I'm new here and am looking to be pointed in the right direction. Here is my situation:

I have 120,000 AMEX points. Tried to convert to Delta Miles and because I'm Canadian I was told they are worth 75%. That sucks because that would not be enough to fly coach to Europe for 2. So I looked at AEROPLAN and they will give 1 to 1 but the surcharges are ridiculous ($1500) compared to Delta ($200). Any advice??

Planning to fly Detroit to Rome (or anywhere in Italy) in September 2014. I don't mind connections if I can avoid surcharges.

Any little advice would be greatly appreciated.

Julian

I was told to try & fly United or US Air but I do not see that as an option on Aeroplan.

if there are available flights on United or US Airways, they would appear when you search on the Aeroplan website. (As would a number of other Star Alliance carriers)

Welcome.

One initial suggestion with regard to future posts: It's best to use a more descriptive title so that readers can see at a glance what the post is about.

I don't know how AMEX points can be converted, so I can't help with that part of the issue. But my experience, shared it seems by others as well, is that it's much easier to find award travel using UA or AA miles than it is using DL miles. Using AA miles to fly on BA is prohibitively expensive due to BA's surcharges, but redeeming UA miles or AA miles on AA itself or its other European partners (such as AB or IB) is quite reasonable. AC is a member of Star Alliance, as are UA, LH, LX and OS, so you should be able to use Aeroplan miles for flights on those airlines. (US is also a possibility, but only if you book by March 30.) I suggest that you check for availability of award travel on the UA website (www.united.com) and then phone AC to see if you can book through them; the AC website may not allow booking some partners online. There should be flights available on UA and its partners going through ORD, EWR or IAD, though you might also look for flights to Milan as well as Rome.

Thanks JPG, I will be more clear in my title in future posts. Now point me in the right direction please so I can understand the alphabet soup. I need to know what all the letters mean so I can read the post again. Like I said, i am a newbie.

There is a glossary at the bottom of the screen on each page here. Scroll all the way down past the posts and under the last ad on the screen. Good luck!

Click "HELP" on the top of the page or "Glossary" on the bottom of the page. It took me a while to notice them. Not all the abbreviations are there so don't be afraid to ask, people are generally helpful.

Well, I bit the bullet and am using Aeroplan points for a business seat in July (from Toronto). But the taxes would have been 2/3 less had I been willing to fly LOT Polish Airlines with a seriously long layover in Warsaw. I wasn't about to do either. The only good thing about it was that the LOT itinerary would have taken me to Florence - my destination - although by a rather convoluted route. I am now hoping that the Toronto to Rome direct flight is not Rouged.

Please don't convert AMEX points to DL miles unless you have verified that DL has LOW award availability for flights you want. It can be extremely difficult to find an award ticket on DL for 120,000 miles RT to Italy. Transfers from AmEx are irreversible.