Avios

This was a special birthday trip—the kind where I stop worrying about saving miles and finally give myself permission to use them. That’s not how I usually plan trips. Most …

You’ve probably seen credit cards tied to airlines you’ve never flown—and maybe never plan to. At first glance, they don’t seem all that useful. Why earn miles with Aer Lingus, …

American Express Membership Rewards has a long list of transfer partners. But I don’t rank these based on theory. I rank them based on reality — the programs I’ve actually …

If you earn miles with Capital One cards, you usually have two ways to book flights: Transfer Capital One miles to an airline partner and book an award ticket Book …

British Airways Avios can be a great way to book American Airlines flights — especially on shorter routes where the Avios cost can be reasonable, and the taxes are low. …

Stop chasing partner awards. I know — ten years ago, that sentence would’ve sounded like I’d lost the plot. Because in the “old days” of points and miles, booking through …

While searching for flights to New York, I noticed something that reminded me why I hardly ever book round-trip award tickets these days. JetBlue reminded me of something I already …

I was looking for a flight between Miami (MIA) and Austin (AUS) and found a nonstop option on American Airlines that fit perfectly with my schedule. The cash price was …

Airline loyalty programs started in their present form in the 1980s. Airlines asked their advertising firms to come up with names for the new programs. It’s impressive that the first …

I’ll admit it — I procrastinated. Five months ago, British Airways sent me an email letting me know my Avios were set to expire if there was no account activity. …