Until then, I have a hard time recommending their program to anyone not forced to fly Delta already due to their travel needs, given how terrible
their award availability tends to be.
Additionally,
award availability tends to be fairly healthy.
Not exact matches
They
tend to have among the best
award availability as well.
While having to use Qantas's website and call in to book Fiji Airways
awards is a pain, it's also the reason why
award availability on these routes
tends to be more open than, say, flights on Qantas to Australia that can be booked on American's website.
In my experience, American Airlines
tends to have poor
award availability, but Alaska does okay.
The good news is, these
award flights remain relatively unknown to many flyers, so
availability tends to be fairly good.
For more options there
tends to be good
award availability Virgin Australia.
Etihad Airways
tend to release good amount of
award availability.
Etihad Airways
tend to release good amount of
award availability (even when the travel date is closer).
It's worth noting that it's tougher than ever before to find first class Star Alliance
award space on Lufthansa and Swiss (see How to Deal with No More Lufthansa Advance First Class
Availability), so nowadays this is most practical when planning close to departure, as Lufthansa
tends to open up
award space no more than three weeks out.
While United
tends to make the most seats available for the lowest priced
awards, American AAdvantage members have the option of using Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines flights which often have generous
availability.
This is especially valuable if you
tend to book flights without much advance notice, since the cost to purchase a ticket goes up dramatically, but the cost to redeem for an
award flight stays the same (assuming there's
availability).
I agree with your analysis in general, but I find that
availability for
award seats
tend to lean more to flights going to HKG rather than leaving out of HKG.
Unlike with Delta, you can book first - class partner
awards, and
availability on Korean Air flights
tends to be very good.
Dear Tracey, United frequent flier miles can be a valuable commodity, because it is easy to search for
award availability on United's website and because United
tends to have more
award seats available than its competitors.