There are lots of ways to accumulate air miles.  But what is the best way to use these air miles to get airline tickets?  The Traveling Professor just used airlines miles to fly to Europe on a small group tour.  

Book Early:  Flights can be booked as early as 330 days before departure.  Naturally, the best mileage award availability is usually going to be earlier, not later.

Book Late:  Good last-minute (within 7-30 days) deals can be found on flights.  We have had the best luck doing this with international flights, especially in business class.

Buy One-Way Flights:  Usually, it is better to purchase one-way flights, especially on international fares, when paying with money.  However, when getting tickets with miles, buy the outbound and return ticket separately.  The reason is that if you have a round-trip ticket and you need to cancel or change the outbound ticket for example, the entire trip must be re-ticketed. But when the ticket is re-issued, even if re-issued immediately, the return trip may not be available with miles.  But if the outbound and return were booked separately and you needed to adjust the outbound flight for example, the return flight is not affected.

Buy the Middle Seat:  Flying in a 3-across configuration can be cramped, especially on a long-haul flight.  When two of us are flying together, we either buy (or pay in miles) for the aisle and window seat.  Then with miles, we grab the middle seat between us and it remains unoccupied for the entire flight.  It is amazing how much more comfortable this makes the flight. 

Look for Deals:  We used the American Airlines Award Finder map to get tickets for our recent tour to Ireland.  Just put in your departing city and voila!  All the destinations with mileage requirements populate an easy to read map.