j-rad

I'm looking to book 2 award seats from JFK-FCO July 2015:

My dates are:

Depart 7/12 or 7/13, JFK-FCO
Return 7/23 or 7/24, FCO-JFK or NAP-JFK (preferred)

Ideally I'd like to find 2 seats in J at a saver award price, but so far no luck. I've only found saver coach on Lufthansa using United miles for these dates - seems like nothing is available in J... will they release some seats in the coming months as it gets closer to departure?

I have United and AA/USAir miles - few hundred k in each. Only AA awards in J I can find are at the anytime award level which is 270k each - won't have enough.

Should I just book on Lufthansa in coach for now to make sure I have seats, then change at a later time if J opens?

There's a few aircraft options as well - any suggestions would be great on coach/biz seats for the following:

1. A380 (depart/return)
2. A340-600 (depart/return)
3. 747-8 (return)

Any advice on what to do about J? Will seats open at some point? Best bet to use expertflyer and create seat alerts?

aacharya

Try a "NYC" search vs. JFK. You're limiting yourself by skipping EWR.

Unless you don't want to fly UA at all.

j-rad

Only J availability seems to be EWR-FCO on TAP... not sure about their product - worth it?

channa

Do you have any DL miles? Out of the East Coast, DL miles may be easier to use to Europe than UA miles.

JFK-FCO AZ nonstop is available in low J on both your dates.
FCO-JFK AZ nonstop is available in low J on one of your dates.

fjfv19

I'd generally avoid TAP if possible. I haven't found the airline to offer a particularly memorable experience, especially with angled seats in J.

spsDC

If you don't mind a circuitous route you might take a look at TK availability in J. Their J product is nice and you might even get a free stopover in IST out of it--well worth it if you've never been... They have a new route BOS-IST that seems to have some decent availability so if you can piece together NYC-BOS and IST-FCO on either end, that might work. TK also tends to open up some more J seats closer to the time in my experience (although I wouldn't count on that happening in mid-July which is peak season)

j-rad

Nothing on Delta unfortunately... our balances are:

- 220k United (me)
- 280k USAir (me); 180k (her)
- 15k AA (me); 80k AA (her)
- 55k BA (me)
- 260k Chase UR

Regarding TK - trying to minimize travel time as much as possible, but thanks for the suggestion.

Kacee

Any summer award space to Europe (and very little was released) has been grabbed. You can hope more will be released, but that is going to be entirely hit or miss. Options are:

Book economy, keep looking.
Book standard awards at double the cost.
Find a different way to get to Europe.

j-rad

Can I book Delta (AZ) with Korean Air miles since I have Chase UR points? I found an award chart saying 80k biz class to Europe, but I'm unsure if that's still valid and/or how to go about it?

Kacee

Theoretically. But this is the wrong forum for that advice. Try the KE forum (but check out KE website first so you're familiar with basics). Also read Lucky's post: How to Redeem Korean Air Skypass Miles

Good creative approach. That's how the game is played.

aacharya

Perfect advice. Though watch out for tight connections NYC-BOS - as there is a landside terminal change. I've done it - I made it, bags didn't.

j-rad

Was able to find space using KoreanAir miles, but with a $900 price tag per person for taxes (fuel). Will have to decide if it's worth it. Only 80k miles/each though...

Kacee

Here is Lucky's review of AZ business class: Alitalia A330 Magnifica Class