Does Delta ever lower the amount of FF miles needed for their flights or are they the same all the time? I'm thinking since it's Delta, and their program isn't particularly flexible, that I already know the answer to my question, but it never hurts to ask.

Thanks, folks.

There are three "levels" of miles (low, medium, high) needed for award flights and they tend to stay constant for years at a stretch.

But for any given flight, which of those levels is currently available changes at various rates. One flight I am currently watching seems to bounce between the high and medium levels every week or two (I'm waiting for it to go to low). Other flights may never change. It's the luck of the draw, popularity of the flight, Delta's perceived probability of selling seats for real revenue, and so on. But the seats will never dip below the published low level.

Thanks NoFlyZone - do you know if there's an easy way of seeing how many points are needed for each segment in a certain day? It seems so long and drawn out to use "START OVER" again and again and again........

Delta's computer system monitors every flight for every date minute by minute. Prices and FF miles are subject to millions of variables. The only way to "beat the system" is faithful monitoring and flexibility.

Delta's frequent-flyer scheme is relatively generous but its on-line reservations are notoriously quirky. In the long run, use the phone and talk to a representative.

Southam: Got it - that was Plan B if I couldn't find a way to use their website and now I think it's the only way to get this done without stalking their links for hours on end.

Thanks for the help, everybody.