So you have a stash of points and miles and maybe even a trip in mind, but when is the best time to book your flight? It depends.
The best time to book flights with points or miles is when award tickets are the cheapest or when you’ll get the best value from your points. In some cases, this might be almost a year in advance when airlines release award availability. Other times, it might be best to book awards at the last minute, as other airlines may release additional award availability a few days before departure.
There are other factors that may affect when to book your award ticket. Here’s everything you need to know about when to book flights with points and miles.
Table of contents
The basics of award flight availability
Before determining the best time to book flights with points, you should first understand the basics of award availability. Award availability refers to the seats on a plane that you can book with points or miles. Not every seat on the plane is available to book using points, especially in business and first class, where there are fewer seats available to begin with. Airlines determine which and how many seats per flight customers can book using their points or miles.
Even if there is award availability, it doesn’t mean it will be affordable, depending on when you book. Some airlines, including most U.S. carriers, use dynamic award pricing. This means prices are tied to the cash price of the ticket, so last-minute and peak-season award flight fares can be high.
The best time to book award flights on airlines that use dynamic award pricing might be earlier than on airlines that use fixed award charts. Airlines that use fixed award charts will base pricing on region or distance. These prices usually remain static, even as the departure date approaches.
Since dynamic award charts often translate to high award flight prices, you might consider booking an award with a partner airline. You may be able to save thousands of points or miles by booking the same award flight with another program, simply due to the way the awards are priced.
For example, you might want to try booking a Delta flight via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or an American Airlines flight via Iberia Plus; both options can save you money and miles.
However, it can be challenging to understand partner airlines and search for award availability on a number of airline websites, which can be buggy and confusing. The best way to figure out the optimal value of your points is to start by using a service like point.me, which searches more than 150 airlines to help you get the best value from your points. It can also help you find the best fares quickly, so you won’t have to search several different airline websites to find the optimal award flight at the best price.
Just remember that if airlines release award seats, they may get snapped up quickly. Although some airlines do guarantee a specific number of award seats upon release, if you’re not first in line to book, they might go fast. Flexibility is one of the best tools for booking flight awards, whether in advance or at the last minute.
When do airlines release award flight availability?
Most airlines release award availability between 330 and 360 days ahead of departure dates. If you’re planning an important trip and already have an idea of when you’d like to depart, you can mark your calendar for when your desired airline releases availability for the best chance of snagging an award flight at a low price.
For example, American Airlines releases its awards 331 days in advance, while Cathay Pacific releases its awards 360 days in advance. Check out point.me’s full list of award release dates to understand when most major airlines open up their award space.
Certain airlines, such as British Airways and Qatar Airways, guarantee award seats upon release. This means if you’d like to fly on those airlines, being ready to buy at the time of purchase can ensure you’ll get the award flight you want — especially if you’re searching for a popular route or on peak dates, like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Keep in mind that there are exceptions to each airline’s rule. For example, Lufthansa releases its award availability 360 days in advance but also releases some unsold seats, especially in first class, a few days before departure. Sometimes, it’s not the early bird that gets the worm — those who book last minute may win here. It’s best to search both at release dates and as the departure date approaches.
Many airlines will refund your points, so you can always book something when awards are released several months in advance and change or amend your award flight if you find something better before departure. Just make sure to read the conditions of your fare before booking so you can ensure you’ll get the full value or your points returned.
Why it’s wise to search for award flights early
Since not all seats on a plane are available with points, it’s important to search early on when awards are released. Many people may be vying for just a few award seats, and this rings especially true for premium cabins. If a flight has just 10 or 20 seats in business class, it’s highly unlikely there will be more than just a few award seats available.
If you search as soon as airlines release availability, your chances of snapping one up are higher, especially if you’re traveling on popular dates, like around the holidays or during peak summer vacation dates. Once a flight is sold out, it’s highly unlikely you’ll end up with an award ticket.
Why it’s wise to search for award flights often
Airlines may open up unsold inventory as award flights any time they want. In many cases, you can change or cancel tickets purchased with points or miles for a full refund (always check these conditions beforehand), which means if you find a better award deal, you can go for it. Sometimes, people cancel their award bookings, which can open up additional availability.
Since you can book flights via partner airlines, you may find additional availability later. For example, if you want to use Iberia Avios to book a ticket between Spain and the U.S., you can start searching for Iberia flights 360 days in advance when Iberia releases its award inventory.
That said, Iberia won’t show any available flights for American Airlines more than 331 days from departure, as that’s when AA releases its award availability. So checking Iberia not only 360 days in advance of travel to search its own inventory but also searching 331 days before departure may show award availability for American, giving you additional options for award flights between Spain and the U.S.
Why you can sometimes find great deals at the last minute
Great deals often appear at the last minute, especially for premium cabins and international flights. Airlines can make a lot of money on international business and first-class tickets, so it’s normal for them to wait until the very last minute to sell them at high cash rates. If they’re empty, though, you might be able to snag them last minute, using points.
Airlines like Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, Emirates, United, and American sometimes release last-minute award availability for their business or first-class cabins. You may even notice award availability the day before travel. So checking frequently, even as your departure date approaches, may be successful. Just know that with airlines that use dynamic pricing, these last-minute award flights may cost a lot.
Other times to look for a great points fare
As we previously mentioned, the best time to book flights with points isn’t black and white. While you can book in advance, last minute, or any time in between, the best time to book with points is when you can get the best value for them. We know it’s vague, but the savviest travelers are searching for optimal points fares often. Here are some times when you should search:
Flash sales/promos
Certain loyalty programs may have sales or promotional periods that offer discounts on award tickets. For example, Flying Blue, the loyalty program for KLM and Air France, has promo award tickets that you can book at a discount for specific dates in specific cabins.
Transfer bonuses
Major credit card issuers that offer flexible rewards credit cards sometimes have transfer bonuses, where you can get anywhere from 20% to 30% more points for moving them to specific airline partners.
For example, let’s say Chase Ultimate Rewards is offering a 20% transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan. This means if you transfer 10,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to Aeroplan, you’ll end up with 13,000 BA Avios. These bonuses can be extremely valuable if you time them just right, transferring in order to get a specific award flight you have in mind.
Just know that you can’t return points back to Chase, so taking advantage of transfer bonuses takes some careful planning and timing to ensure you’ll get the award you have in mind.
Buy points/miles promotions
Many airlines and hotels have buy miles promotions where you can get bonus miles for purchasing certain amounts. The important thing is to do the math and make sure you’re getting a good value. These promotions, which sometimes offer up to 100% bonus points (meaning if you buy 1,000 miles, you get 2,000), can be helpful in specific instances, like when you need a few thousand miles to reach a specific redemption or when the cash price of the ticket is extremely high. Avianca Lifemiles frequently runs these bonus buy miles promotions, allowing you to stock up on miles for Star Alliance awards.
Summary
Unfortunately, there’s no one best time to book flights with points. But the good news is that there are many best times to book points, which is what makes it so wonderful yet also so complicated to book award flights.
Our best advice is to start your award flight searches when airlines release availability nearly a year in advance. Keep checking throughout the year to see what else may open up, and keep a closer eye on things within two weeks of your departure date. Use tools like point.me to help you find award flights on partners you may not know about or have previously considered. And if you see a good award deal? Book it right away — it may not last long!
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