Even after calling and talking to someone at Amex about it, I am uncertain.

They said that I first call Swiss and tell them I'll be making a reservation using an Amex certificate, then once I'm booked order the certificate. That agrees with the instructions on the Amex website.

However, what doesn't make sense is that Amex says that the certificate is good for 6 months and the ticket is good for 3 months. When I asked for clarification they basically just repeated what's on the website. I gave an example of: say I wanted to fly in March (say the 15th), I couldn't call Swiss until December 15th to make the reservation, and then I would order the certificate which I would fill out and mail in, and they said Yes. It just doesn't make any sense - why would the certificate be "good" for longer than the ticket? Why does it have any expiration date at all if the ticket has to be reserved first and is only good for 3 months?

I think I'm missing something here.

Can someone give me a step by step timeline?

David