I'd like to go to Italy next year on frequent flyer miles. I've got more than enough on either US or UAL. I'd like to fly my brother and I round trip using my miles. Can anyone help with the following questions:
1. I'm in Charlotte, he's in Nebraska. Is there a way to swing both of us to Italy somehow on the same overseas flight? I'm confused as to the alliances/partnerships of both of these airlines.

2. If we do find a route and seat availability and book, what happens if we then have to cancel the trip?

Any help that anyone could provide would be much appreciated.

dingo

I'm not all that familiar with US or UA, but I am pretty sure that you would be able to book flights for you and your brother where you flew the transatlantic portion together.

For US, they have flights to Rome from Philly, so that would work as a connecting/meeting up point for the 2 of you. And for UAL, I would think Washington/Dulles would be the likely connecting point. But I think UA only flies direct to Milan?

Book early especially if you are interested in summer travel, as reward seats sell out fast to Europe. If you cancel, the miles for the unused tix can be redeposited in your account for a small service fee (not sure what amount though for US or UA, its $35 for Continental). So, basically the tickets are refundable. You might post on the UA or US forum for more detailed info on terms of reward tickets.

I had an extremely difficult time trying to book reward travel to Rome on US during summer 2000, maybe because of the Vatican Jubilee going on at the time. I ended up booking reward travel on Delta. I would suggest booking ASAP. One other option is to use US miles going toward AA's ORD direct flight to Rome, if you have at least 1000 AA miles to combine with your US miles. Your friend's best options from Nebraska may be on United, then either the two of you on United or AA to from ORD to Rome, otherwise, PHL, PIT or CLT to Rome on US, but there will be connections to get to all three US gateways from either Omaha or Lincoln.