Booking last minute flights can be expensive. Using frequent flyer miles can save you a significant amount of money since award flights have a flat rate price. With miles, the cost is the same if you book 10 months in advance or 10 hours in advance.
The best value with avios is short distanced flights. For only 4500 avios and $2.56 USD, I flew from Tokyo to Sapporo and back.
United Airlines screwed me on time and miles. But let’s start the story from the beginning. On a Thursday evening at 6pm, I decided to join my friends on a trip to Asia. By 7pm I had my tickets booked. At 9pm I was packed. By 10pm I was at the airport.
When they announced in late 2013 that they were going to devalue the United award chart, I decided to burn my United miles for my first, first class experience.