Need help projecting success with NWA freq. flyer miles.
 

I am trying to figure out how likely it will be for me to get a booking with FF miles from Mpls to Cancun January 2005 with NWA. I know I can book 352 days before date of return, (so I can book in Feb 2004) but NWA won't tell me how many seats they offer with freq.flyer miles, won't tell me if they are all "rule buster" fares during high season, and says I just need to try at the 352 day mark. I have not had good luck in the past, and if I can't use them for Cancun, I want to use them for a fall 2004 trip instead. Anyone have enough experience to tell me how likely I am to get this to work? Thank you!

You might to ask this question on the Northwest board on Flyertalk.com

They are full of info over there.

Thank you!!! I will try that tonight.

Here's a really handy tool that you can use to search for Northwest award seats:

http://usr.v7.com/wpaa/

I believe it was put together by a person in Japan who was looking for a faster way to scan the system for seats. You can't actually book off the site and there are some annoying pop-ups that may come into play, but it will show you if there are seats out there to be had at standard levels. Play around with it a little and you'll see how it works. Once you find what you're looking for, you can either book online through the Northwest site or call to book.

Keep in mind that with some destinations at certain times of the year, standard level awards may be virtually non-existent.

Hi loangalsal,
Well, I've had my share of adventures trying to redeem FF miles with NWA over the past 5 yrs. A couple of things...does Northwest provide service all the way through to Cancun? In other words, is that destination served by Northwest equipment and not another carrier. If you try for FF miles and the final destination requires another carrier like Horizon, etc. you will not be able to book as soon as the seats open.

Second, I've found that I basically can get nothing unless I'm willing to use rule busting. I don't even pretend that I'm going to be able to get a seat with the basic number of miles. I believe that is a fantasy perpetrated by NWA. I booked three seats for July 2004 about two weeks into the availability period. TPA to SEA. I had to rule bust. When she said "we have nothing" I said "you must be kidding" and she said "I mean nothing unless you rule bust" I said, "oh, that will be fine, there aren't really seats ever at the standard number of miles". I was happy to finally use the 100,000 + miles before another airline goes belly up. Good luck!

Also, ask NW to check w/Continental (their partner) that does service Cancun. You can use your NW miles on Continental. Alaska is also another option.