As regards mileage redemptions, most airline rules permit booking 331 days in advance. Some folks trying to get seats to popular destinations book the outbound at 331 days, then call back to book the return two weeks later when that date pops into the 331 day arena. Also, once booked, traveler may delay ticket issue until 30 days prior to departure. After ticketing, there's generally a fee of less than $50 to change destination or routing but no fee to simply change dates of the original reservation. assuming inventory of free seats is available. Before the ticket is issued, however, most airlines allow changing itinerary with no fee.

My advice is to book redemption tickets either 331 days prior to departure or 3 days prior to departure. In the next year, I think we'll see fewer redemption seats available as airlines try to generate more reveue per passenger seat mile. The mileage programs won't go away, but free seats will be harder to find. Just how I see it, anyway.

Gail In Eugene but never for long