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May 2012

Hot Ticket: The Latest Free, Almost Free, and Cheaper-than-Free Upgrade Opportunities (Which are actually available, now); Fare Sleuth: Save Up to 76% on Special Business Class Fares to Europe; High & Inside: How the Stopover Loophole Strategy (SLS) Can Net Lower Fares, Free Vacations, Found Perks -- and Can Even Lower Your Tax Bracket (Just by knowing which airlines offer the loophole in their “fare rules” -- along with a couple other maneuvers); Upgrading 101: A Novice’s Guide to Mileage Accounts You Should Have in Your Arsenal; First Class Insider New First Class Summer Fares -- and the Routes Offering the Most Value Overall; How to Score Savings of Up to 73%; Vacation Savvy: Another Way to Get Up to 53% Savings on Business Class Travel to Europe; Good Deal, Unique Destination: Kauai: The Lesser Traveled Hawaii, Starting Under $1,000; Mileage Upgrade Pro: A Radical Idea Revistited: Using an International Mileage Program to Save Up to 42% on Domestic Premium Travel; and The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy.

April 2012

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: 15 Routes for the Taking at Up to 50% Off the Lowest Award Rate (For Travel in Business and First Class to Europe and Hawaii); High & Inside: How and Why to Take Advantage of Free Stopovers and Side Trips (Get All You Can from Mileage Tickets—as Many as Three Trips for the Price of One); Fare Sleuth: Discounted First Class Fares to Hawaii; Domestic Vacation Upgrades: How to Score First Class Vacations for the Price of Economy; FCF First Class Advisor: How to Save Up to 85% on First Class Travel Worldwide (A Little Bit of Effort Can Knock $15,000+ Off Fares with American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas); FCF Air Traffic Control: New Hawaii Routes Yield Free First Class Award Space; The Free Award Space Sleuth: Star Alliance Carrier’s Mileage-Program Change Yields Free Award Availability; Good Deal, Unique Destination: The Other Venice; Shrewd Alternatives: Flying Lesser Known Airlines or Using One-off Fare Promos Yield Big Business Class Savings; and The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy.

March 2012

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: New Spring Business Class Fare Deals Discovered to the Caribbean, Central American, and Mexico (starting at $349 R/T); Fare Sleuth: Irish Sweepstakes – lowest Business Class fare of Year to Europe Launches; High & Inside: The Premium Traveler’s Best Friend: One-Way Mileage Awards (plus Comprehensive Cheat Sheet on Where to Find Them); Mileage Program Update: How to Exploit a Major Star Alliance Mileage Program Change; Mileage Program Profile: Little Used Asian Loyalty Program Makes Changes (But Is Still Dynamite!); The No Fly Zone: When an “Upgrade” Costs More Than the Published Business Class Fare; FCF First Class Advisor: Low-Cost First Class Upgrades Available to Europe for Summer Departures; Special Report: FCF Defines Premium Economy Class - The Puzzle Between Business Class and the Back of the Bus; and The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator - When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy.

February 2012

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: How to Save Up to 86% on Business and First Class Fares to Europe (Plus the Best Upgrade to First Class); FARE SLEUTH: Deeply Discounted Winter Business Class Fares to Africa and the Middle East Found; HIGH & INSIDE: Taking Advantage of Mileage Award Chart Anomalies to Net Free Upgrades (How to Know Which Award Chart to Use Can Change How Comfortable You Are For Many Hours); SHREWD ALTERNATIVES: When Flying Lesser Known Airlines or Using One-off Fare Promos Yield Big Business Class Savings; FCF’s Mileage Award Maximizer: Routes That Offer Great Chances for a Free Mileage Award Seat (When Redeeming U.S. Loyalty Program Miles is Relatively Easy); New Domestic First Class Seats Equal More Upgrade Availability; and How to Save Up to 51% on a New Star Alliance Route to Europe.

January 2012

IN THIS ISSUE: High & Inside: 2012 Premium Travel Forecast; Fare Sleuth: Reduced Spring Business Class Fares to Europe are Here; Mileage Upgrade Pro: The Best Time to Use Miles for Business Class Upgrades; FCF Reevaluates the B-Fare Upgrade: Why the Cheapest Full-Fare Upgrade is Again Looking Good for Many Domestic Routes; Getting to the Route: New Service Equals Upgrade Opportunities; Shrewd Alternatives: Lesser Known Airlines & One-off Fare Promos Yield Big Business Class Savings; Good Deal, Unique Destination: Bologna, Italy’s Most Underappreciated City; When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy and FCF Air Traffic Control (On Our Radar This Month): Air France's Group Dramatically Reduces Business Class, Hidden Delta Fare at 43% Off, (Bad Buy) OpenSkies via American, Are Flight-Distance Redemptions the Wave of the Future and New Deadline for Free Trans-Atlantic Ticket via a Bonus Point Offset.

December 2011

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: How to Get “Free EQM Upgrades”; Fare Sleuth: Last Call for Holiday Business Class Fares to Europe; High & Inside: Say Adios to Avios?; Mileage Upgrade Pro: When It’s Best to Use Miles for International Upgrades (Good Timing Can Save Up to 66%; When a day can make a $1,000 difference); Good Deal, Unique Destination: Tokyo -- Now Is the Time; Domestic Seat Beat: How to Get “Free Seat Quality Upgrades” Domestically; International Aircraft Beat: How to Save Up to 45% on a New SkyTeam; A380 Route to Europe; and The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy.

November 2011

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: The Latest Free, Almost Free, and Cheaper-than-Free Upgrade Opportunities; Fare Sleuth: Discounted Winter Business Class Fares to Canada; High & Inside: Seven Reasons to Leave Your Elite Lover (The Rewards of Post-Elite Life); Seat Beat: How to Save Up to 69% on New First and Business Class Seats to Asia with Star Alliance Carriers (And Where to Find Them); The Loophole: One Route Where an Upgrade is Really Free; Card Sharp: One Bank Program Card Worth Getting; Good Deal, Unique Destination: Central America’s Unsung Adventure Spot; One Airline Strategy: Getting American’s Best First and Business Class Seats on Domestic Routes; and The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy.

October 2011

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: Four New Free Upgrade Opportunities Discovered (How Business and Leisure Travelers Can Sit Pretty With Very Little Effort); High & Inside: Low-Level Elites, Emancipate Yourself (Why You Probably Should Break Up with Your Loyalty Program if You Fly Fewer than 50,000 Miles); Seat Beat: Where the New and Newer First and Business Class Seats Are (Largely on Your Primary US Carrier’s “Partner”); Good Deal, Unique Destination: Paris at New Year’s: Bon Annèe!; Shrewd Alternatives: Flying Lesser Known Airlines Yields Big Premium Fare Savings (Make a Connection and Save a Bundle); The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When & Where Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy; Fare Sleuth: Save Up to 71% on Discounted Fall Business Class Fares to Munich; and Readers Write: To Jump or Wait? & Doing the “Buy Miles Math.”

September 2011

Hot Ticket: Fare War…How to Get Up to 87 % Off on International First & Business Class; Fare Sleuth: Deeply Discounted Business Class Fares to South America; High & Inside: The Express Lane to Elite Status (How to Get it With One-Fifth the Miles Usually Required); Merger Update: The Honeymoon is Over (Continental & United Members are About to Lose a Major Mileage Source, Here’s How to Cope); Good Deal, Unique Destination: Central America’s Great Mayan Ruin; Your Call: Delta’s New Lock-In Rules Downgrade SkyMiles; Mileage Upgrade Pro: Favorite Mileage Promotions are Back Which Can Save You Up to 87% On First Class Travel; and When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy.

August 2011

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: Best Routes For Summer Business Class Travel Under $800 R/T; Fare Sleuth: Business Class Fare Sale to Asia Over 50% Off Lowest Fares; High & Inside: How Smart Locked-In Elites Extend Upgrade Opportunities; Mileage Upgrade Pro: Getting Up to 50% Off on a Business Class Mileage Upgrade to Europe; Shrewd Alternatives: Flying Lesser Known Airlines Yields Big Business Class Savings (Make a Connection and Save a Bundle); Good Deal, Unique Destination: The Big Island, Hawaii’s Primal Paradise; The FCF Report Card: Business Class Upgrades to Europe … Carriers to Book, Carriers to Avoid; The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When Redeeming Miles Is Relatively Easy; and International Seat Beat: Make Connections Based on the Best Seat, Not Just the Best Time.

July 2011

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: Domestic First Class Fare Fight Heats Up … Causing Deeper Thinking about the Various Ways of Upgrading within North America; Fare Sleuth: Another Chance for Deeply Discounted Summer Business Class Fares to Europe; High & Inside: How Best to Take Advantage of Credit Card Programs for Premium Air Travel (By Matching the Best Mileage-transfer Booking Strategies to the Best Credit Card, for Your Situation); Unique Destination, Best Deals: The Maldives, Indian Ocean Paradise; Deal or No Deal: Why Delta’s Elite Promotion Is a Bad Deal—Except in One Instance; Card Sharp: The Pros and Cons of a Tempting New American Express-BA Promo; and The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When Redeeming Miles Is Easy.

June 2011

IN THIS ISSUE: Hot Ticket: Worldwide First and Business Class Fares Up to 85% Off (On Twelve Different Carriers, Through Four Simple Steps); High & Inside: Three Ways to Avoid Surcharges on Business and First Class Award Tickets to Europe; Fare Sleuth: Deeply Discounted Summer Business Class Fares Have Been Extended to June 29; Report Card: The Best “Full-Fare Upgrade” Programs to Asia Save Up to 76% And Why They Beat Discount Upgrades; Good Deal, Unique Destination: St. Petersburg, Russia’s Window on the West, Business Class; The Strategist: How to Save Up to 42% on Round-the-World Business Class Fares; and The FCF Worldwide Mileage-Seat Locator: When Redeeming Miles Is Easy.

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