Much to our dismay we have discovered that the points we've accumulated are only applicable on RT airfares. (In the past..before a change of management... we did do an open jaw.)Since our current interest is to arrive London, leave from Paris this is a real pain in the patooty.Doubt we can transfer these points.. but does anyone recommend a card that's not so restricted? (Ours is a VISA, affinity card thru First USA....)

We have a Capital One and they don't allow open-jaw either.

I have a Capital One Visa go miles and have just used my miles for an open jaw ticket. Flew into Prague and out of Vienna. This was in March of this year.
Everything went smoothly and as planned using my miles with Capital One.

Wouldn't this depend on the airline, rather than the card?

Not with a Capital One visa go miles. When one wants to redeem his miles, all it takes is a phone call to the card company who transfers you to Carlson Travel. There are no blackout dates or restrictions and you choose your airline.
Simple, fast and easy.

CitiCards (CitiBank) has an American Airlines card that allows you to fly open jaw. No problem flying in and out of different cities in Italy using FF miles.

Our Northwest Visa card through U.S. Bank also allowed us to fly into Nevada and out of California on FF miles.

Hi I_Am_Kane, I was glad to read your post as that is the card I have. I didn't think there was a problem with open jaw but when I read this thread I thought "oh no". So good news for sure!

I have an older Capital One Miles One Card, the one issued before Go Miles. Perhaps this is the one you have, LunaTech. Open-jaw flights are not generally allowed. However, what seems to be a little-known fact is that you can get an open-jaw flight for a $25 fee. It does also reduce the $ amount covered by the miles.

For instance, on my card, it costs 50,000 miles for a ticket to Europe costing up to $1,000. If you want an open-jaw flight, you pay the $25 fee and it covers a flight costing up to $867. I just did this last November when I booked my flight to Italy for this September. The flight cost $880, so I paid $25 to get an open-jaw flight and $13 to cover the amount over $880.

Sorry, that should have been that I paid $13 to cover the amount over $867.

Also, there are no restrictions or blackout dates with this card. It does have to be a US-based airline.

LoveItaly, You didn't indicate which card you have, so I thought I would add this information:

CitiCards/AA = 40,000 coach to Europe
U.S.Bank/Northwest = 50,000 to Europe

We use AA more often, but I'm heading for 50,000 points soon on Northwest.

Hi I_am_Kane, have the USBank/NW. Had planned on using the ff miles this year but not sure if I will go to Italy or not, it hinges on a lot of things. If I do go I am thinking of buying a coach ticket and then using ff miles to upgrade to business class. I have more then enough miles to do that. I sure wish I could say that I am definetly taking the trip.
Thanks for the info. Best wishes.

i_am_kane,
The 40K economy award on AA is for off peak dates only (Oct 15-May 15). Peak season dates are 60K.

LoveItaly,
To upgrade with miles you'll have to purchase an economy ticket in a higher fare class (of course, there also has to be upgrade space available). I didn't know if you knew that. Many people assume they can purchase the least expensive economy ticket and still be able to upgrade with miles. Check with NW Worldperks to see which fare classes qualify. Sometimes the price difference between an upgradeable economy fare and a discounted business fare isn't that much.

Susan P.... thanks for that info. My husband reminds me that we had to do some finagling the time we did use open jaw.

Patty, You are right about the AA/FF miles required for peak travel periods. We have always traveled in April/beginning of May, and it was always 40,000.

Hi Patty, yes I did know that, but it was nice of you to post the information. Helpful to others here also.

I had talked to NW last year and they advised me if I wanted to use my FF miles for a free ticket I should plan and reserve the flight about 11 months out. At the time I did not feel alright doing that, and my sixth sense proved to be right as if I were leaving for Italy in the next 60 days it would not be good timing. I will be going to Italy next year, September I guess. But I am sort of playing around with perhaps going to Italy this September. To Rome. Would not see my friends in Veneto unless they wanted to come down to Rome. But until I make the decision I have to get some business problems straightened out here.

BTW, a question. If I use FF miles to upgrade to business class (after buying the appropritate coach fare), I will earn FF miles I am sure? Am I correct?

But if I use my FF miles to fly to Italy next year (coach) will I earn any FF miles? I am talking about NW/KLM. I got wondering about that today. Thanks for all the advice and help.

LoveItaly,
If you purchase a coach ticket and upgrade with miles, you'll earn ff miles based on the coach fare (usually 100% of actual flight mileage). If you redeem ff miles for a free ticket, you'll earn no miles unless the airline makes a mistake. I've had that happen once. Hope this helps. Good luck with your flights!

Hi Patty, my goodness, a great quick answer Thank you! That is what I sort of thought but was not sure. I have a lot of NW FF miles. But because I cannot commit to a trip to Italy right now I am sort of laying low, so to speak regarding plans for Italy. The bottom line will depend on finances. What I would like to do, next trip, is buy the required coach ticket and then use FF miles to upgrade to business. But will have to "wait and see" how things are.

Thanks again everyone for all the good information.