Originally Posted by
Bob Herrington
Many thanks for all the advice from the folks on FlyerTalk! You provide an invaluable service! With all the credit card offers, I'm trying to decide which would be the most useful for our flying needs. Typically, we take one long (international) flight a year (or every other year) and a couple of domestic ones. We live in Seattle and have had great luck using our Alaska ff miles to fly to Hawaii or Mexico. However, trying to use their partner airlines to get us to Europe every other summer is almost impossible. (My wife is a teacher so we have to go in the summer.)
I've checked into using Starwood amex since its available on multiple airlines but the number of points (miles) required for a summer flight to Europe is ridiculous (175,000 points from Seattle to Rome!)
Can anyone recommend which airlines ff program might best serve our needs?
I'm sure other people will have better solutions from Seattle (AA probably), but don't discount the SPG. If you book early enough, the summer should not be that high. Also, if you're having problems with availability from Seattle, consider purchasing a cheap ticket to a gateway city on the East Coast. If time isn't an issue (with your wife being a teacher), maybe buy a cheap ticket to Boston/Chicago/New York or DC, enjoy a few days there before/after your trip. That may not be ideal, but if you're open to that option, you'll greatly expand your options.