Canceling a FF flight

It looks like I may be able to go to Italy in the fall (October/November timeframe). There seems to be available frequent flier trips on Delta and American Airlines (the two airlines where I have my miles). What happens if I book the tickets using miles and then cannot go? Do I lose the miles or need to use them within a specific timeframe? I assume there would be some lost fees.

Thanks.

Sam

You won't lose your miles - you will pay a fee for unwinding the reservation and redepositing your miles. I think it cost me either $50 or $100 to do this last year.

Ann

Delta policy/fees

AA policy/fees

miles

One option out of paying a fee is if there is a significant schedule change, the airlines will often let you cancel and redeposit your miles for nothing. You would have to ask for this, however.

Defintitely an advantage to booking at the maximum interval. Schedule changes are nearly guaranteed to happen. The trigger is different with each airline, but an illegal connection will always be one. That's one of the reasons mileage runners book many connections if booking way in advance. Maximum possibilities to take advantage of schedule changes for a better routing or refund/free change.

Pat

Thanks everyone for your help.

Sam