advice

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Why You Should Search Backwards on the ANA Site

If you’re looking for the most accurate Star Alliance award availability, you should be searching using the ANA website. It’s a little less user-friendly than the United website, but it’s 100% accurate (as far as I can tell), which means that I often do most of my searches on the ANA website, particularly when I’m…

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Diminishing Value of Sign-Up Bonuses Due to High Spend Requirements

As I plan my next round of credit card applications, I’m always cognizant of how much spend I’m signing myself up for. While there are still some credit cards out there with minimal spend requirements (e.g. the Barclays US Airways Mastercard, which I love), many credit cards require that you spend a certain amount on…

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Should Miles Enthusiasts be Worried about “Big Data”?

The New York Times recently published an article entitled, “Why the Airline Industry Needs Another Data Revolution”. In the article, there’s a brief outline of how the airline industry used to be at the forefront of technology, pioneering things like computerized reservation systems and revenue management, but now, airlines seem to be stuck with archaic…

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Why I Value Airlines Miles More Than Hotel Points

Since starting this hobby of collecting and maximizing miles and points, I’ve focused almost exclusively on airline miles. The majority of my credit cards are from airlines, most of the points that I’ve transferred from Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards have been to airline partners, and most of the awards I’ve redeemed have been for…