Everyone talks about the amazing trips you can take by redeeming frequent flyer miles, but just how much value do they really provide? This article takes a closer look at ten great ways to redeem miles through Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. What, you’ve never flown on Alaska? It doesn’t matter. They have almost a dozen international partners, including American Airlines and Delta Airlines, which makes it easier than you’d expect to earn and redeem miles.

Economy class awards cost less and are relatively easy to secure unless you’re trying to get to places at the same time everyone else wants to go. On the other hand, awards in business and first are harder to find and are considerably more expensive. Whether you are mostly interested in premium class travel, or if you are working on enhancing one particular trip, you need to think about your goal beforehand, and applying for the right credit card or cards can help you achieve it.

Some airlines are moving away from offering first class and instead are significantly upgrading their business class experience. Improvements in technology have made business class better than ever, and the expense is more palatable to corporate bean counters. United Airlines is moving in this direction with the recent announcement of United Polaris, a new business class product coming this December to most of its international routes.

The Delta SkyTeam network covers every corner of the world, at least those where you might want to go. While Delta has a very good business class product called Delta One, there can be very compelling reasons to use SkyMiles on Delta’s partner airlines instead due to availability or scheduling convenience.

You can redeem your frequent flyer miles for some amazing trips, but just how much value are you getting? This post examines ten great ways to redeem miles through the Delta SkyMiles loyalty program.

How much value are you able to find when redeeming your frequent flyer miles? Quite a lot, it turns out. Here we takes a close look at ten ways to redeem miles through the United MileagePlus program to get an incredible deal.

When it comes to the quality of premium cabins, food, and service, U.S. airlines are often compared unfavorably with their overseas competitors. This is hardly fair. 

Everyone talks about the amazing trips you can take by redeeming frequent flyer miles, but just how much value do they really provide? This article takes a closer look at ten great ways to redeem miles through the AAdvantage program operated by American Airlines.

There is no downside to booking South America flights on partners since United charges the same amount of miles whether it’s a United flight or a flight on one of the partner airlines.

There might be compelling reasons to book a partner’s flight rather than one on United, even if United metal is cheaper to fly. First, United might be unavailable. Second, it can take more connections and/or time to reach your destination. Third, you might want to splurge to have a better seat, service and food.

United drastically devalued its business and first class award levels a few years back, then Delta followed suit and recently American. As of now, all U.S. and many foreign frequent flyer programs charge a lot of miles for the privilege of flying in the front of the plane, and the trend is likely to continue. But there are still bargains out there. You just need to know where to look.

American Airlines business class level between the U.S. and the Middle East/India has only increased by 2,500 miles, but the first class rate, which wasn’t cheap to begin with, is now a whopping 25,000 miles more. It’s hard to recommend spending 230,000 miles just to get pampered, especially since all airlines flying to India and the Middle East offer lie-flat seats in a business class cabin. 

Europe is small and very nicely interconnected. Don’t get bummed if you can’t get a business class award seat to your final destination there. The most important part is to cross the ocean and arrive relaxed and happy in that premium seat. Connecting from one point in Europe to another is a breeze compared to getting your perfect ticket across the pond.

As we discussed earlier, not all business or first class seats are worth spending miles and efforts. In the last few years, airlines have done a great job designing new aircraft and retrofitting the old ones with swankier-than-ever premium class seats. Of course, the mile price of these seats is also higher than ever, but it’s still be a great deal, especially if you are embarking on a major trip and eager to arrive rested and ready to enjoy your destination right away.

A flight to Hawaii can take longer than flying to Europe for some. For East Coasters it’s a  whopping 11-12 hour journey, about as long as it takes to fly between New York and Buenos Aires. There is a considerable shortage of comfortable premium class seats from the U.S. to Hawaii, although they do exist and more are on the way. Here’s a rundown.

As a rule, it’s not worth splurging miles for premium travel domestically. The flights are usually short, the seats are old-school recliners, there are no individual entertainment systems and the food is usually average at best.

Award travel offers incredible opportunities. The most amazing aspect of flying on miles is that it can put business and first class travel within your reach. Not everyone can afford to pay cash for a premium-class ticket. However, first and business class seats are within your reach with miles, especially if you’re flexible.

Singapore Airlines and TAM became the newest airlines to join the A350 flying family, taking delivery of their aircraft on March 2, 2016 and December 17, 2015 respectively. Singapore Airlines is the second airline to fly the planes in Asia and TAM is the first in South America.

Traveling in business class has improved by a huge measure in recent years, with lie-flat seats and direct aisle access becoming the rule rather than the exception. It’s no surprise that some carriers have chosen to completely eliminate their first class service. Delta Air Lines is the first to do so in the United States.

Hawaiian Airlines is making the premium cabin aboard its A330 aircraft more luxurious. The carrier has teaming up with designers PaulWylde and Optimares to create a comfortable and modern business class cabin that includes lie-flat seats.