Hi,

I've been collecting miles and points for a while, but have yet to spend on any big awards. So, now I want to go STO-NYC for 3-4 days including September 21, and I'm shocked to find almost nothing useful. Before I go out and buy tickets, I thought I'd turn to the vast knowledge of this forum.

Ideally I would arrive in NYC on 20 Sep am and leave on 23 Sep evening, but there's some flexibility. I would prefer Business, especially inbound, but I could do Economy.

I have a lot of Amex points that I could transfer to oneworld (BA, Finnair or Iberia). I have searched BA - no useful availability. I am assuming that this is showing partner airlines as well? Finnair won't show availability unless I already have enough miles in their program, and I'm not yet enrolled in IB.

I could use miles for one or more segments and pay for the rest. I could pay for Economy and upgrade with miles. But I'll be damned if I can't use miles for anything. One thing I could do is to pay the whole thing with MR points, but this is an expensive use of points.

So please, what are my options? Is it really this difficult? Am I too late? Too early? Should I enroll in parter programs to which I can't transfer points? Any pointers in the right direction much appreciated.