Hello everyone, long time FT lurker and now first time poster. I was super elite for years but have not reached any noteworthy status for a while now (hit 35k a few years back with an unusually heavy business travel year). I am however looking at planning a family vacation in late Dec 2018/Jan 2019 using available AE miles (family of four). I have been reading the information here extensively and see that there is a lot to learn. Destination is Australia (popular dest I know) and we would like to do the mini RTW in J class. I have a few questions that I hope you could be so kind to share your expert perspectives on. Apologies if these have been covered before and I missed them.
1) As a non-status member without ability to book any available seat, how challenging is it to actually find available inventory? I see many different trip combinations listed here but as now an average Joe would I be able to find similar?
2) i noticed on another posting the timing for release of J inventory which seems different across the various SA carriers. What's the best strategy to start planning? Would it be to look for potential routes and then align to the timing of different carriers release schedules? I don't want to miss inventory if it gets snapped up as soon as it is made available.
3) Last question, has anyone started up a side business to provide some research and advice services for booking a mini RTW outside of calling AP? I'd be willing to pay for help and assistance as the complexity and time involved for a rookie is pretty daunting.
Thx!