I am usually a UAL flyer and I am somewhat new to AS. I have an AS visa and a companion cert to use before March 2010. I need to book 3 RT (1 tic for a toddler) tics from SMF (since SFO no longer has non-stop it is pointless to drive there) to ANC for May 2010. I figured I would use the companion cert for 2 of the tics and then possibly either use miles or that 50% off a tic for the 3rd ticket. We have only 41k miles. Is it worth it to use 15k miles and get the 3rd tic at 50% off? If I used miles to get a free ticket it came up at 25k rt.

It appears I need to purchase tics by mid-Feb where the rules for 50% change. Is that correct? Also, does anyone know if 1st class is worth it from SMF to ANC (all have a stop)? Thanks for any advice or anything I didnt think of to ask.