Spoke to my wife last night about travel plans for the future. I had already looked on the internet and found that a timeshare week I had banked could be redeemed for a week at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale. We actually own there and love the place. It is for early September, 2011.

Went to look at flights and hoped to be able to use miles. As usual, very little non-stop available on Continental except at twice the normal mileage. Checked with US Air and found that they had Economy for 42,500 per person (still better than Continental who wanted 50k) but, lo and behold, First Class for 50,000.

A bit shocked to see the the cost in dollars for coach was way over $400. I have read a lot about fares going up but this was a lot more than we have usually paid. Anyway, for a bit more, we will go First Class. Lesson learned - it always pays to check. Somewhat counter-intuitive that better deals might be available in the front of the plane, but it certainly worked out this time. And the fact that these miles were transferred from Starwood at at 50% bonus (on top of Starwood's normal 25% bonus) makes it even better!

Kudos on that! Best use of miles in F! I'd rather buy the ticket for a transcon if going in Y myself.

Have to ask though - did you really do a thorough search for EWR-PHX dates in September on US? There's plenty of Y availability on the non-stops that I can see on random September dates I've checked. I'd rather burn them in F myself but if you really wanted Y and had at least a day or two of flexibility on each end, I'm seeing plenty of both US and CO non-stop options in Y at the "low" rate from EWR and JFK.

I would have taken Y but I much preferred the guaranteed F at the right price. Try finding THAT on Continental! But you're right. Just don't tell my wife - I told her we HAD to!

And good for you for doing that She'll have a much nicer time in First.

what she doesn't know wont hurt her & she will be much more comfortable in f....its a win win....

I watched that hotel being built from my office. Nice place. BTW, you probably already know this but early September is usually pretty hot (over 100).

It is certainly true that you should always check.

Another place checking comes in handy is when there are no "saver" awards in coach and they want you to pay double to get the award. Always check for saver awards in Business or First; quite often I've found availability on the route I'm looking for, and you get Business or First cheaper in miles than the miles you'd pay for "anytime" economy.