Is it really hard to redeem miles for summer travel? I know that summer is peak season to Europe. I called at 5:15 this morning, and there were no seats available on the PHL flight. Truthfully, that rarely happens b/c I usually call the first day the seats are released. Now I'm getting worried.

I was calling for a Fri. night flight, and Wimbledon is going on then, so I'm hoping that that is why I was unsuccessful. But I'm wondering if others have noticed problems redeeming miles since the merger?

Keep trying. Europe in the summer is hard.

I got an award ticket to Asia after the merger on desired dates, 10 months out. At 330 day and closer I couldn't get anything

You're trying to book an award ticket to Europe on "the PHL flight" for when? And which flight? There are many Euro flights from PHL. But if it's for anytime between now and October, it'll be tough if not impossible. This is the case with ANY airline, though, so report back if you can find FF seats to Europe in the next months on DL, CO, AA, UA, etc.

Is it really hard to redeem miles for summer travel? I know that summer is peak season to Europe. I called at 5:15 this morning, and there were no seats available on the PHL flight. Truthfully, that rarely happens b/c I usually call the first day the seats are released. Now I'm getting worried.

I was calling for a Fri. night flight, and Wimbledon is going on then, so I'm hoping that that is why I was unsuccessful. But I'm wondering if others have noticed problems redeeming miles since the merger?

Did you try *A partners??

Or flying US to MAN or CDG and BMI back to LHR?

You're trying to book an award ticket to Europe on "the PHL flight" for when? And which flight? There are many Euro flights from PHL. But if it's for anytime between now and October, it'll be tough if not impossible. This is the case with ANY airline, though, so report back if you can find FF seats to Europe in the next months on DL, CO, AA, UA, etc.


She is flying to London in June 07 since she will attend Wimbledon tennis.

The suggestions of MAN, or CDG are good, as well as AMS (or BRU?), then fly BMI on the same award. (alternative from CDG is to take the chunnel to GB). Don't give up yet on Gatwick though.

And try UA--any of their American gateways to LHR. Like getting to Frankfurt for free during Oktoberfest, this might be a difficult task.

I wonder but don't know if trying a connection will increase your chances. That is, try for an award tkt to FRA or AMS. From there you may be able to continue onward to LON or being able to buy a cheap tkt from one of the many European versions of Southwest.

She is flying to London in June 07 since she will attend Wimbledon tennis.

The suggestions of MAN, or CDG are good, as well as AMS (or BRU?), then fly BMI on the same award. (alternative from CDG is to take the chunnel to GB). Don't give up yet on Gatwick though.

Hi all. I'd like to go to London in early July - I am very flexible with dates. (I'm not attending Wimbledon, I just noted that it is the same time I was looking for, which might affect availability?)

There is only one non-stop PHL to LGW flight daily, and obviously, that is my preferrence. (And I would like 4 seats, is that really asking for the moon? I've never had problems with this domestically). The one agent found me a Canadian flight PHL-Toronto-London. I would settle for this IF I truly cannot get the USAir flight.

I will keep trying, but I was hoping you all would tell me it's a bit easier than I'm finding it.

Also, Pieper, are you saying for your Asian flight that you tried 330 days out, and there was no availability, but there was when you tried again 10 months out?

I guess I will keep calling, and try a mid-week departure. I called several times this AM b/c none of the agents could tell me if the seats were all gone OR if the seats were just not released for today yet. I kept getting the same agent - Caroline - and she then started to ask me if I was going to call every 30 mins. all day.

Does anyone know when the seats are released? I get the impression that it is not at midnight, but around 5:30am. Also - I could not do this on-line, b/c it kept saying my date was too far out.

I'm in kind of a similar situation. I'm trying to get from Austin, TX into Venice next May 23, and then back from Barcelona into Austin on June 7. I called on the day these tickets became available for award travel and could not get the seats booked. The agent did manage to get me from IAH into Venice, via PHL and FRA, but the return routing is a crazy BCN-MUC-LHR-ORD(overnight)-CLT-IAH. I booked a business ticket, but all the US domestic legs ended up in coach, mostly on RJs.

I'd be curious to know when/if any more direct routings will open out of IAH OR when/if AUS tickets will become available...

Advice would be much appreciated!

If you are looking for four seats and they offered a flight with acceptable dates on Air Canada I would grab them now.

Also, Pieper, are you saying for your Asian flight that you tried 330 days out, and there was no availability, but there was when you tried again 10 months out?


Indeed I did. Tried at 330 out, no luck; about 10 months out, bingo, arranged 2 seats in 15 minutes.

I do Agree with JayBrian, if you have 4 through Canada grab them.

But, if you want to risk it...., keep calling, different agents different levels of expertise with the system and different levesl of willingness to work on this challenging task of getting 4 seats. Are you willing and able to split 2x2? Might be easier.

It's interesting that US doesn't feel there is sufficient traffic on this route (PHL-LGW) to add at least a 2nd flight - maybe a 757 seasonally. If I remember correctly, they did have 2 flights several years ago. Obviously one reason for possible lack of traffic may be the two daily BA LHR flights.

It's interesting that US doesn't feel there is sufficient traffic on this route (PHL-LGW) to add at least a 2nd flight - maybe a 757 seasonally. If I remember correctly, they did have 2 flights several years ago. Obviously one reason for possible lack of traffic may be the two daily BA LHR flights.

What also stinks is that PHL is such a hub, so anyone wanting to fly through PHL has to take that flight, severely limiting the FF awards to London.

Try Virgin Atlantic, too.

"There is only one non-stop PHL to LGW flight daily, and obviously, that is my preferrence. (And I would like 4 seats, is that really asking for the moon? I've never had problems with this domestically). The one agent found me a Canadian flight PHL-Toronto-London. I would settle for this IF I truly cannot get the USAir flight."


I have just booked, through DM, Air Canada flights for June 2007, CLT-YYZ-CDG. There were no other options available, and I had to suggest many alternatives and call several times before working this out. Apparently, Air Canada either releases its FF seats earlier than others or makes them more available to US Airways.

usairways.com was no help because it only lets me look ahead 319 days, not 330. I called up US, but no one could explain the discrepancy between internet and telephone availability of tickets.

If I were you, I would put the AC tickets on hold immediately and continue to try to work out an alternative in the next few days. If nothing comes through, I would book on AC.

usairways.com was no help because it only lets me look ahead 319 days, not 330. I called up US, but no one could explain the discrepancy between internet and telephone availability of tickets.

The discrepancy is that usairways.com is HP/Shares and telephone is US/Sabre. They do not see the same things and the website does not see *Alliance options yet, I do not think.

I have just booked, through DM, Air Canada flights for June 2007, CLT-YYZ-CDG. There were no other options available, and I had to suggest many alternatives and call several times before working this out. Apparently, Air Canada either releases its FF seats earlier than others or makes them more available to US Airways.

usairways.com was no help because it only lets me look ahead 319 days, not 330. I called up US, but no one could explain the discrepancy between internet and telephone availability of tickets.

If I were you, I would put the AC tickets on hold immediately and continue to try to work out an alternative in the next few days. If nothing comes through, I would book on AC.

I really appreciate your insights. Y-day, I did call and put the 4 tix on Air Canada on hold. this week, I will try again for Gatwick, this time leaving on a Tues. night instead of a Friday night. (Am I going to get a hard time about holding 2 different itineraries?)

The agents usually always tell me: you can only hold a ticket for 3 days. But when they check with their supervisor, they always let me have a longer hold to obtain my return flight (which is not yet available). The guy I talked to was really nice and tried for quite a while before he could reach a supervisor.

Another question - re: phone v. internet booking of FF miles. If you waited until the seats became available on-line, couldn't they have all been already taken by those of us who call?

"Another question - re: phone v. internet booking of FF miles. If you waited until the seats became available on-line, couldn't they have all been already taken by those of us who call?"


Exactly! Remember, however, that Star Alliance flights, such as Air Canada, never show up online at usairways.com. If you sign up for an account with AC, you can check availability on its site--that's how I found availability for AC tickets that I booked via telephone with US.