I have a trip coming up to the Midwest and West Coast in mid June (I live in Boston) and I wanted to use the hundreds of thousands of miles I've accumulated over the past few years.

Much to my chagrin, they wouldn't let me book a multi-city award (BOS-TUL-SMF-BOS), so I had to book an open-jaw (BOS-TUL & SMF-BOS) then find my own way from TUL-SMF.

There weren't many award options available (only 1 on each day I was looking to fly), but the timing worked out ok.

Overall, the experience wasn't so bad - the customer service rep was pretty knowledgeable and quick on the puter. However, I had to sit on hold for quite a while to actually book the ticket.

Here's what I got for 50k miles (didn't read the small print on the MasterCard 5k reduction promo as it doesn't apply when non US flights are booked - my itinerary has 2 UA legs):
to TUL: BOS-PHL-ORD-TUL
from SMF: SMF-PHX-BOS

And, I got F on 3 out of 4 legs, including 1 on UA which surprised me

I'm a US Gold

I ended up booking on usairways.com UA from TUL-SMF for $250. AA had $175 option through DFW, but I don't have status on there and could use the EQMs on US to keep my Gold status - maybe even get to Plat if they do the promo again in Fall 2010.

I also added the 3x multiplier for $89 - is that a waste? I didn't even do the math.

Just sharing my experience - maybe I could've done it differently in the future? any feedback?

I suppose if I booked a little earlier I would've had more options to choose from, but, now I'll have to miss the USA-England world cup match since they're put me through PHL & ORD.

Now, I have to start working on that best man speech!