Diane -

It really depends on when you are travelling and all that good stuff - we used frequent flyer miles when we went this august...the time we were really wanting to go was booked already so we had to postpone our trip for two weeks - we made our reservations in march...but I do not know if that is always the case

We used frequent flier miles in January and July of this year to go to St. Croix. Both times we booked several months in advance.

We used our Continental miles for June trip, having left the decision until April to make arrangements. I really don't recommend that practice. We had a real hassle matching villa availability with seat availability, etc. Didn't help that we needed 4 tickets and SJU to STT (Cape Air) was only opening 2 seats to flyer miles. At one point, I had Continental on one phone and the villa mangement on the other trying to match things together.
Worked out in the end but I really needed the trip to relief the stress!

Start as early as possible, get several possible dates of where you want to stay and then contact the airline to determine what matches. If you are looking at villas, have several in mind unless the availability is wide open. That way you are not as limited in flight reward options.

It's much easier if you do not have any connections.

If your particular airline code shares with another that services STT, make sure the reservation agent looks at using them for flight options as well (assuming they share rewards as well). We could not get Continental round trip and thought all was lost until the agent remembered Delta was code share so we took Continental to and returned on Delta.

I've used frequent flier miles through AA, and it usually costs 30,000 miles. Also, make sure to get them in advance because they sell out VERY quickly.

Oh I forgot to mention - we found out later that if you double your frequent flyer miles you can go anytime - so if it cost lets say 25,000 miles per person, and there are no available flights then you can use 50,000 miles and get on that flight as long as the flight isn't completely booked....so that is another option if needed.

We booked January 04 for July 04 on United FF miles from SFO.

I booked my frequent flyer tickets (AA) last month for our Honeymoon this coming April. We will be going to St. John, but like the others it was not easy. There are limited seats, and it took more then one phone call.

I understand that the airlines ,due to the cost squeeze they are experiencing, are severly limiting the number of seats for frequent flyers. The double charge for miles is almost becoming the standard practice (60, 000 per ticket instead of 30,000). That being the case the sooner you can book the better.

If you are talking high season you should do so as early as possible. They airlines release the frequent flyer seats 331 days in advance and that is when I book - I don't like to take chances. I've been known to book the departure flight to hold and then book the returning flight when those seats are released. If you want to fly on a Saturday this is almost a must in high season.

We are American flyers. The hang up is the trip from San Juan to the Virgins. We usually have no problem booking within the states (up to 90 days ahead) but the American Eagle segment is usually a problem. Many,many times it has made us revise our plans. You can fly the MIA to STX segment more easily than the STT trip or a SJU segment on American..Are you confused...so am I.

We booked our flight on Delta with frequent flyer miles about 10 to 12 weeks in advance.

Had to use double miles to get seats when we wanted them (anniversary trip).

With standard miles, all FF seats were taken on at least one leg of the trip regardless of the combination of dates and number of days stay we tried.

Nice little racket the airlines have there - one hand giveth and the other keepeth you from cashing in!

When I booked my August trip in February on AA my plan was to use the partial miles and cash option since I don't have gazillion miles. It would have been 20,000 miles and $225 for a ticket for each (2) of us. The Reservation Agent was such a sweetheart. She sensed I covet my miles, and am always trying to get more. Her suggestion was that I book one flight using the full 30,000 miles and pay for the other in cash (a $600 ticket.) That way I wouln't be using 40,000 miles and instead of paying $450 I would be paying $600. The cash paid ticket would earn miles.

The math gets tough here, but it's interesting. Vigilance in watching fares daily reduced the cost of the flight to $388, so I have vouchers for $212 good for next year's trip. The miles earned were about 8,000 because of various promotions giving bonus miles (double miles between JFK and SJU, double miles for Avis car rental, bonus for booking on-line, etc.).

So, instead of using 40,000 miles, in essence I used 22,000 miles. Instead of spending $450 I spent $600 but have $212 in vouchers. I am in excellent shape for next year's trip.

Gerie

We have never had a problem with AA miles. The trick is to be very flexible and as Gene said above, do the math. Our trick is to be very flexible. We pick a date, call and then negotiate for that date or a day or two before or after. Also, we are flexible in taking a flight during the week. And this is for business class seats. I have to say my wife is very good at making it work.

Just be flexible when on the phone with the AA agent. Thank goodness all my vendors take the card.Diana wrote:

> Has anyone tried to use frequent flier miles to get to St John.
> We would like to use ours and were wondering how much in
> advance we should try to get tickets. Any help would be
> greatly appreciated.

Booked 4 tickets (35K Miles each) using FF from San Diego to STT on Continental. We booked in August for travel in May.

great advice gerie!!! it is worth doing all that to get the most out of your travel dollar!

we used american miles(30,000) for this recent trip and it was great....book ahead if you can AND REMEMBER that NOW american allows you to CHANGE FLIGHTS at any point to another flight(we changed our return three times) with NO PENALTY as long as you are going to and from the same airports! this is great in case yu want to spend another day or two in paradise!

the definitive answer: 331 days (from your return trip) in advance you should make the reservations. If you're REALLY worried abou the dates, then you'll call 330 days from your ARRIVAL date and make the reservations for the arrival date and returning on the NEXT day. If you're using miles, you can change dates until about 1-2 weeks prior to your flight without any penalties. Then, you wait until it's 331 days from your DEPARTURE date, call the airlines and make the reservations for the true departure date! I've used this method for my trips, to VI/Europe, that I fly on my miles and it works like a charm and provides me with a GUARANTEE on my flight dates. Then, you can check seatguru to see what are the best seats for your jet and make the resevations for those seats. Starting in late '03, most major airlines yanked the better seats off of FFM flights, but there are still some that allow you to reserve, using FFM, better seats.

Here's a couple of websites EVERY mileage earning traveler should know about:
www.frequentflyer.com (wealth of info. here)
and
www.seatguru.com

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the valuble information. We just booked our flights for a June trip. We would never have thought to book so far in advance without out all your input. But we were able to get 4 seats on American airlines for 30,00 miles each. Thanks again for all your help.

Diana
Okay, that's the easy part done with. The real work is keeping your concentration on anything else but the VI between now and June!