-PHL, Phoenix-PHX and Washington-Reagan-DCA.
First in this series was Charlotte, North Carolina-CLT, and now we have flights out of Philadelphia-PHL. There are easily 60+ million people that can reach Philadelphia International Airport in less [...]
For those of you saying, “Enough already! How do you get started?” here’s a quick crash course on racking up the points required for a free trip. This is written from the perspective of someone with no frequent traveler points that is starting from scratch.
1. Understand your credit scoreThis is imperative to getting in on the free miles game. Start by reading our Credit Score Crash Course post here. This will give you an idea of what is behind your credit score.
2. Look up your credit scoreBefore going any further, figure out what you’re working with. Please don’t go to just any website for a credit report– there’s a reason [...]
As I wrote about here (How-to: Book US Airways Flights With British Airways Avios), US Airways officially joined the Oneworld Alliance about a month ago. Joining the ranks of American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, LAN etc…, US Airways is now eligible for bookings with Avios. This opens up lots of opportunities for maximizing short, non-stop flights out of US Airways’ hub cities: Charlotte-CLT, Philadelphia-PHL, Phoenix-PHX and Washington-Reagan-DCA.
First in this series is Charlotte, North Carolina-CLT. From my research, appx 30 million people live within a 5-hour drive of the city, making it relatively easy for them to drive and take take [...]
Starting on March 31, 2014, US Airways officially joined the Oneworld Alliance as part of its merger with American Airlines. The biggest news and best part about this change is that you can now use British Airways Avios to book award flights on US Airways.
British Airways/Iberia Avios miles are [glossy term=”distance based awards”]: on the surface, it seems like you’re getting a bad deal on award redemptions. But, as with anything involving miles, it opens up possibilities to find great values on non-stop short distance flights.
Here’s the British Airways Avios award chart:
Benefits of Booking US Airways Flights With [...]
British Airways flies a surprisingly large number of routes within the Caribbean–this can save hundreds of dollars if you’re interested in doing some island hopping and really opens up your vacation possibilities. Here are the destinations served:
Legend: Red = British Airways operated flights (confirmed bookable with Avios)Green = Codeshare American Airlines, operated by Seaborne Airlines (confirmed bookable with AA miles, not positive about Avios)
As stated in the caption, any flight in Red on the map or with a designation of BA in the [...]
Traveling for the long weekend? Why not join your fellow Americans and take a trip away from wherever “here” is for you.
A few cheap last minute ideas:
Freeport, Bahamas-FPO Dates: July 4th to July 8. From Miami-MIA for 9k AMEX Points/Avios per passenger by converting your American Express Membership Rewards Points –> British Airways Avios. More info on how to book: Award Travel Guide: Finding best award seats on American Airlines and Cheap travel to Caribbean/Latin America with British Airways/AMEX points Bermuda-BDA Dates: July 4th to July 8th From Miami-MIA for 15k AMEX Points/Avios per passenger by converting your American Express Membership [...]So, I had an awesome Memorial Day weekend trip planned to surprise McCown to St. Kitts & Nevis:
But, I learned that I had to cancel very last minute due to a family emergency. In the days of cheap flights, hotels and cheap awards, cancellation and change policies have been getting stricter and stricter. When I learned that I wouldn’t be able to go, I just knew that there was no hope of getting any of the reservations refunded because it was so close to the date of departure (as in 12 hours before we were set to depart). Despite my pessimism, I started making the calls to see if a phone rep might have a little mercy and help me out. All told, I expected to be [...]
