Tag: miles

How To Combine Points From Two Banks To Book An Award

Since we started writing Your Mileage May Vary, several of our friends have started collecting points and miles. I feel a level of satisfaction when they’re able to go on that first award trip, partially because of our help. Just like any mentor, occasionally we’ll get a question about a topic where we don’t know the answer. While I could just say that I really don’t know about that, I like to use these situations to learn about things I hadn’t focused on before. Such was a question about how to combine points from two different bank programs.

While the answer may seem obvious if you’ve been collecting points and miles for a while, for someone just starting out this can be very confusing.

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The Pros & Cons Of Traveling On Points & Miles As A Couple

Sharon and I have been traveling with miles and points for almost fifteen years. Over the years, Sharon has had to learn that I’ll randomly bring up some plans for a trip or credit card (Note from Sharon: #rolleyes). Meanwhile, I’ve had to learn that she really doesn’t care about the details but, given limited guidelines, will do her part to help us earn extra points and miles.

I’ve learned through experience that traveling as a couple brings a certain number of challenges to booking award tickets. Playing this game as a couple also has several advantages. I love the analogy that Sharon and I are now playing with points and miles in Two-Player mode. For those who are familiar with video games know, this brings a whole number of advantages but also presents a set of new challenges.

I wouldn’t trade anything for the experiences we’ve had on our travels but I feel it’s necessary for anyone who’s going to try to take on this responsibility to understand the thankless number of hours you’re going to spend making trips work for the two of you.

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Why I’m Keeping My American Airlines Aviator Red Card, For Now

On May 1st, 2019, Barclays is making changes to its American Airlines Aviator Red credit card. For those of us who have held this card for a while, it’s the card that used to be the US Airways credit card. While I pulled the plug on my card last year, Sharon’s kept her card active and will continue to do so, at least for another year.

The changes make a material change to the value proposition the card offers so it would make sense to see if you still want to keep the card or not.

320x180_aadv-aviator-red-card

Here’s a list of the changes, both positive and negative, depending on what benefits you find important from a credit card.

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Oops! What To Do When You Book Flights To The Wrong Airport

You ever spend hours looking for flights to a location, finally decide on which flight you’re going to take and how to pay for it (cash or points) and then head off to bed, happy that you’ve finally finished booking a complicated itinerary? You wake up the next morning to book the corresponding hotel and realize that you booked flights to and from the wrong airport. Really? Really?? Ugh.

Triple Facepalm

Here’s what to do when you’re finished beating yourself up about how stupid you were not to check this before spending hours on finding flights to somewhere that’s nowhere near where you need to be (Note from Sharon: And when your wife is done teasing you. Because oh yes I did!).

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