Finding award availability for flights can be tough, especially if you’re not overly familiar with airlines and their frequent flyer programs. After all, how are you going to know the best times to book, whether it’s possible to find business class seats on a flight, or whether the airline is releasing awards at all?
If you’ve ever wondered when airlines release their award seats, we’ve got the answers. Let’s take a look!
Table of contents
How far in advance can I book award travel?
The ability to book award travel in advance varies depending on the airline and the specific rewards program. Generally, airlines have a range between 330 days and 362 days in advance, which is almost a full year.
Booking as far in advance as possible increases your chances of securing award space, especially during peak travel seasons or on popular routes.
Award travel booking calendars by airline program
| Aegean Airlines | 362 days |
| Aeromexico Club Premier | 330 days |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 355 days |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 359 days |
| Alaska Mileage Plan | 330 days |
| All Nippon Airways Mileage Club | 355 days |
| American AAdvantage | 331 days |
| Asiana Club | 361 days |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 360 days |
| British Airways Executive Club | 355 days |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 360 days |
| Delta SkyMiles | 331 days |
| El Al Matmid | 362 days |
| Emirates Skywards | 328 days |
| Etihad Guest | 330 days |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 360 days |
| Finnair Plus | 331 days |
| GarudaMiles | 331 days |
| Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club | 362 days |
| Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles | 330 days |
| Iberia Plus | 360 days |
| Japan Airlines Mileage Bank | 360 days |
| Korean Air SKYPASS | 361 days |
| Lufthansa Miles & More | 360 days |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | 360 days |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 353 days |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 361 days |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 355 days |
| THAI Airways Royal Orchid Plus | 340 days |
| United MileagePlus | 337 days |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 331 days |
| Virgin Australia Velocity | 330 days |
Be aware that these limitations exist for travel in either direction, which can make booking complicated. Why?
Well, let’s say that you’d like to fly business class on points from the U.S. to Japan with your partner for a two-week trip. This is a sought-after seat and difficult to find. What’s more, airlines tend to release very limited award space in premium cabins, such as business class.
To make sure you score two seats in business class, you can set an alert and log on as soon as the calendar opens. Two seats are available. Great! But you’re booking so far in advance that the calendar for your return flight hasn’t opened yet, so you have two options: Book two one-way tickets, or wait until the return calendar opens.
Of course, by the time the return calendar opens, those business-class seats for the trip over may already be gone. This means you’ll be booking two one-way flights instead: one when the departure window opens, and one when the return window opens.
When do airlines actually release award availability?
Finding award availability can be difficult, especially for popular routes or business class seats.
The truth is that airlines release awards in sporadic intervals. Some, like ANA, pretty reliably put out one or two award seats as soon as their calendar opens. Others, like British Airways, Qatar Airways and Finnair guarantee seats in business class and economy on all flights when they are released. Most others will usually have a few seats available in premium cabins, as well as plenty of availability in economy class.
That said, extremely popular routes — such as any of United’s flights to Africa — will almost never have award availability. This is true for when the calendar opens as well as when you’re looking last-minute.
If you miss out on award space when the calendar opens, you can also hope to score something last-minute. For example, Air New Zealand will generally drop unsold business class seats as awards a few weeks before a flight. Lufthansa first class will also do the same, though with a much shorter two-to-three-day window.
What’s the best time of day to book award space?
There is no best time of day to book award flights. This is true for any frequent flyer program or partner airline. Instead, the best time to book flights is when you find them at a good price. This can be as soon as airlines open their calendars, on a random day that you happen to be searching for award travel, or two days before departure when you stumble on a Lufthansa first-class seat.
What’s the best time to find business class award seats?
Award availability and award space is a moving target, especially for business class. If you’re wanting to book a business class award seat, you have the same two options outlined above:
- Book seats as soon as the calendar opens
- Wait until an airline releases close-in award availability
Of course, airlines can and do release seats without adhering to either of these rules, which is why remaining vigilant is also a good idea. Sometimes, one airline will release a sale on award seats, prompting other airlines to start releasing theirs as well.
You can keep an eye out for available flights by either setting an award alert or repeating your search frequently.
How point.me helps you find business class seats
You don’t have to scour airlines’ websites to see if they’re offering award seats. Instead, let point.me do the work for you.
Rather than making you do half a dozen searches with United, Delta, American, British Airways, and other partner airlines, point.me just asks you to enter your travel information, then comes back with live, accurate award availability and step-by-step instructions on how to book — a process as simple as it is efficient.
Frequently asked questions about award seat availability
When should I start looking for award seats?
You should start looking for award availability as soon as you know you’re going to be traveling. If this is more than a year advance, begin looking for seats as soon as an airline opens its calendar.
How far in advance should I book award seats?
You should book award seats as soon as you find reasonably priced award availability, which can be a year in advance, six months in advance, or even two weeks in advance.
Do airlines release award space last minute?
Generally speaking, yes, airlines will release award availability at the last minute. This has changed significantly post-2020 — now the majority of airline operations teams hold seats until just before departure, versus the 10-to-14-day drop they used to do. Of course, schedules and when award space drops varies depending on the carrier.
What are the best ways to find award availability?
Finding award space can be done via an airline’s website. But if you’re looking at multiple routes, point.me can help you save time, providing accurate award availability with a single search.
What factors do airlines consider when releasing award seats?
For the most part, airlines release award availability when they can’t sell seats. So especially popular routes that will likely sell out won’t feature as many seats.
How far in advance does United release award seats?
United release award seats 337 days in advance.
How far ahead can I book Avios award flights?
You can book an award flight with British Airways 355 days in advance.
When does Qantas release award seats?
Qantas’s calendar opens 353 days in advance, which is when you should start looking for seats.
When does Cathay Pacific release award seats?
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles releases seats 360 days in advance.
Search more than 150 airlines and 30 loyalty programs with one click with point.me’s real-time search and booking engine.
Join today.
Share "When Do Airlines Release Award Seats?"
