Hi -

So, here's the deal. My husband and I are avid divers, and we are planning to travel to Micronesia in 2008. I know - that's a long ways away, but it might take that long to do what we'd like to do. I'd like to hear the thoughts of the experts.

We are codesharing a Q fare on NW/KLM next week from BOS-CPT - that will push both of us into the Silver Elite camp. We also fly to LHR once or twice a year - we usually fly Y (prem economy) class on VS - 100% EQM, no bonus for elites (grrr). We also take lots of smaller trips, which we can aim to do on CO or codesharing partners...and I just got the Chase World MC, which should give us an additional 15K miles with first purchase. Neither of us travels for business, so we'd have to accumulate miles via purchases and personal travel. I will have upwards of 70K miles by the end of the year, my husband will have about 45-50K.

The question is...how tough is it to get standard BF awards? Do you essentially HAVE to use EasyPass awards? Do upgrade awards ever happen, realistically - and if so, how far ahead do we need to plan? (Please be kind - don't respond, "Not in 2005..." - we just want to be sure we're not wasting our time investing in CO...)

Thanks a ton.

edited - should say that we need to have things planned ahead, as we'd be doing liveaboard cruises - a bit flexible, but not much.