Originally Posted by
GuySmylie
Im sure there is a paid service that makes this much easier. So what is the best non free option as well?
Expert Flyer:
www.expertflyer.com
For Star Alliance (UA and
for the moment* US), it's all one search. In some other cases, when you search one carrier, the award availability on what happen to be their codeshares with another partner
may also show up. But apart from that, you will need to search each partner at a time.
They don't have every single partner of every single airline, but they do have many of them.
And btw a paid site like this is the only place to search for upgrade awards (in case you're ever interested in those). The most that free sites can do is outright redemption awards.
Originally Posted by
GuySmylie
then call the airline? If i do this am i charged the phone booking fee?
What the fees are for booking by phone varies by the airline and perhaps by what (if any) status you have with that airline. (Each airline sets its fees and booking policies separately.) So there's no one stock answer. Research the phone booking fees of each airline (that you have miles with) separately, at the airline's website or on the airline's forum here on FT.