Earn up to 150K bonus miles on travel between London and the U.S.

From Continentals website:

Register now and earn up to 150,000 miles for round-trip travel between the U.S. and London Heathrow (LHR) booked in F, J, C or D class of service. The more you fly, the more bonus miles you earn.

• 1st round-trip = 25,000 bonus miles
• 2nd round-trip = 35,000 bonus miles
• 3rd round-trip = 45,000 bonus miles
• 4th round-trip = 45,000 bonus miles
• TOTAL: 150,000 bonus miles

Offer may be earned once for a maximum of 150,000 bonus miles. Register now.
Valid Sun., Oct. 9, 2011 - Sat., Dec. 31, 2011 (Time Remaining: 84 days)
Posted Sat., Oct. 1, 2011

Terms and Conditions

Registration is required. To qualify for this offer, members must purchase and travel on a qualifying round-trip ticket for travel between the U.S. and London Heathrow (LHR) booked in F, J, C or D class on United, United Express®, Continental® or Continental Express® operated flights between 10/1/2011 and 12/31/2011.
Offer valid on qualifying paid, published fares in F, J, C or D class, purchased and flown between 10/1/2011 and 12/31/2011. Not valid on government fares. E-Ticket purchase required. Not combinable with other bonus mile offers.
Bonus may be earned for a maximum of 150,000 bonus miles. Registration is required prior to travel and travel must be completed on or by December 31, 2011 to qualify for the promotion.
Valid on United, United Express, Continental, Continental Express. This offer is not valid on United or Continental marketed codeshare flights operated by other carriers. Bonus applies to base flight miles only and does not count towards Elite status. Bonus is in addition to flight miles and any applicable Elite Qualification Miles.
Bonus miles will post to your OnePass account 4 - 6 weeks after travel has been completed.
All terms and conditions of the OnePass program apply, including Continental's right to modify or terminate the OnePass program.

Where To Buy Airline Tickets

1-  Cheapoair.com is a great website that has some amazing prices.
2-  Chase Sapphire Preffered offers 3X the miles if using their traveling tool.
3-  Bigcrumbs gives you $3.20 cash back for airline tickets. In my opinion
     this is not a great value, but certainly better than nothing.

I have searched tons of travel websites to find out where I can buy my airline tickets for the best prices. I first check out kayak.com, just to see what the prices are and what's out there. Then I go to the cheapoair.com website and see what kind of deals they have. Sometimes they have better deals than Travelocity, expedia and kayak. They have a lot more options than lots of travel websites. I’ve gotten $200-$300 off a ticket that I couldn’t find anywhere else! So it definitely is worth checking with them first. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card you can use Chases traveling tool which is a good option since they offer 3 miles per dollar; the only catch is, is that you have to use one of their credit cards.  Then you can transfer your miles to British Airways, Continental, Hyatt, Marriort, Priority Club or Amtrak. I usually pay for the ticket using my Penfed Amex Credit Card since I get 5 miles per dollar spent on travel with this card. They are running a special from October 1, 2011 until December 1, 2011 where you receive an additional 25% bonus miles on all purchases including travel.

Top 10 airlines for reward redemptions

Flier Crier published survey results for attempts to make award travel on the top airlines. Southwest came in first AGAIN at 99%

“The results, showing the percentage of successful award bookings for U.S./Canadian programs and the change from last year’s results:

1. Southwest – 99.3 percent (No change)
2. Air Canada – 82.1 percent (-11.5 points)
3. JetBlue – 79.3 percent (New for 2011)
4. United – 71.4 percent (+2.8 points)
5. Continental – 71.4 percent (No change)
6. Alaska – 64.3 percent (-10.7 points)
7. American – 62.9 percent (+5 points)
8. AirTran – 47.1 percent (-20.8 points)
9. Delta – 27.1 percent (+14.2 points)
10. US Airways – 25.7 percent (+15 points)”

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card Review

Chase came out with a great card for the frequent flyer and restaurant goer this year; it's called the Chase Sapphire Preffered Credit Card (don't confuse this with the Chase Sapphire Card which always has no annual fee). This card gives you a whopping 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months. This card comes with a $95 annual fee which is waved the first year. Pay no foreign transaction fees when you use your card on purchases made outside of the United States. You get one point for every dollar spent and two points for travel and dining. When you use their online booking tool you get 3 points for every dollar spent on travel and hotels anduse 20% fewer points. For 50,000 points you get $625 towards airline tickets. You also get 7% back towards points earned, even those you have already used, including the bonus points. So, in actuality you are getting 50,000 + 3,000 (spend requirement) + 3500 + 210= Total $57,710 points.

Redemption
This is a great card because of its flexibility in redeeming miles. However, using the 50,000 bonus points on travel rewards through Ultimate Rewards may be fine if you just want to fly within the US in Economy class. But if you want to fly internationally or use these points for hotels, you will get a better value by transfering the points to select partners (1:1 ratio).
You could transfer 50,000 miles to:

• British Airways
• Continental Airlines
• Hyatt
• Mariott
• Priority Club
• Amtrak

      
Redemption Option                  Redeption Value
Cash/Gift Certificates                       $500
Ultimate Rewards                            $625 (always get 25% more for your points)
Transfer to Select Partners               $800-$2,000

The United MileagePlus® Explorer Card & The Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card Review

Due to the recession, this year the credit card companies have been trying to lure new customers with some amazing offers! Don't miss out on some of the best deals that have ever been offered from credit card companies. These cards offer free travel, cash, gifts and more. But these credit cards are only for you if you have good to excellent credit and will be able to pay off your monthly balances.

I just love the bonus offers from the United MileagePlus Explorer Card and Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Card. These cards offer the same bonuses and terms and conditions because the two airlines merged in 2010. They are still in the process of integration which we are reaping the benefits from. After you have received your 40,000 bonus miles from each of the cards you can merge them together for a total of 80,000 miles. That's a free return ticket from The Middle East to the US!! And if you have a partner, they can too take advantage of this offer! After your first use you earn 25,000 bonus miles, 5,000 bonus miles when you add an authorized user to your account and use your card, both within two months of opening your account. 10,000 Bonus Miles Annually When You Spend $25,000 on Your Card.
Besides Travel, you may use Miles for Car Rentals and Hotel Stays.

United MileagePlus^® Explorer Card
 Excellent Credit Needed

• Earn up to 40,000 bonus miles & first year free, a $95 value*
• Check your first bag for free on United and Continental-operated flights, up to a $50 value round trip
• Board your flight before general boarding with priority boarding privileges
• Visit the United Club with two complimentary day passes every year, up to a $100 value
• Earn 2 miles for $1 spent on tickets purchased from United and Continental and 1 mile per $1 everywhere else
• Enjoy exclusive access to once-in-a-lifetime events through Inside Access from Chase

Intro APR	Intro APR Period	Regular APR	Annual Fee	Balance Transfers	Credit Needed
N/A*	N/A*	14.24%*(Variable)	$95, waived the first year*	Yes*	Excellent Credit

Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card
 Excellent Credit Needed

• Earn up to 40,000 bonus miles & first year free ($95 value)*
• Now with priority boarding privileges on Continental and United flights
• Check your first bag for free on Continental and United flights, up to a $50 value
• Visit the United Club with two complimentary passes every year, a $100 value
• Earn 2 miles for $1 spent on tickets purchased from Continental and United and 1 mile per $1 everywhere else
• Your miles don't expire and there is no limit to the number of miles you can earn

Intro APR	Intro APR Period	Regular APR	Annual Fee	Balance Transfers	Credit Needed
N/A*	N/A*	14.24% *(Variable)	$95, First Year Free*	Yes*	Excellent Credit*