DH and I have been tossing around the idea of a Thanksgiving trip, using AA miles for my ticket and purchasing his. After looking long and hard at Sicily we decided 6 days was not long enough to fully see the island so we are returning to two beloved cities we have visited a few times before: Venice and Rome.

Right now www.aa.com shows open-jaw airfare 11/18 - 11/25 from Denver-VCE and from FCO-Denver at $740 plus tax/fees (or $856 total).

Here are my questions:

Does anyone know approximately when AA releases its fall fares to Europe?

Also, has anyone had luck with exchanging FF miles to Italy? We've used ours for Greece with no problem (booked about 9 months in advance), but I'm assuming Italy may be hard to get b/c it is so popular.

Many Thanks

I'd first call AAdvantage and see if you can get the award ticket on the dates you want first, on all possible airlines - AA and partners. If so, lock it in. No hurry to get the cash ticket. But do prepare to fly on different airlines/flights because the cheap fare is often not the same flight that you can get for the award.

Even if you decide not to go, or to buy two tickets instead, you can always pay a fee to change the award ticket or have the miles reinstated.

Like all the airlines, AA announces special sales according to no known schedule. "Published" fares are being adjusted all the time.

Assuming you want to travel together, then you need to book your award seats first before buying the paid one. Seats are bookable 330 days in advance, so now's the time to contact AA and see what's available. Thanksgiving may be tight already, who knows. If you want to book the award seat and gamble that fares will go down over the next year (and why do you think they will?) then fine. Personally, I'd book the flights and spend the next few months planning a great vacation. Careful shopping and early booking some hotels might save more than any airline fare savings would generate.

I suppose I thought fares might go down because $856 for late November seems awfully high considering it is low season... we flew to Rome in May 2005 for only $671 a ticket and May is almost universally considered more peak season than November.

TexasAggie,a Road Runner salut You

I was able to redeem my AAadvantage miles without any problems.
I have now an open jaw Business class ticket for August 27 , departing SAT to FCO and later on fly to Paris with Swiss Air.I will return to the US the 26 Sept. from Paris.
I hope that you have a great time in Rome, my city of birth..Ciao,

I used AA miles to fly to and from Rome in November of 2004. I started off searching to determine which flights I wanted. Then I booked online in early May with no problem. I've found that booking with frequent flyer miles at least 6 months in advance is a good idea. The other key is traveling off-season, which you will be.
Martha