Hi guys,

I'm looking at going from EDI to ORD, sometime August 2012. Aeroplan shows availability, but not the most obvious routings (not an issue, makes it more interesting), but ITA isn't finding them, such as EDI-CPH-ORD on BDr and SK.

I've been following this and the other redemption threads in the forum.
The Aeroplan and ITA matrix tools have proved useful in giving an idea of availability and taxes. From what see posted here, I gather that the taxes should be broadly along the lines of what ITA says. And the availability shown by Aeroplan is going to be similar to what DC has? Or is it totally different availability for each programme?
Equally, I gather that LOT and US Airways don't charge the YQ supplement, is it therefore harder to get reward seats with them?
Given the UK APD, is it a popular choice to hop over to DUB on a revenue ticket and then have the redemption start there? And does anyone have experience of trying this?

And finally, we've got just over 25K miles, is it worth buying another chunk now, when the offer is on, to get up to 38K for a J return?

So, M+C booking in Y (25K + £170 + taxes) EDI-ORD AUG12
Could possibly run to J, but how sensible is doing Y out and J return? I'm just a student, so this might be the only stab at J I get for a few years!

Thanks