Why Your 'Free' Flight Costs $700 (and How to Dodge It)
You found the seat, you have the points, and the checkout page wants $700 anyway. Carrier surcharges are the tax on not paying attention, and they're almost always routable around.
Playbooks
Guides
How the points actually work — transfer partners, sweet spots and the strategies that turn a balance into a lie-flat seat.
World of Hyatt Is Still the Best Hotel Program. It Just Got More Expensive.
Hyatt rewrote its award chart in May: eight categories, five pricing bands, 78 price points. Here is what a night actually costs now, what survived intact, and why this is still the one hotel currency worth holding.
How Much Are Your Points Really Worth?
Valuation charts say a mile is worth 1.4 cents. Airlines say a seat is worth $8,000. Both numbers are marketing. Here's the arithmetic that tells you whether a redemption is actually good.
Star Alliance, oneworld, SkyTeam: Why Your Points Care
Alliances exist so airlines can sell each other's seats. For points people they exist for one reason: the same seat has many prices, and the alliance decides which currencies get to bid.
How to Actually Find Award Space
The most expensive mistake in points is transferring before you've found the seat. The tools that let you find it first — and the discipline that makes them matter.
Virgin Atlantic's Points Program Makes No Sense. Use It Anyway.
The fees can be brutal and the pricing looks random. It also hides some of the best premium-cabin redemptions in the entire points world — if you know which ones to chase.
Start Here: How the Points Game Actually Works
Every article on this site is a piece of one simple machine. This is the map — the four moves that turn a credit card balance into a seat you'd never pay cash for.
Amex Points Are a Currency, Not a Statement Credit
Sixteen airline partners, three hotels, and one rule that decides whether any of it is worth it — the difference between a lie-flat seat and a glorified gift card.
The Most Comfortable Way Across the Atlantic Is Neither American nor European
The best business class between Europe and New York is flown by an airline with no business being on the route at all — and the received wisdom about how to book it is wrong. I booked it for 60,000 points.
Delta SkyMiles Are Bad… Until You Leave America
Delta SkyMiles have a pretty terrible reputation among points people, and honestly, that reputation is mostly deserved.
I Got Thousands of Dollars in Flights From Chase Points. Here’s How.
I think Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the most valuable points somebody can have.
Why Taipei Is the Perfect Layover City
For many travelers, layovers are something to minimize. The goal is usually to find the shortest connection possible, get through the airport quickly, and move on.
How I Beat Jet Lag on Transpacific Flights
Jet lag is one of those things people talk about as if it were either completely unavoidable or easily solved with a miracle hack. In reality, it’s neither.
How to Book Etihad First Class Apartments for Under $100
Etihad’s A380 First Class Apartments are one of the most absurd luxury products in commercial aviation: a private suite with a separate bed, elevated dining, and access to onboard shower facilities.
The Cheapest Way To Fly In Business Class Between North America And Europe (For Cheaper Than An Economy Class Ticket)
Let’s pretend you’re in some imaginary hypothetical where you’re just curious what the easiest possible way to sit in a lie-flat seat crossing the Atlantic is.
3 Days in Shanghai: The Best of the Magic City
Shanghai is not subtle. It is loud, vertical, hyper-modern, and unapologetically theatrical.
Traveling China… Without a Visa
The first time I traveled to China, I was alone, I had no visa, and it was a logistical nightmare.
The Five Best Aeroplan Sweet Spots
The single biggest piece of advice with Aeroplan is simple: unless you absolutely have to, do not redeem Aeroplan points on Air Canada-operated flights.