kcapuani

I am looking to book a mileage ticket from Buffalo to Europe on US Air for next June or July for our 10 year anniversary. We are willing to go pretty much anywhere in Europe, but are unable to find a city at the Mileage Saver level (50,000 miles). So far, I've checked Shannon, Lisbon, Rome and Dublin with no luck. Could the Mileage Saver seats all have been booked already, or has US Air simply not released any "discount" seats due to demand. I've also checked United, but received messages stating that "United does not service the selected city for award travel."

What are the chances of redeeming FF miles in August? It doesn't matter when we go, as long as it is before Labor day. And, again, we are flexible as to where - there are so many places we haven't been!

My apologies if the answers to my questions are obvious.

johnwm

Hi, kcapuani!

You really must call on the telephone. If you restrict your searching to the websites, you will probably find nothing until a week or two before departure next summer.

Call. The fee is worth the service, especially if you can land something that suits you.

Let us know how your search progresses!

Andeesue

Yes, you really need to call as you will be able to use partner airlines that are unavailable online. First, check which partner airlines go to the cities you'd like, see what their schedules are, and then make an informed request(s) and you should have much more luck. I'm sure you know you can book an open jaw ticket, arriving in one city, and departing from another so you don't backtrack (for example...fly into Rome, return from Paris). I sometimes check flights on expedia.com
Good luck!

mrwunrfl

To see what Star Alliance partner airlines fly to the destinations you are interested in you can go to:
http://www.staralliance.com

Then, knowing who flies where on what days of the week (use the 7-day lookup) you can do as previously advised, call USAir.

When you put airport oodes into the schedule lookup the software is a bit picky. You can choose the airport using the map or type in the airline code when it shows the location, hit Enter.

For example, type LAX and it will show:
Los Angeles CA [LAX], United States
then you hit Enter.

kcapuani

Thanks everyone! I will do my research and narrow things down to 3 choices or so, then give a call. I am also "excited" at the prospect of not actually flying US Air, but a carrier like Lufthansa or Swiss Air. The only reason I am looking into US Air in the first place is because we need to do this trip as inexpensively as possible.

Oh, and I had no idea I could book an open jaw ticket using FF miles. But, what about the ticket we are paying for? Does that mean it will be extra exorbitant?

kcapuani

OK, I see what you mean about the software being touchy! I keep receiving an error message that the origin city cannot be found, even though the airport information comes up and the software marks it on the map... Maybe it is my browser.