- Which route/airline did you book and which class? STR-FRA-NRT and return, Lufthansa, First Class. (Of course, the STR-FRA and FRA-STR legs were in intra-Europe "business" class, only the intercontinental flights were in First.)
- How many pax and how many award miles? One, myself. 180K, but with the SEN 20% discount (Christmas present for US-based Senators) I got 36K rebated for a total of 144,000 miles net.
- How many days/weeks/months did you book in advance? Booked it 10 months in advance.
- Have you been able to book your preferred dates of travel? Yes. Indeed, when (at the last minute - literally the day before departure) I had to change the departure date, LH was able to accommodate on the spot by telephone (calling from FRA on my cell phone as I was boarding to fly somewhere else) for only the €40 change fee.
- Were you happy with the award booking procedure (e.g. online/by phone)? On line. Absolutely delighted. I wish it were that fast, easy, and painless on other programs.
- How often did you have to check/call until you got the seats? Got the award the first time I tried. As to the seats themselves, when I received the confirmation, I noticed they'd booked me into a bulkhead seat. I promptly called LH and asked for 83A. The guy laughed, and said that since the entire upper deck was empty except for me, he thought he could arrange that.