Using FF miles to return from a different country than destination
 

I am considering taking a tour which would start in the U.S. going to Panama and returning from Costa Rica to the U.S. Do the airlines permit this when you are using frequent flyer miles? I'm sure I'll get a quicker answer here than hanging on forever with the airline. Thanks

Should be no problem.

Generally speaking if you begin and end your flight at the same airport it is considered a R/T and you should be able to use FF miles. You may, however, find it difficult to get award seats on the specific days and dates you want to travel since there are only a limited number of award seats available on a given flight. You have to remain flexible as a lot will depend on the airline, your FF status and how far in advance you book your flights.

Yes. Flying to San Jose (SJO) and returning from Panama City (PTY) to the original city is called an open-jaw round trip (btw, you can have an open-jaw at either end of your trip, but not both)

IF the airline offers travel from your home city to PTY with a connection or stop in SJO then your award MIGHT also be used to fly between SJO and PTY. In this case, you would be making an "enroute stopover" in SJO.

I don't know if your airline (probably American) flys between SJO and PTY, but I doubt it. You should be able to make an enroute stopover at Dallas/FW or Miami (or other?) on your outbound trip to SJO or on your return from PTY (but not both).

Mrwunrfl,

You are correct about doing the stopover, and if it is AA miles, then it is possible. She could do a R/T to PTY with a stopover in SJO during either the outboubd or inbound. TACA flies between the 2 cities and the new AAdvantage Airline Awards allow mixing all the participating airlines into one ticket. So for example she could do the following. I used Miami, but substitute any other AA city for your needs:

<b>outbound</b>
MIA-PTY - AA or ? - destination

<b>inbound</b>
PTY-SJO - TACA - stopover
SJO-MIA - AA or ?

This would qulify as one award ticket:
35K miles - economy
60K miles - business
80K miles - first

That said, I don't think Louise needs the transportation between the 2 citites. I believe that's the actual tour. So to verify the other posts, yes she can do an open jaw award ticket.

Thanks everyone. I would be using Alaska partner air miles and yes, indeed, the tour is from one city to the other so no flight needed in between.