cstewart27

My husband and I signed up for the Barclay Visa offer just this year.

We've never used reward points before - so this is our first attempt at trying to figure out the best way to use the points we now have. He has 22 A+ pts and I have 27 A+ pts.

We were hoping to use them to get to Cancun next February on Sat to Sat round trip flights. All I see is A+ Biz reward flights which require 16+ pts each way. There are no coach tickets - is that the norm for weekend travel?

For Cancun, I see several options:

1) We could each book a A+ Bix flight one way and pay for the cheapest leg back for both of us. ($289+ for each of us= $578 +)

2) He could transfer 5 pts (charge of $100) over to my account so I could get FREE A+ BIZ tickets both ways then we'd pay for a coach tkt for him. ($289+ $100+ = $389)

2) He could transfer 5 pts (charge of $100) over to my account so I could get FREE A+ BIZ tickets both ways then we'd pay for a A+ Biz tkt for him. ($489 + $100+ - $589)

Are there other options using reward points that I'm missing?

There are no coach tickets for the Feb 2012 wknds. Is that the norm for all weekend travel? Or are they just all gone? I'm assuming the reward flights are limited - they sure seem to be!

Is there a strategy for booking reward flights - book really early / book really late

How far out can reward flights be booked?

Any other key strategies that I'm missing?

Thx!