Great Article comparing FF programs
 

In this month's (April '10) Condé Nast Traveler, there is an excellent article for those who do not have time analyze all the details. The article was succinct and very informative in its comparisons of all of North America's major carriers...from the standpoint of earning reward travel.

This One?

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...2?pageNumber=1

Actually that advice on booking 6 months out is counterproductive on DL. DL seems to release award inventory into the lower buckets about 90-100 days out. If you book at 6 months you'll end up in higher award levels.

Nothing really new in this article, true to Conte Naste form, except the after weekend issue (#8) which remains somewhat vague. But still good basic advice.

Confirmed what we knew/Book Your Award
 

I would agree that the article confirmed what we already knew: Delta is not that great, Star Alliance is better than most, OneWorld is good but has drawbacks.

I did find the Mission: Impossible survey interesting. Does anyone have an opinion with respect to the Book Your Award service provided by Gary Leff and if it is really that much better than the other options? Is the service worth $250 bucks or was this just an opportunity for them to throw Gary some glory? I ask because given what I just went throught to find two business class round trip tickets to South African around New Year's $250 seems like a bargain if he delivers.

If you are persistent and creative you can find awards easily especially on codeshares. You might not find what you want on Delta one month out or even one week out, but if you look at KL or AF codeshares you will be surprised. At the end of February I booked a standard J award ticket on *A to Europe leaving out of Houston and returning to Dallas. This was 9 days prior to departure. As to respect to the article, I agree that US is stingy with its seats. However I found them very easy to deal with when booking *A tickets and very generous in their mileage promotions.

I am interested in giving Gary Leff a try but can't figure out where to reach him. Any suggestions? I will answer your question after I try him!

Gary is terrific at what he does, and a really great guy to boot.

You can read his blog at:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/

Gary's award booking site is http://www.bookyouraward.com/ and I can recommend his service, especially if you're short on time and interested in premium class awards. He has very good knowledge of different routes to look for on different carriers and maximizing the use of your miles to allow for stopovers, open jaws, etc.

Gary's got good insights and I'm sure his service is worth it, if you're bumping into problems.

Follow these two on boarding area for good incentive opportunities and other information:

boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing
boardingarea.com/blogs/milesquest