Ok I know this is probably a lost cause but I have 4 FF tickets to Paris this summer and I now have to change the return date back home (work conflict assigned after trip was booked) to an earlier date.
We have called every day to see if anything has opened up, we have put ourselves on every available waitlist out of every available departing European city...to no avail.
We are thinking of just cancelling the entire trip (at a fee)...unless anyone can give me any suggestion on how to get back earlier.
Thank you for any and all suggestions.

If only one of you has to get back early, you might have more luck finding a single seat than trying to get all four back together. Good luck!

Most FF programs have some sort of "Anytime" awards that cost twice as many miles but have no (or much less restriction). You should be able to change just the return trip. For example, if standard award to Europe is 50K miles, you should be able to change ONE return ticket to the "Anytime"-type award for an extra 25K.

Also make sure the agent check all flights on all its partner airlines. There may be more options that they tell you.

And check for all possible routings, including multiple stops.

Thanks to all for your advice - unfortunately we have tried all of your great suggestions...we are traveling via Delta and they do not have a tiered program. It looks like we must cancel. Thank you.

You'll be charged to redeposit the miles. Can you project when you COULD go and re-schedule for that? It would save the fee perhaps.

Yes, gretchen is right. Do re-schedule now, if possible, instead of CNX and waiting to schedule later. I saved money doing it that way. With four people, the fees add up quick.

I agree... Reschedule! Plus for anyone else reading this thread AA dropped the $100 fee for date and city changes on award travel just recently.

4totravel is smart to check every day.... rules can change, so ask questions rather than assume the rules are the same as before. We lucked out this spring when our son, who attends university just outside of Toronto, had a return trip ticket to OKC in April and decided to drive home with a friend. We were able to switch his ticket to fly home at Christmas with no fee whatsoever. Good luck!

- Sharon

I agree that your best move economically is to reschedule for different dates. Being realistic, the chances of finding some available FF slots for travel to/from Europe at this late are slim to non-existant.

Delta has two types of awards you can claim, Skysaver (standard) and Skychoice (double miles). I believe it's the same way for international travel. And have you asked them about business class on the return? Maybe they have seats there, for 45K miles each way.

And, make sure they have looked into all partner airlines - including CO, NW, Singapore, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Alitalia and Czech. Your Skymiles can be claimed on any of these airlines between N. America and Europe.

Sharon,

Where did you see that information about AmAirlines? Very useful!

Thanks to all - we may just reschedule (the problem being we'd have to convince the airline to give us an extension - doubtful) since we booked the flight almost 300 days ago.
We figured it out - This is how the airlines make money - we came back from a great holiday last year, immediatley booked a flight for this year and of course as the time approaches are finding out the the dates need to be changed (highly impossible). They're making $$ on their $100 redeposit fee (only kidding!) Thanks to all for your help.

Underhill - I received an e-mail from American Airlines.

4totravel - Don't loose hope. On American I booked my son a roundtrip FF ticket from OKC to Toronto on November 3, 2003. The original itinerary was Jan 4, 2004 departure and a April 23, 2004 return. Then, after my son's decision to drive back from school with a friend, I called and was able to schedule a return from Toronto to OKC for Dec 22, or 23rd 2004---- that's over a full month past the original booking date. Once we know his finals schedule, we'll probably switch again so we can get him home earlier; but at least he has a free ticket home at Christmas!