We're planning a trip for next July (flexible on dates) and plan to use Amex Membership Points transferred to Delta to get 4 first class seats. We haven't decided yet if we'll go Houston to St. Thomas on Delta or take Delta to San Juan and pay for the hop to EIS.

I'm looking for advice as to the optimum time to acquire the tickets. Does the mileage required for a particular date typically change or does it stay fixed? One issue is of course that we don't want to jeopardize our chances of finding seats by waiting too long.

This far out I would follow the ticket price for a while. I would suggest following same route price in November or early/Mid December to see what fluctuations generally happen with ticket prices. The Points/Miles usually depend on the $cost of same trip... (At least for those in coach).

One other option would be to check on policy of using points to upgrade to first class after purchasing tickets..

If you call the reservation line instead of booking online, you should be able to book all the way to EIS.

To answer your question, I think it stays fixed but if you call they are usually very helpful and can probably explain it. I think the mileage cost is based on the ticketed fare class.

- Jason

As soon as your dates open up I would book...if miles are the same pick the flights that best work for you...

Except on the largest of jets. Four (4) first class award tickets on the same aircraft are likely going to be a challenge. To any popular destination the best day is the first day the airline will allow you to book. You may find greater success paying for an upgradeable fare and using the miles for upgrades. Again scoring four unpaid first class seats is highly unusual. Good Luck!

I always like to factor in value when using miles. The last 4 years, (we go every May/June) I have started scouting tickets in January'ish time frame and have scored First/Biz seats for only $100-200 more than the economy tickets. We always just purchased coach and used upgrade stickers but found it more economical to just buy FC in the first place. In my view, paying $700-800 for a FC seat is a better value than burning all the miles it would take to secure those seats. An even worse use is using the miles to upgrade from economy if you can book the FC at only $100-200 more. The amount of miles you use will have a much greater value than <$200. Just my two cents.

I live in ATL and fly Delta a lot. If you are using points, not sure how much the difference in cost means as it typically doesn't change much until the 4-5 months leading up to your travel dates, at which point it only goes up. I would watch the seats if you're set on first class as the price/points will go up as first class fills. There is not much value in waiting once you know your dates when it comes to Delta. Prices rarely come down a significant amount to STT. SJU has more competition and occasionally I have found a better deal there by waiting but more often find myself upset that I didn't take the earlier price.

Regarding where to fly into, I would want to know your plans for the evening. If you are trying to get in and get out of the marina that night, I would fly into SJU and take the soonest flight to EIS or arrange a private charter with someone like Fly BVI (my typical plan when I want to get on the water the same day). Delta's flights from Houston (IAH or Hobby) both connect through ATL and you will get to SJU about an hour earlier than STT as it stands now for July 2018, so it really doesn't matter much if you don't have anywhere to be that night.

Going in to STT and taking the 4:00ish ferry would be cheaper if time is not of the essence and you don't mind the ferry ride. Also would depend slightly on where your final destination on Tortola is located.

Thanks for all the advice. I have the Amex points to get 4 seats at pretty much any level. I saw a Delta chart where there could be a 20,000 miles difference depending on the days of the week. If those miles levels get set and only go up, then I'll nail down the charter dates and book.

Do you know if they permit open jaw ticketing on reward tickets? My son is staying a few extra days on St. John so if we went via SJU, his return would be out of STT.

Not sure if we'll go to SJU or STT. St. Thomas has the advantage of not having to pay for those over-priced puddle jumper flights but I'm not a fan of the ferry routine after a long day of flying.

We always put an extra day on the front end to give us time to relax, get provisioning, etc., without having to rush.

My guess would be no on the open jaw option with a reward ticket but don't know the answer honestly. Totally understand regarding not rushing on arrival, especially with already having to make one connection.

In that scenario, I think STT is your best option. There is very little difference in timing from Houston with the connections through Atlanta. You get in a little later but that means less waiting for the ferry, if you choose that option.

You would still have the option for booking a private puddle jumper from STT to EIS (20 minute flight) if you want to splurge on the luxury. Also have the option of a private ferry or regular ferry and it solves the issue of return for your son in case open jaw is not available with reward tickets.

Just my two cents! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

I have never booked a Delta FF ticket, only AA and US Air (may she rest in peace), but it's pretty easy to see whether you can book a one way. Just look at the airline's website and click 'one way' or 'roundtrip', and book his ticket separately. That would be the answer on that. And as far as miles to book going up and down, if you really are set on first class, there are VERY FEW of those on any flight. I would suggest if you have to have first class, to book ASAP. Again, on AA, the amounts to fly a certain route go up and down ALL the time, as we often take particular routings on AA that are not our preferred routing or preferred date, and wait for tickets to come available for the same amount of miles that we booked. In fact, on our last trip on AA, seats for our preferred flights went down in miles just a couple of days before our flight, so we were able to switch flights, but we were in 'cheap seats', not first class. But again, on AA, you can change FF tickets for NO FEE, unlike most other airlines, who charge a change fee.

Short answer, first class is in HIGH demand and there are very few seats and they cannot make more FC seats on the plane. Book as soon as you know you want to go!

I will get going on this asap. I'm not sure our possible return dates are open yet for July 2018 but will definitely monitor it.

I think it's 330 days out. Good luck.

I'll need to wait another 7-10 days until our preferred return dates open up. On dates close to that range, Delta is showing nothing available.

It appears that I can probably book through Amex, using membership points which is what I'd use on Delta, and have some options.

I'll nail down our return date and get on this as soon as that opens up.