Hi Flyers,

I am looking for ideas. For the last three weeks I have been trying daily to book a flight for my wife and I using Alaska Miles. I have just shy of 500K miles. We want to fly from SEA to AKL (Aukland, NZ) on January 1, 2012 in Business or First and then return from Sydney to SEA on January 21. So far we have tried the following:

Qantas: Not a single flight has been available.

Cathay Pacific: Can get to HKG through YVR but no luck beyond that.

Air Pacific: No luck

Korean Air: Blacked out on our dates.

One Alaska reservationist suggested I use Alaska miles to fly RT to Hawaii with Alaska and then book another (separate flight) on Quantas (although she could find no seats available that way) through Sydney to Auckland.

But so far, I am making daily calls and finding nothing available. We did Cathay to Singapore last year and home from HKG with no problem, business all the way. Have things tightened up that much that there are no seats.

Any other ideas?

The problem here is your travel dates. It is high peak season during this time of the year for the two regions in question. I don't mean to discourage you but I would be highly surprised if you would find the seats you are looking for your dates. You might want to consider being flexible in your travel dates. Also, check if other programs (e.g., star alliance) has anything available for the dates that work for you.

Good luck.