RRT25

Hi Folks, my wife and I plan to spend 16 days in Italy next year celebrating our 25th Anniversary. We plan to Depart the US to Rome on Monday, Sept. 24 and return to US, leaving from Milan on Tuesday, Oct. 9th. Would love to travel business class and have enough AMEX points to do so. When should I try to secure this travel? Can it be done more than 1 year in advance? This is our first time. Thanks.

yipper

Hi,

You can not get any tickets a year in advance. I forget the exact amount of days, but it is something like 315 before a flight leaves. Check with AMEX to find out the exact day you can secure tickets. You might have to secure the out going flight first and then call back two weeks later to get the return flight. Good luck!!

tuscanlifeedit

That's right. Each airline may vary a bit but it is generally around 330 days. You may have to work it, though. Do some preliminary calling, as well as making a lot of calls at the time.

jody

I'm pretty sure it's 330 days out..but if it's 330 from your departure date you might have to wait until it's 330 from your return to book the return flight.

I really don't know why people obsess over booking at the first dates. I've booked 4 FF trips in the last 3 years just a few months in advance..and they were all BC tickets. They open seats up all the time . But we are able to be fexible on departure and return dates. Hey this upcoming trip we had to stay an extra 3 days in Paris..no hardship for uw!

GianniFL

This subject is discussed extensively 0n flyertalk.com. Details depend on the airline. My experience is that it helps to have elite status with the airline and to have flexible dates. It also helps to be persistent. You may have to accept routing through Paris, Amsterdam, etc., even though there are direct flights to your cities of choice. Good luck, Gianni

Neopolitan

But I think the main idea that RTT has is that if they book as early as the tickets are available, they won't have to be flexible on their dates, take odd routings, or other such problems.

I like to book my FF flights the first day possible so that I can go ahead and book hotels or apartments that might not even be available if I waited until the month before going.

But sorry, I don't have a clue how those AMEX points work. Do you book through them or do you book direct with your choice of airline?

HowardR

In response to Neopolitan's inquiry about using Amex points, you book the flight with your airline first and then transfer the miles from Amex to the airline's FF program.

kello

In case you haven't done it before, for the AMEX points you just have to transfer them over to the airline you choose and keep in mind that it takes at least 10 business days for the points to transfer over.

tuscanlifeedit

Why people try to book FF awards at the earliest possible date: we waited until about 300 days, and absolutely nothing was available for our first choice destination. Poor us, we had to take Paris instead. ;-)

rkkwan

How long it took to transfer miles depend on the airline. I recently switched 41K miles to Continental's Onepass using the phone option, and it took about 2 minutes. [But one need to register the FF program numbers in AMEX Membership Rewards first.]

BTW, CO doesn't release standard awards this early. 3-4 months before the flight is usually where you'll find the seats.

GianniFL

My post above was unfortunately based on my experience this summer trying to book business class seats to and from Italy 330 days out from next May.

It appears recent changes have occurred, at least on some airlines.

Sarvowinner

My mother visits us in Sydney from Canada for 4-5 months every year. This year she is coming on FF pts. When she booked her outwards ticket 330 days or what ever the minimum is with AC, she booked her return to leave the day she arrived. 5 months down the track she changed her return date for a minimal amount of points.

dssxxxx

AMEX rewards points to CO done over the computer literally takes seconds. Have done it many times.

For Italy, ended up paying $5500.00 for 2 in BC going on AZ - direct flight from EWR to FCO. Better than using all the miles for sleazy pass.

But, did the 330 day out for BF sleazy pass from EWR - AMS - JRO using 400,000 miles for June, 2007.

okoshi2002

I am not familiar with AMEX points- are you flying Delta ?

You should absolutely call 330 days ahead, to the minute at midnight Eastern Time if you are using Delta, if you want a seat on a popular route like Rome and Milan from US.

I would call or look online at the different departures available, and even look at the Partner airlines routes because you may be offered a flight with them. Be familiar with your options before you call.

Some airline reservationists are more helpful than others. I would call several times if the persons you speak with comes up empty.

Be prepared and be persistent. Good luck.