I am trying to book a last minute (for me, who books far in advance) award trip from Los Angeles to Venice for April 11-25. There is a flight using Lufthansa that could work for me. I only have miles for an economy seat. The only thing that is concerning is the inability to pick a seat before check-in. Has anyone been able to book an award seat and use the Lufthansa locator number to prebook a seat (I'm willing to pay for the seat!) I really don't want to get stuck in a middle seat. Thanks for any thoughts.
A second question is - if I decide to pay for a flight - I'm looking at the ITA software and it shows a Virgin flight to LHR and then a BA flight to Venice. If I want to book this, do I have to book two separate tickets? I am a bit risk adverse and like to book a flight all on one ticket so if something goes wrong I'm covered.