Print edition: 
Q: I carefully gathered enough frequent flyer miles to fly my family of five to Asia the summer of my son's senior year in high school. Surprisingly to me, Delta had no availability of flights at the lowest redemption levels even when called 10 months in advance. Is there a magic time to call, or are there so few seats available at this level that is almost impossible to use miles in this way? I have given up my Delta American Express card in frustration.
A: It really is frustrating to earn miles on a credit card and then discover you can't use them. But don't give up on American Express, because it's really not their fault. Cancel your Delta American Express Card and trade it in for an American Express Blue Cash Card instead. This is probably the best cash back card available. There's no annual fee (unlike the pricey Delta card). Plus, you get 5 percent unlimited cash back at supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations, and 1.25 percent on everything else. So let's compare: over the years, you might have spent $50,000 on your Delta card and discovered that the 50,000 points you earned can't be spent. But let's say you spent $25,000 of that on 5 percent cash back purchases (for $1250 in cash back) and the rest on other things at 1.25 percent cash back (for $312 in cash back). That's $1562 that you'd have to spend. It looks like you've earned far more than 50,000 miles, however, if you have enough to fly five people to Asia, so you'd probably have earned even more cash using Blue Cash. In any event, cash is cash — no airline is going to tell you that your money is no good here, but as you've seen they often do tell you that your miles are no good. Keep in mind, too, that Delta may open up frequent flyer seats later in the year, so keep trying. We've heard that it sometimes helps speaking to a supervisor at Delta's frequent flyer department but that may be an urban myth.
Q: I am looking at airfare this summer from Kansas City to Sydney, Australia, for two adults and three kids. We are flexible somewhat and would like to know what origin city would have the lowest fare.
A: First of all, you'd be visiting Australia in their winter (our summer), which is low season, so fares will be less. Last year we saw an amazing sale on United from every U.S. city to Australia, and we hope they repeat that (be sure to sign up for fare alert notifications so you'll catch the sale). However, you might also do well flying from San Francisco or Los Angeles, which often have the lowest fares to Australia. You might save money buying tickets, perhaps on Southwest Airlines, from Kansas City to Los Angeles and then hoping on Qantas or Air New Zealand to Sydney. Be sure to check fares on those airlines' own Web sites, because sometimes they reserve their best deals for their sites and don't share them with third-party sites. If you find that you'll save money by buying two separate fares, be sure to leave enough time in Los Angeles or San Francisco to make your connection to Sydney. Overnighting in the transit city isn't a bad idea.
