Help with flight from NYC to Rome
 

I do not travel all that often, so I'm turning to the experts for advice!

I am planning a vacation to Rome from 4/26 to 5/4. I have 200K AA miles, but there are no seats available for miles. The best fare I can find online are about $875 per person. Any hints to sharpen the price--should I wait and see if the fares come down or buy now?

Is there any chance of upgrade if I but an AA ticket in coach? I have over 40 upgrade segments, and can never seem to use them(I'm Gold status).........

Thanks in advance for any ideas that you may share.

jlsullivan, welcome to Flyertalk.

You don't say what sort of award seats you want (business, coach or upgrade). I just did a quick search and you can book the dates you want in coach on the JFK-FCO non-stop and then FCO-LHR-JFK on the return. Remember: there are people who have planned/booked award trips 330 days in advance, the key here is a bit of flexibility.

Late April/May is a highly desirable time to go to Rome. Hence the 875 is a very good fare. IMHO, the fares will not go down. As an alternative, you might consider foregoing direct flights in favor of changing planes, sometimes this can save $$.

You can upgrade using miles + copay (provided there is availability). The upgrade segments you currently have are only valid on AA domestic segments, and while AA "domestic" covers a broad geographic area, they will be of no use for Transatlantic upgrades.

Thanks for the info! how were you able to find the availability? I called AA and they said I was out of luck. I'm going to call again right now to double check.

I missed out on a Silver Jet(to London) special by a few hours, would have been 1599p/ person for business class type service, now it's 2,200 which is too much for me!

I didn't realize my upgrade was only for domestic travel!! Thanks again for the info......

Thank you so much!!! I just confirmed my 2 seats for 40K p ticket non stop each way!! they were able to "open the seats for award travel!!"

A week ago I faced spending $2,000 with a layover, this site rocks!

I'm glad it worked out for you. Award availability changes all the time. Definitely start reading the AAdvantage board for insights into award bookings, use of domestic upgrade stickers, etc...

buon viaggio