We are accumulating FF miles with American, however, the miles were are ready to redeem for this trip are from our Amalgamated Bank Mastercard. 25,000 miles earns a free round trip ticket (or up $350 off) ANY FLIGHT with NO BLACKOUT DATES on ANY major airline. You just have to book at least 30 days in advance through their travel desk. I think they use Sabre like most travel agencies. Spirit Airlines does not qualify since it's not considered a major airline. And we can't book on Orbitz if we want to redeem our miles. See my dilemma?! Last time we took a flight to San Juan (April 2001) we spent only $587 RT for the two of us. The prices are so much higher now, so I keep thinking and hoping they will come down.

OK that makes more sense. I had assumed you were using something like the AA Advantage card where the miles are in your FF account. Have you used the miles accumulated in your Almagamated Bank card prior to this? I've never used this type of card and wondered how easy it was to redeem so any first hand experience would be great.

Patty - This is a regular MC that gives you one mile for every dollar spent with the card. We've had this card about 6-7 years and have redeemed miles several times without incident. You just do your research and call to tell them which flights you want. They book it for you just like any travel agent and mail you the tickets. When we first got the card there was no annual fee, but a couple of years ago they started charging $29 per year. There are several credit cards that offer this type of miles deal.

Good news! We just booked our RT flight from FLL to SJU for $325pp. We were able to get the exact airline and flight times we wanted AND were able to use our miles to get one ticket free and the other one at a $50 discount. Yea! I'm so happy I waited and that it all worked out. Thanks for your advice everyone (even though I didn't use it!)

Aren't you happy Lenore. It worked out great for you.

Just one question. Was $325.00pp before the free ticket or after? Because if it was after, you got taken for a ride Leonore.

Okay, maybe I wasn't clear. The tickets cost $325 each. We booked using our accumulated credit card miles, so we got one ticket for free and the other at a $50 discount. We will end up paying only $275 total for two RT tickets for our FLL to SJU flights. This was, by far, the best deal since I started checking prices on June 24th. I'm thrilled!

Great job! Have a great time!

I don't know why anyone who lives in FL would want to fly to PR to take a cruise, unless it is a short cruise. There are so many ships out of here that are 10-12 days that go to so many of the So. Caribbean ports. Will save you all this searching for flights and about $1000 in airfares.

Maryann - If we had that much vacation time left, we may have done one of the 10-11 day cruises....but we don't. (We are thinking about taking a long one next Spring.) Even if we hadn't used our miles for the flight, it would have cost us $650, not $1000. Also, don't forget that longer cruises cost more than 7 day cruises....so it's a wash. You've got to figure your cost per day.