When you collect points and miles you do it for the value, not for the mere pleasure of accumulating millions of them–although there is certainly some excitement when you see them piling up. I still remember how thrilled I was to accrue my first 30,000 miles. But I was even more excited to make my first redemption for a round-trip flight to South East Asia with the return flying Thai and Lufthansa first class. This was a ticket worth a few thousand dollars in value. The economy round trip-ticket would have easily run $1,200.

Air Canada no longer operates Aeroplan, its own loyalty program, but it still offers plenty of great redemption options. There were significant changes to how miles are valued in recent years following the spinoff, yet you can find great value if you know where to look and what to book. For instance, Aeroplan still allows stopovers and open jaws, which are a great way to increase award ticket value. And it has a round-the-world in business class fare for just 300,000 miles. Read on for more details.

American Express Membership Rewards points are worth an average of 1.8 cents each. That takes into account the wide variety of redemption options available to you, whether transferring them directly to airline and hotel partners or using them as a credit when booking through the Membership Rewards Travel portal.

Alaska Airlines’ generous stopover policy allows you to take one stopover per one-way flight, or two per roundtrip, without adding any cost to your ticket. The best part is that the rule also applies to domestic flights, not just international itineraries. In this post, we’ll look at how to take advantage of these rules to visit three destinations in the U.S. for the price of one round-trip award flight.

Garuda Indonesia isn’t well-known in the United States. It doesn’t serve any cities in America, and it has a relatively small footprint, with only 21 international destinations in 14 countries. But this luxurious airline is worth getting to know, particularly if you’re traveling to Indonesia. Its frequent flyer program, GarudaMiles, offers excellent redemption rates on domestic flights within the country.

Despite not having any transfer partners, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard is still a great tool for getting award flights. In addition to a 40,000 mile sign-up bonus, this card has great earning capabilities and the flexibility to redeem your miles for most of your travel expenses.

Many frequent flyer gurus will tell you to never use your hard-earned miles to book a domestic award ticket. While it’s true that there may be more value when booking a first class ticket to somewhere exotic like Bali, there is definitely a time and place to spend miles to get to destinations closer to home.

Despite its distance, Asia is remarkably reasonable on miles. If you’re looking for the absolute cheapest option, American Airlines offers off-peak awards to Japan and Korea that require just 50,000 AAdvantage miles round-trip.

Who Is Citi ThankYou Rewards Good For?

As far as credit points programs go, Citibank is actually an old player in the game, more akin to American Express Membership Rewards than Chase Ultimate Rewards or the Capital One Venture program.

Last week was one of those weeks when I thanked my lucky stars that I keep so many points and miles on hand in different programs.

While Delta’s recent announcements of their sweeping award program changes have caused an uproar among frequent flyers, one of the areas most likely to trip up leisure travelers are the airline’s new cash plus points awards.

Vancouver, British Columbia, is nestled between snow-capped mountains and the warm beaches of the North Pacific. This cosmopolitan city was named one of the Top 5 Cities in Canada by Condé Nast Traveler. Trip Advisor calls it the top destination in the country. Its also very accessible from the lower 48.

Unfortunately for reward travelers in America, the days of zones when you could hop to nearby states on a couple thousands airline points are over.