Originally Posted by
leevick
This question comes at a great time for me. I'm Platinum and have been scrounging miles to get to 400,000 so I can take the family unit to Europe next summer. 4 * 100,000 each for a BF round trip is the right number, right? So we want to start off in Nice and ideally return from Edinburgh, but that's all open. Anyway, I've been looking at how to get from IAH to Nice and wasn't really liking anything. We're looking to go next May after #1 son gets out of classes in college (anytime after the 9th of May) so we have flexibility. I like avoiding CDG (I hate that airport) if possible, but other than that I'm pretty open.
All of the feedback on this question has been great (y'all are awesome on this forum! And yes I've read all of the FAQs and done my search homework) but my question has to do with how you would respond if miles were being used. I've not flown Virgin or Delta so can't compare the service differences, and I'm still confused about using miles (I think it's possible on Virgin but not on Delta, right? Wrong? It's all sooo confusing). Thanks for any help.
Cheers,
Lee.
Welcome to FT
the easy part 1st, your CO miles can be used for free tkts on any SkyTeam Member (Delta,AirFrance,Czech Air,KLM,NorthWest,Alitalia) also CO has a couple of other Carriers that it has arrangements with but arent ST members such as Virgin.
2nd, I really hope that you R Extremely flex as I highly doubt you will be able to get 4 Biz seats on the same flights for everyone. so you might have to use a couple of different carriers thats if you can get anything at all.
The biggest problem with any Airline Program isnt getting the miles but finding Flights, which for Biz Class is hard enough for 1 tkt let alone 4 tkts.
Co usually doesnt release its BF seat till its close to the time you want to fly as they would rather sell them then give them away. DL I find has no problem as long as its not a Skysaver Award you want but are willing to pay 2x the miles for the seat, thats any cabin and even for a Domestic flight.
Alitalia doesnt know if it will be in Biz day to day so I would stay away from them for now.
dont mean to paint a dismal pic but thats generally how it is out there, you really will hav eto flex and be prepared to fly around in circles and not on the same flights together. Yes a Miracle might occur and you land 4 Biz tkts but I would have started my prays yrs ago if thats what I want, that is unless you are willing to pay 2x the miles for a Rule Buster