Or you could hedge your bets and get a SPG AMEX card. If you decide to boost your miles then you can convert 20000 points into 25000 miles.

They also have no black out dates on hotel stays on awards.

A more descriptive thread title? (just kidding) :D :D :D

Welcome to FT, kimah.

If you haven't already found it, try reading this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=270587

I just took my family of six to Europe last summer and I planned at least 8 months in advance. There is so much info on the web it takes a while to sort through it. Don't hesitate to contact residents in the cities you wish to travel to and ask them questions about good deals on hotels, restaurants, etc... These can be B&B owners, car service employees, hotel concierge, etc... Most people were quite happy to pass along advice.

It got your attention, didn't it? ;)

I actually thought about going the hotel route today. What is the SPG card? Is that the Starwood? Does it have a lot of hotels in Europe?

jbg44: Do you have any good websites you'd recommend? You're right about there being so much info out there - I'm a bit overwhelmed right now just trying to figure out what would be the best plan of action for us with the credit cards - I haven't even gotten to the actual trip planning. I preferably would rather not stay in hotels - I would rather do a homeswap or rent an apartment for a week or two - but then again, if we could get enough points to pay for all our hotels - I would stay in hotels.

Okay - this is too funny to not post -I just got the mail and in it was a letter from Delta Skymiles telling me that I have almost 20,000 miles and if I open a credit card with them I can get up to 27,500 more miles - funny, huh?! I had no idea I even had an account with them - very sad. My husband said he got something from them the other day too.

How do I find out my frequent flyer number and how long these miles are good for? Any ideas?? Thanks!

Scan the credit card offer letter very carefully. Usually the associated frequent flyer number is imprinted on there somewhere. If not, call Delta up and ask them. Miles dumped into your account are generally good indefinitely as long as you show some account activity every so often (one year to three years).

You need to strategize in one particular program or alliance, though. If you end up with 100,000 points/miles each in AA, DL and HHonors, it doesn't really do you any good even though you have a mess of total points.

I would gently point out that if it were usually feasible within 12 to 15 months to accumulate and redeem enough FF points to fly five people to Europe free at the height of the summer rush, everybody'd be doing it.

Unless you are a serious (100k+) frequent flyer, the kind of trip you're talking about takes years to plan and execute. Note that people start angling for the few seats available 331 days before the departure date -- which means that June 2007 seats start getting snapped up in July 2006, or just five months from now. And actually snagging five award seats on any transatlantic flight in summer would be a sort of religious miracle.

Given your accumulation rate and flying habits I would recommend:

** Deferring the trip until 2010 or so, or

** Trying for just one or two award seats out of five, or

** Forgetting about frequent-flyer awards and concentrating on hotel points instead; you could probably earn enough Starwood or HHonors points in a year to score some free lodging in Italy, and hotels in Europe in summer are pretty expensive.

Good luck!

Kimah, one web site I would recommend, for lots of travel ideas, is www.ricksteves.com
They have reader forums with lots of good ideas.
Have fun!
Kate

<<snagging five award seats on any transatlantic flight in summer would be a sort of religious miracle.>>

I tried a dummy award booking on aa.com for five passengers, RDU-LON on June 4 2006, returning June 18, 2006. The outbound flight was a connection through JFK, but the return was the LGW-RDU nonstop.

Total Miles Used: 300000 Total Price 349.00 USD

djl

There is an idea that has hardly been touched upon - a more realistic flight plan would be to go for a pair of business class or coach (whatever you prefer) award seats for you and your hubby and buy the kid's seats. It's beating a dead horse in this thread to say you'll have little to no luck getting five award seats on the same flight, but it's just plain true. A couple of awards is quite easy, though, if you pay attention. I was able to get two award seats to Hawaii in under a year of accruing miles and I don't fly too often and had no cc affiliation. It can be done.

From what you have all said I have pretty much given up on the idea of getting 5 award tickets next summer. Our plans are very flexible. We want to go - we're not set in stone when though. Would I like to go in the summer? Yes - but I am also willing to go with the flow. If it works out that we can earn 1, 2, or if we're lucky, 3 tickets and we have to buy the rest then I'll be happy. If we can use them next summer, great! If not, we'll use them some other time. I really appreciate all the great advice I've gotten here. This is such a great site. Thanks!!!

tkey75: What did you mean when you said: "A couple of awards is quite easy, though, if you pay attention. I was able to get two award seats to Hawaii in under a year of accruing miles and I don't fly too often and had no cc affiliation. It can be done." Perhaps this is a silly question - but how do you pay attention? Where am I supposed to be looking? Once I have the points do I just constantly check for what is available?

I am posting something in the Delta forum regarding the letter I received earlier today saying I had 19,821 miles. I am so angry I'm shaking!!! Anyways, if you feel the need . . . go on over there and read it.

I was able to get four Virgin Atlantic award seats (Upper Class) for my family this coming summer (SFO-LHR), so it is possible to get more than just a couple of seats. That required some schedule flexibility, however.

Just wondering: are any airlines known to be better than others for multiple award seats?

As mentioned in message #23, I was able to find five economy seats from Raleigh to London on American for weekends in June 2006 after trying only a few dates. Looking in ExpertFlyer I see that I could have booked seven award tickets, and there is similar availability on other dates. I have never had trouble finding Business or First class award seats on AA to London, but typically a connection is required from Miami. I expect AA availability to other European cities is more difficult because they have fewer flights.

dennis

"Perhaps this is a silly question - but how do you pay attention? Where am I supposed to be looking? Once I have the points do I just constantly check for what is available"

I read the Milesbuzz forum and the Delta Skymiles forum every day and participated in every single miles promotion I was eligible to participate in. 10 miles here and 100 miles there and 10,000 miles over there (thank you Dash to the Gate) really adds up over time. For my two skysaver awards (70,000 miles) I just barely had the miles but I think I earned less than 20k of those the hard, expensive way. I should also note that I was also doing everythig I did for my SM acct. for my SO's acct. If I read right you are in the same position/situation with two accts. accruing miles.

Surely I realize you'd need 30k more than what I had for a couple of award seats to Europe, but especially with the credit cards it can be done. Just be vigilant and don't think any amount of free (or mostly free) miles is too little to make a difference!

edited to add - Also, get comfortable with the idea of setting your alarm for 11:50pm to be on the phone with the awards dest 330 days before your desires fly date. This is key. It makes finding award availability so much easier.

Okay - You guys are giving me hope again. I am just going to do my best and whatever free tickets we can get will be great.

I don't know if you have read my post in the Delta forum but I've been trying to find some lost miles - I just found them - after a horribly negative experience - I found two lost Skymiles accounts from about 15 years ago. Both of them combined have over 30,000 miles in them! I'm so excited. I was a dumb college student back then and really had no idea the miles could add up - thank you travel agents! (who I assume signed me up in the frequent flyer program)

I just got an offer from American Express where I can get up to 27,500 miles - so I will have one free ticket . . . now just to get my husband signed up with the business.