We are not new to flying, but have never used our FF certificate w/Delta. We have been checking on tkts to Albuquerque from Atlanta in September and everytime I check they are at least $300+. We do not want to drive to Birmingham, been there, done that.

Should we go ahead and use the FF cert or keep waiting for a cheaper price? We prefer Delta which probably never will be cheaper. I spoke w/a FF rep about a month ago and understand I can upgrade to first class for $50.00 (I believe). I have enough for a coach rt tkt and I think my husband does also. Is there a likelihood that we would get seats together if I used my miles and he paid for a ticket. We just hate to put all our money into a tkt when we can use it for other things. We are actually staying in Pagosa Springs, CO, but have been advised to go the Albuquerque route because Durango, CO is actually more expensive. The ABQ drive to Pagosa is about 4 hrs, but they say the scenery makes it worth it.

Appreciate any advice.

First of all, how you acquire tickets rarely affects the chances of sitting together. You should be able to get seats together, whether paying, using miles, or a combo (unless all that's available are scattered middle seats).

Second, most folks here would probably say that $300 is not a very effective use of 25K miles. But that depends a lot on your own travel patterns. If you don't fly internationally, and your domestic flights tend to be short and over weekends anyway, then you may as well use miles. Especially if an extra $50 will get you into F.

Finally, have you looked into leveraging the new alliance to use your miles to fly into DRO? DRO is served by Continental; this page implies that starting July 15, you can redeem DL miles for CO flights. If that works, that would be my choice, since it's a MUCH shorter drive.

http://www.delta.com/skymiles/getmil...dex.jsp#redeem

Have a great trip.

Thanks, Swag - we don't fly intl, but we did go to Hawaii (we were fortunate to buy someone's FF miles)..One day maybe we will, but we've heard of some pretty good rates from time to time intl, anyway. I checked Expedia yesterday and the cheapest flights were United for $412, today they are down about $100. One day I think I saw $191, don't remember the airline, but couldn't get in touch with my husband to see if he wanted to fly that one or wait. After I got home, I forgot and next day it was back up. Has anyone ever flown Frontier? I notice they fly out of ATL. $440 is price into DRO.