On my way to ANC for a week of vacation. I was flying DCA-IAH-SFO-ANC in order to get about a 1,000 extra EQM. As a UUA Gold, upgrade chances were iffy, but it happened on the first leg and then they pulled me from coach to take First Class from a couple who didn’t make…
We have written extensively about Space-A travel on this post. It’s a great benefit and how my wife and I afforded a honeymoon to Europe back in 1988. Last January the Committee on Military Compensation had recommended a change to Space-A travel regulations to allow unaccompanied dependents to use it if their Service Member was…
The wife and I target long weekends to get cheap airfares to accumulate elite qualifying miles in order to keep our status. Due to my being a Million Miler on United, we (spouse matches your Million Miler status) are perennially Gold there and there is not any point in trying for miles there unless I think that…
So everyone knows the basics of earning miles and redeeming them for a free flight, right? Well, here are some tips on using those miles in a smarter manner and for ways that are applicable to military flyers. A key fact to remember is that dollar prices of miles almost always rise the closer you…
Courtesy of reader, Robert, we have this new tip. Service Members in uniform and those with orders when in civvies, can access any American Admirals Club. I knew we could do this for US Airways back a few years ago, but hadn’t tried it on American. You may get different answers depending on the club,…
You would think that after all the brouhaha several years ago concerning baggage fees for military members traveling on orders that all the airlines adopted the same rules. However, I have found that is not true particularly for dependents and personal travel. Let’s take a look at what American, and now US Air, have for…
Signed up for a $300 bump voucher last Saturday due to “weight and balance issues”. Ultimately, the pilot decided he could still take off with my fat ass on the plane, so I got nothing. Still worth signing up for – you never know! Here’s what we said about the subject in 2011: If an…
A lot of places actually offer military deals, but don’t advertise them forcing you to ask. I think both parties feel embarrassed when the answer comes back “no” so I am very glad when they advertise or promote the fact that they have a deal for the 1% of us who serve our country. Here…
From Wikipedia: Game theory is the study of strategic decision making. Sounds like what we are all trying to do with the game of acquiring and redeeming miles & points. To me it is a game since there are rules for all to follow and everyone is just trying to use those rules to maximize…
Every January, I end up with UA upgrades that I couldn’t use. Some of them are from upgrades I applied for and then took the flight but didn’t get the upgrade and the instruments came back into my account. So let me see if any of our readers can use these. I have 2 RPUs…
