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.

with careful planning, you should be able to get reward seats in BF at the standard level. as with all rewards, being elite and being extremely flexible is the key. i believe you can book 350 days out so you should start checking then. inventory comes and goes, so dont be discouraged if it takes months to book. i belive you can also book at the BF level, confirm in coach and then gradually be upgrade as the seats become available, not 100% sure on that though.

be sure you're always logged into co.com as it has slightly better inventory than non elites.

the biggest catch is to check availability for each segment rather than the entire trip. if there is one segment that is not available, the entire trip will not show.

for instance, i did msy-gig and got nothing. i did iah-gig and got it, then i did msy-iah and got a early flight. the system originally denied me b/c the msy-iah that would normally correspond with the iah-gig flight was not available. hence, flexibility.

Well, while not impossible, BF awards can be very tough to get. My advice would be to start checking about a year prior to your planned departure, provided you have sufficient miles in your accounts (btw - you can't split an award ticket using miles from 2 different accounts).

IIRC, awards seats start opening up between 330 days and 1 year prior to the departure, depending on the airlines. I noticed that CO tend not always to release seats so early, but rather sporadically based on their yield management. For instance, they might allocate additional seats a few weeks/ days before departure.

Use frequently the co.com award search tool, but also call them as the agents may have access to wider inventory (e.g. on partners airlines, less direct routes, etc.). Persistance and luck are your keys to success!

Regarding upgrades:
Availability are also very tough, if not tougher than free trip.

Moreover, while CO allow upgrades on almost any fare, keep in mind that unless you book a full or very expensive coach fare (Y/H), you will be subject to additional fees, up to 450 USD each way.

Same advice, start checking early.

Good luck!

Thanks. I did know this - and it seems like when you CAN transfer miles between accounts, it's quite expensive to do!! We may get a separate World MC for my husband in 6 months or so, trying to split up miles so that by 2008, each of us might have enough miles for an EasyPass award as a worst case scenario.

I am glad to hear that upgrades also can be tough to get - I was checking spring fares to Truk and Palau just to see what they are like, and frankly, it is just about the same difference in terms of cost to BUY a BF ticket outright and use miles for an Easy Pass award, if it comes to that sort of measure.

In other words - plan ahead, and...it's a good thing we will have until 2008 to save for this!!

I redeem standard BF to Hawaii, from Los Angeles, every year for the last 5 years. I rarely have problems and fly during summer or Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays.
I found upgrade to BF is more difficult and expensive than redeem the free BF tickets. The seat availablility changes from day to day. Call and request wait list if the seat aren't availbe when you book.
Being elite really helps. IF you can get elite in 2007, for your 2008 travel, you will have more chances to sit BF.

As others have said, flexibility is the key - but not always in terms of looking 330 days out. It helps to have the flexibility to go 'next month' - as seats will start to open up.
Some advice from my recent successes: Try searching from either EWR or IAH to either GUM and/or your final destination. As someone mentioned, it sometimes helps to search segment by segment - the problem with this however is Micronesia.. CO has 'special' Micronesia only rewards so that if you search GUM-TRK you may see first available - however it most likely will not be compatible with the BF award from North America. And really, if you you can't get first from GUM to wherever - it's no big deal at all (with the possible exception of CNS). So, the trick is just getting to GUM. If you really want to experience BF, you'll want to route via NRT instead of HNL. (For that matter, you could even opt to fly NW). I was surprised at how much std BF availability there was when I started looking in MAR for the Jun/Jul timeframe - lots of seats, even weekends. Finally, even if you can only get BF as far as NRT or HNL, as an elite you can be waitlisted for BF/F segments to GUM. We had no problems getting into BF, the agents in both NRT and GUM seemed very knowledgeable and helpful (dealing with the csr in CNS for the first class seat we were entitled to however was another story...)

It's certainly possible, but takes a lot of work. I secured two BF tickets LAX-DPS return with a HNL stopover. I started calling 331 days out and secured seats as close to the desired fligths/times as possible. I then called back daily checking as things opened up. After about six months, everything settled in.

The best tip I can give you is to book the tickets on separate itineraries so you can take advantage of one open seat---if you stay on the same itinerary, you have to have two seats in each cabin simultaneously, which is much less likely.

Also, make sure you check for availability all the way through and hop-by-hop. For example, I was able to book CO 1 all the way through (IAH-GUM) but not just HNL-GUM; conversely I wasn't able to book the island hopper GUM-HNL, but could book it GUM-MAJ/MAJ-HNL.

Of course, my wife pointed out that if I counted the number of hours I spent on the phone checking for availability, we might has well have paid for the BF seats, but what's the fun in that?

I have always used Micronesia as an intermediate stopover and always managed to get the old true international first, BF or regular first for the Island Hopper portion. The first trip was to Hong Kong in 1992. The 2nd to Taiwan then down to Vietnam on another airline in 2001. And the third to Cairns, Australia in 2002, and used Northwest to cross the Pacific on this trip and only stayed a day in Guam because I used Japan as the intermediate stopover point. The trip to Taiwan I decided to fly BF to Hawaii and try the Island Hopper from HNL to GUM. It makes 5 island stops and uses the 737-800. You can stop at one of the 5 Islands on the way to Guam.

I have always used Micronesia as an intermediate stopover and always managed to get the old true international first, BF or regular first for the Island Hopper portion. The first trip was to Hong Kong in 1992. The 2nd to Taiwan then down to Vietnam on another airline in 2001. And the third to Cairns, Australia in 2002, and used Northwest to cross the Pacific on this trip and only stayed a day in Guam because I used Japan as the intermediate stopover point. On the trip to Taiwan I decided to fly BF to Hawaii and try the Island Hopper from HNL to GUM. It makes 5 island stops and uses the 737-800. You can stop at one of the 5 Islands on the way to Guam.

Just to confirm... if your final destination is something
like Truk, the Island Hopper is a great experience....
But, as it has been said, it is a 737-800, and the first
class seating is like domestic US first class - not the BF
product.

I flew the hopper a couple of months ago - bought a
coach ticket and upgraded on status - same as in the
mainland US. Beautiful flight, if you have the time
to fly around the Pacific for a while.

Business first on the island hopper is an easy get. At silver level on CO on a full Y fare you can generally upgrade automatically to Business First on the island hopper when you purchase the ticket. Its the IAH to HNL that you won't be able to ever get an AU on a full Y fare, you gotta use miles for any upgrade and it goes fast and furious. Same if you are going onto GUM then back down on 956. So that's the issue, get the BF into HNL or GUM. From there on out even on Silver level if you have it can generally assure you a AU.

Since I've lived in the middle of the island hopper (Kosrae) for over 10 years I've never sat in the back on a Y fare ticket even when I was only Silver level, my kids are only Silver level and they are constantly upgraded as well. If you want more info just PM me. I'm in GUM on my way to IAH now as I just stepped off 957 Island Hopper.

This is incredibly helpful - THANKS. We won't be able to get status next year to maintain Silver for 2007, as our main vacation is to the Solomon Islands using award tix on UA via Sydney. We do flyseveral times a year, but we won't have the EQM, almost certainly.

Now, we may be able to get the EQM in 2007 for 2008 elite status - I can try to work that out...

I have heard a lot about the famed "island hopper", but it wasn't coming up on the CO site - I have to take a closer look. We'd like to do the Truk Odyssey, then spend 5 days to 1 week somewhere else (land-based) - Yap, Palau, perhaps. I don't care one way or the other about BF or first transcontinental or on an island hopper...but I do care about being stuffed into coach all the way to Guam!!

Again, thanks so much for the tips. Will print them out and file them for 2007...

i am not clear on being elite. what does that require from the traveler? i get most of my mileage from the credit cards and few other retain partners with occassional travel. never been elite.

CO makes available to elites, more reward seats that to non elites, therefore, should you be elite, and logged into your account while searching, you may see availability that non elites do not see.

i know this is true when searching online, not sure about searching with an agent over phone.

Here is a secret that works for me, but dont tell anyone else. If I can't get what I need from CO to Micronesia out of SAN or LAX, I'll find a cheap flight to Honolulu and do Micronesia from there, or I'll buy a cheap flight to San Francisco, where CO uses NWA with much more availability.