I just booked FF miles on American to Cancun (yeah, I know Cancun is not in Europe) and they told me 331 days in advance. So today I booked my outbound and I have to wait 2 weeks to book the return. They will hold the outbound for 30 days. You have to do it very early if you want to use FFs on a holiday - in this case Holy and Easter weeks.

Just bought tickets today and upgraded to business class with miles (on Delta) for travel to London this July,2001.

It really depends on where you're going. I just booked on Delta round-trip from east coast to Maui for January, 2002, and I only got my 4th choice! If you're willing to fly middle of the week instead of weekends, you can still get tickets to Maui, otherwise, it's too late for much of January and February 2002.

The reason why US Airways was easier to book is because they do not have the volume of overseas travel that Delta has. I believe that it is the largest carrier from the states overseas to Europe,Middle East,etc. Delta seems to fly everywhere from Moscow to Cairo whereas US Airways are to the basics such as Paris. <BR>Seriously rethink about the poster who said NOT to use the miles during April and May-those are becoming very popular months to go abroad as you have spring break/seniors who want to travel before the rush of summer,,etc.

My experience in using FF miles to book trips to Europe has been that I can book any month of the year, but about a year ahead of time!

I use British Airways FF miles and book flights 11 months in advance (330 days I guess it is). Never had a problem yet with whatever we wanted. I think BA's FF program is very good (if you plan ahead of course!) and they seem to be quite accommodating.