Originally Posted by richardinmotion

Update: I just successfully booked a BE award trip for myself. It was not easy, but I was very flexible with dates, so we made it work. It took about 90 minutes. BE low award space was fairly straightforward to find on partner airlines, but nonexistent on Delta flights. So, my entire RTW is non-Delta.

Now, for the good part:

According to the excellent rep I worked with, you CAN book a dummy trip before 12/31 and modify it later. If you are DM, or book your wife's flight using your DM miles, there are NO change fees for changing flights, right up to the 72 hour window. You will ONLY be charged for taxes. My wife is GM, so I was very happy to hear this. I can't speak for non-DMs, sorry.

I have several more RTWs to book in the next 13 days, so I will try to verify this info by calling into the RTW desk again and speaking to another agent. If some of you can also do it, it would be helpful.

One other caveat: Once you make your RTW booking, you CANNOT change your departure date and airport after 12/31. So, be VERY careful about this one.

Also, remember that the RETURN date of your RTW ticket must not be more than 331 days from the date you book. For today, that means 11/14/15.