AA/OW wins hands down too in my book. I always get miles on every class of revenue purchased ticket and IMHO the AA websavers and netfares are usually a very good buy...in certain markets like MIA they are fantastic! AA/OW redemption for domestic and overseas destinations have never been a problem. I flew CX a few times this year in F and I feel the value was exceptional.

------------------
MRKEY

Oops! Thanks for the correction. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif I think I got the codes confused because I lived in Atlanta for 18 months (AirTran's hub) but recently moved to Denver (Frontier's hub). http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I use miles to upgrade purchased international tickets, and my experience with these reward redemptions is that you can work with UA but Delta is hopeless.

I try to be realistic-last minute upgrades to business class during peak tourist season are not going to happen often, even after you buy an expensive, upgradable coach seat. UA usually has some seats if you have date flexibility, and they will tell you (if you beg a little) whether it is worth wait listing a certain flight. And in non-peak months, they usually have seats.

Not Delta-they have weeks blocked from any upgrade at a time, and they will tell you nothing about the odds on an upgrade. I whined like crazy years back when CO changed overseas upgrades so non-elites can only book them within 30 days of the flight. I thought those rules blew away old loyalty (those with large mile banks) for future business (current elites). But at least they announced their rules and you could stay, or leave, as I did. Delta's system is like overripe sausage-you have no idea what's in there and it doesn't smell very good.

I would like to see FT and Randy emphasize more the nuts and bolts of how easy or tough it is to get each major award from each airline. It matters little to me who the hotel partners are or whether an upgrade is an extra 5,000 miles. Of you aren't going to get the award you are working toward, all that other stuff is noise.

I am aware that most airlines allow a non-restricted award for twice the miles. These are useful sometimes at the margins. But we all know this avenue devalues miles to such a huge extent such that it hardly ameliorates the underlying problem. Think of it this way-if you knew going in that you would have to redeem twice the miles, would you have joind that program at all?