Best Plan of Action - Last Minute
 

First time poster, hoping I am posting relevant content in the right place.

I am traveling to Nags Head, NC on 8/29 with my wife. We live in New York. Our closest and preferred airport is JFK. However, I won't fly in a plane that seats less than 4 across. On 9/5, we are flying to Aruba.

As of now my flight itinerary is as follows:

8/29 EWR (Newark, NJ) to ORF (Norfolk, VA) - 2 adults 1 way - $679
*we will rent a car and drive to Nags Head, NC or pay for a car service.

9/5 ORF (Norfolk, VA) to MIA (Miami, FL) connecting to MIA (Miami, FL) to AUA (Aruba) - 2 adults, 1 way, 1 stop - $915

9/12 AUA (Aruba) to JFK (Queens, NY) - 2 adults 1 way - $598

Normally, we would book SPG hotels, it would cost $0, and we would just have to pay for flights. However, my wife wants to go to Aruba, and we heard bad reviews about the SPG option. We were able to book Hotels using my American Express Business Platinum for cash, but with excellent perks that we were comfortable with. My issue is I am about to spend $2,192 in flights.

I have access to the following points:
Starwood Amex Pts - 95,710pts
American Express Platinum - 44,043pts

Two questions:
1. What are my best options to save as much money as possible on the flights? Are there any last minute cards to sign up for?
2. If I don't really have any options, how should I purchase the flights to make next years trip less cash costly?

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Welcome to FT!

Your best opportunity to save money on this itinerary will depend upon the availability of low-tier (SAAver) awards on AA's JFK-ORF or LGA-ORF nonstops. If available, SAAver seats on these flights would cost just 4,500 BA Avios per person. (BA is a transfer partner for both Amex MR and Starwood, although the Amex MR => BA transfer ratio is about to be devalued).

Best Plan of Action - Last Minute
 

One thing you might look at is flying into and out of RDU instead. There are often cheaper nonstops to both the NYC area and the MIA area

Try to use BA Avios (Amex MR transfer to Avios) for the NYC-ORF piece. It's just 4,500 Avios + $5.60 per person and works on any AA flight (would have to fly out of JFK or LGA). Currently on 8/29, JFK-ORF at 3:55pm and LGA-ORF at 3:10pm are available with Avios and both have 4-across seating.

Then you can book the rest as a single trip:

9/5 ORF-ATL-AUA
returning 9/12 AUA-JFK
all on Delta, $690 per person
all flights, including ORF-ATL, have 6-across seating

Total cost for 2 passengers: ~$1400 + 9,000 Amex MR