Howdy - I have about 100K UA miles and 30K AA miles. I'm looking for recommendations on how to best utilize these relatively small balances to get from the SFO area to Florence, Italy and back August 4-14 or thereabouts.

I'm not well versed in using miles for European travel and wonder if there are any tricks or tips to get the most out of my miles. I'd love to somehow fly business class if possible. I'm willing to fly to nearby cities or even neighboring countries then taking the train, bus, etc to get to Florence.

What, if any, forum on FT would be a good place to ask a question like this? I've been digging around but making such slow progress myself and I know what a vast amount of knowledge there is here on FT so I'm hoping this is an appropriate question to pose.

Thanks.

For AA | AAdvantage miles awards, see the Wikipost at the top of the pages in the AA forum thread titled HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance (link).

For United MileagePlus, see United MileagePlus Master Wiki to start; it contains links to valuable resource threads.

You may be best engaging the services of a paid award booking service for such a travel.
Award booking services - a list and some reviews

I'd try for one way in business using UA miles and back in economy using AA or an LCC (e.g. Norwegian, Monarch, WOW). Best to call to ask for options to neighboring airports in Europe - though LON/PAR are typically your best bet. Also be flexible by a day or two.

Have you gone online to the UA site to check availability? That would be your first step.

I found a RT award using United miles from SFO to Florence with a change in Zurich on August 4. Return on August 16 with an overnight in Zurich. 70k miles + $56.91.

Return using AA miles is possible on August 17, but from Milan instead of Florence. Changes at LHR and Charlotte.