Award taxes and airfare add up for everyone reading this blog, especially if you book yourself reimbursable tickets for work. What credit card should you use to pay the airfare and award taxes for your travel?

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.
Bonus Spending
Many cards offer bonus points for “airfare” or “travel” purchases.

One of the highlights of having a no annual fee card is that you can keep it without its value diminishing from expensive fees years on end. Aged accounts are helpful for building the length of your credit history and building a relationship with the bank of the card.

The Hilton chain has a large presence in Egypt.

Marriott and Starwood have merged. With admirable speed, Marriott has announced that you can now status match between the two rewards programs and transfer your Marriott points to Starpoints or vice versa, and that the programs will remain separate until at least 2018.

I'll break down the news from the perspective of how to maximize the separate programs.
Status Match Angle
This one is a no-brainer.

LifeMiles has been offering a 125% bonus on purchased miles this month, and now it is offering a 140% bonus on purchased miles through September 27, 2016.

LifeMiles cost 3.3 cents each, so with a 140% bonus, you get the miles for 1.375 cents each.

The cheapest I’ve ever seen LifeMiles was 1.32 cents each.
The Steps to Purchase LifeMiles for 1.375 Cents
This deal is a bit more complicated than previous sales because it requires pre-registration. Then you have to wait 24 hours to purchase miles.

Updated 9/21/16 with consideration of Citi's new sign up bonus rule. 

If you're just getting into the miles hobby or coming back after a break, it's important to realize that there is an order in which to apply for credit cards that can help you maximize your award earning potential.

I'm mentally preparing for the Cigar Room, bubble bath, "First Class" stamped butter, Porsche rides, and the rest of the Lufthansa First Class Terminal and First Class experience because I just booked Lufthansa First Class from Zagreb to Washington-Dulles for 50,000 Asiana miles + $442.

This month I'll get to spend a day in Munich at Oktoberfest with my sister and then luxuriously fly back to the United States.

If you live in a western city with a direct American Airlines or Alaska Airlines post, skip this post and read All the 12,500 Avios Routes to Hawaii instead of this post. Currently that's Los Angeles, Phoenix, Anchorage, Bellingham, Seattle, Portland, Oakland, San Jose, and San Diego.

Destination weddings don’t need to break the bank for attendees.

For the next 11 months, you can fly from the Eastern United States to London for 13,000 Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, or ThankYou Points plus $135. Or you can fly in Premium Economy that looks a lot like domestic First Class for 20,000 points and $265. From other parts of the country, you’ll pay only a few more miles.

On some routes, award space is WIDE OPEN year round, including the heart of summer. Here is the award space for July 2017 from New York to London.

Travel from Miami, Florida to Oslo, Norway or Copenhagen, Denmark for $99+ one way on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). Most of the availability for these deals is the very end of this month and through next month (September and October 2016).