Sorry that this is a non-Disney related question, but we already paid for our Disney trip next month. I am trying to earn as many points as possible for flights to Europe for next summer. I am going for work so my flight will be paid for, but DH and our two sons will be meeting me there. I did copy a few blog links from here, but am kind of overwhelmed at the length of this thread. If someone could point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it. I did check and saw that American requires 60K miles per person, but we are not married to American Airlines, by any means.
No worries, this thread not a Disney specific thread. It's a travel hacking thread for DISers. Some are here for Disney trips and some are not, so it's all good.
First, you need to figure out what airline you are likely going to fly. This will depend mostly on your departure and arrival airport or any that are nearby. Is you closest airport a hub for a specific airline? If so, that may be the one you need to focus on because it will have the best availability for award travel. For example, if someone lives near ATL then they should not be focusing on American or United because ATL is a hub for Delta. You would want to do some mock Googleflight or Momondo searches from your departure airport to your arrival airport to get a general idea of which airline has the most flights available for that itinerary.
The 60K economy round trip is for saver awards. Award flights for next June are already out. There may or may not be saver award flights available by the time you have miles in place to book. If there aren't saver awards, the anytime awards in economy will start at 130k per person round trip. Fortunately, saver awards in economy tend to be more abundant than business or first and availability with saver awards still looks pretty decent.
If you wind up needing AA miles here is my suggestion:
Apply for the AAdvantage Platinum select card - 60K AA miles for $3K spend in 3 months, $99 AF waived first year
Apply for the Barclay Aviator Red card - 50K AA miles after first purchase, $95 AF
Have your DH also apply for the Barclay Aviator Red card and the AAdvantage Platinum select card
This will give you 220K AA miles which is enough to cover your DH and 2 sons on saver awards.