Originally Posted by chowder
1) while booking award travel on-line "costs" less miles than over the phone, is there any benefit to booking over the phone?
The only benefit is if you can't get the website to work. Or you'd rather identify availability with an agent and then book it online
Originally Posted by chowder
2) can you use award miles on open jaws, and/or something like phl-mco(stop)-sfo(stop)-phl. if so, how many miles do those scenarios "cost"??
You can have an open jaw but can't have a stopover if that is what you want between SFO-PHL
Originally Posted by chowder
3) after booking award ticket, can the dates of travel be changed prior to either outbound or return leg (provided there's availability). if so, is this a common practice (e.g. for extending stays), and therefore a "perk" of award travel, or just a good way to get stuck? also, is there any "change fee" for this?"
Dates can be changed for free provided there is availability.
Originally Posted by chowder
4) after booking award ticket, can the destination be changed? say i want to ski, book slc first, but later see the snow is bad, and want to change to den.?"
I believe they will charge you $100 change fee for destination changes.
Originally Posted by chowder
5) as Silver, does my listing for an upgrade to F work the same way as if I used $ instead of miles? is my priority diminished using miles instead of $?
You can't upgrade award tickets.
Originally Posted by chowder
6) since everything is so cheap out of PHL, can I use miles to book flights for my non-family non-PHL less-fortunate friends who have to pay US > $300-400 to fly??
Yes. You can redeem miles for award tickets for others.
Originally Posted by chowder
7) this is unrelated and potentially embarrassing but: I usually call after booking online to get listed to 1st, but online I always see that "apply upgrades" button - which I never use. I would think they do the same thing, but abide by the motto "if it ain't broke..." Are they the same?
Thank you in advance for your responses.??
I would not use the online feature. Call an agent to be listed for the upgrade or talk to ALAN, the automated agent. He works well for me.