Cathay Pacific frequently releases five Business Class and one
First Class award seat on its flights between the United States and Hong Kong 11 months out.
The first leg was in United economy as there was no domestic
First Class award seat available (I monitored award space but it never opened up — more on that in the Anatomy of an Award post).
If by the time the trip starts and
a first class award seat hasn't opened up so my partner can be with me in first, I'm SOL, right?
Despite that, there wasn't a single saver level
first class award seat on either flight.
Even then, I'm not seeing much more than seven / eight - ish days out of the month with
a First Class award seat through January 2018.
If you're flexible with dates and can stomach possibly getting your second
first class award seat just in the week prior to when you fly, I'd recommend American miles, which you can earn cheaply with Citi AAdvantage credit card signup bonuses and / or BankDirect.
A while back I had locked in a British Airways A380
first class award seat, which I hadn't fully decided whether to actually fly...
They regularly release one
first class award seat on their Airbus 380 flights between Singapore and Sydney / Melbourne.
Typically Cathay Pacific, for example, releases only ONE
First Class award seat per flight until a few days before the flight.
Finding
a first class award seat isn't always easy, but you can find them if you book well in advance of your flight.
Let's try to find
a first class award seat on American between New York and Sao Paulo, Brazil sometime in May.
A first class award seat on Qantas isn't easy to find, but we'll show you how to give yourself the best chance and what to expect on this amazing flight.
And depending on how you like to use your miles and points, you can get terrific deals booking Business and
First Class award seats worth thousands of dollars.
Finding
first class award seats on Cathay Pacific is getting tougher and tougher as the airline keeps limiting the number of available bookings made through partner airlines.
You're probably wondering why we haven't included Qantas as one of the best options for booking their own
first class award seats.
Simply put, if you want to experience this product, there is no other way to get this award ticket, other than transferring your points to Singapore — because Singapore doesn't release
its first class award seats to its partners.
In fact, Lufthansa requires fewer miles than United to book the same business class and
first class award seats.
If you are scrambling to lock in awards at old rates, you might be having trouble finding Etihad business /
first class award seats even though Etihad shows availability.
Flying first class is a great way to begin your honeymoon, and several airline first class seats work very well with couples, even though it can be tough to get two
first class award seats on the bsame flight unless you plan far in advance.
Sure it's still tough to get 2
first class award seats on their A380 from US destinations to and from Asia.
The problem Cathay Pacific is experiencing is high demand for
its first class award seats from those with AAdvantage miles, with these seats often booked soon after the award calendar opens, leaving no award availability for its own Asia Miles frequent flyer members who may seek to book just a few months before the date of departure.
Unfortunately, if you're looking to fly Air France First Class, you have no choice but to book these high rates through the Flying Blue program (since Air France makes
First Class award seats only available to Flying Blue elite members).
He doesn't make it super-clear, but he actually tells you how to use AAdvantage miles to book those 2
first class award seats on the A380... you just need to have miles in another program, too, like Avios...
On the flights operated by the old configuration first class it's not unusual to see two to four
first class award seats, especially closer to departure.
They generally only release
first class award seats to partner airlines within two weeks of travel, so your approach is probably similar to Cathay Pacific in terms of booking something else and then changing to Lufthansa.
If you find award availablity for two, however, it is a way to guarantee you'll both be flying in first class, as chances are that at least one if not both of
those first class award seats will disappear by the time AAdvantage and Dividend Miles are able to book them.
They previously operated the route without a first class cabin, and now that United operates the route with a three cabin aircraft, it's not unusual for them to release two
first class award seats.
The flight also often has two
first class award seats available.
Most Korean flights will feature at least 2
first class award seats, but 3 and 4 is common on some routes..
You're much more likely to find 2
first class award seats than you are more than two, but close to departure it's definitely possible.
For example, on routes to Asia they often seem to have at least seven
first class award seats or no
first class award seats, but rarely inbetween.
While they used to also release a lot of first class award space, that's no longer the case, though you can still occassionally find two
first class award seats.
During the recession they would consistently release two
first class award seats per flight.
I managed to snag two
first class award seats on CX from ORD - HKG eleven months out using US DM.
It can be tough to find two
first class award seats on a single flight to Asia nowadays, let alone 4 - 5 seats, enough for a family.
A related risk, even if you do have some date flexibility, is finding a future date when there are two Lufthansa
First Class award seats.
Pulling up random dates ~ 10 months from now, most dates between Los Angeles and Seoul Incheon have ~ 8 - 10
first class award seats available.
There's still a number of days with 2, 4 or more
first class award seats available, so book them while you can!
Many days have four
First Class award seats.
Twitter follower Patrick found four Etihad
First Class award seats this week on a flight from Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi and asked whether that was normal.
Not exact matches
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first) from original in - service date * Vehicle History * 125 Point Inspection * Includes
First Day Rental, Car Rental Allowance, and Trip Interruption Benefits * Roadside Assistance * Transferable Warranty * Limited Warranty: 3 Month / 3, 000 Mile (whichever comes first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date * Warranty Deductible: $ 100 Awards: * JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) * 2017 KBB.com Best Buy Awards * 2017 KBB.com 10 Favorite New - for - 2017 Cars * 2017 KBB.com 12 Best Family Cars Reviews: * Easy to transform from people hauler to cargo hauler; upscale interior; roomy third - row seat; many convenience and luxury - based features available; class - exclusive hybrid engine op
First Day Rental, Car Rental Allowance, and Trip Interruption Benefits * Roadside Assistance * Transferable Warranty * Limited Warranty: 3 Month / 3, 000 Mile (whichever comes
first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date * Warranty Deductible: $ 100 Awards: * JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) * 2017 KBB.com Best Buy Awards * 2017 KBB.com 10 Favorite New - for - 2017 Cars * 2017 KBB.com 12 Best Family Cars Reviews: * Easy to transform from people hauler to cargo hauler; upscale interior; roomy third - row seat; many convenience and luxury - based features available; class - exclusive hybrid engine op
first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date * Warranty Deductible: $ 100
Awards: * JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) * 2017 KBB.com Best Buy
Awards * 2017 KBB.com 10 Favorite New - for - 2017 Cars * 2017 KBB.com 12 Best Family Cars Reviews: * Easy to transform from people hauler to cargo hauler; upscale interior; roomy third - row
seat; many convenience and luxury - based features available;
class - exclusive hybrid engine option.
Chrysler Group Certified Pre-Owned Details: * Transferable Warranty * Vehicle History * Powertrain Limited Warranty: 84 Month / 100, 000 Mile (whichever comes
first) from original in - service date * Warranty Deductible: $ 100 * Roadside Assistance * 125 Point Inspection * Limited Warranty: 3 Month / 3, 000 Mile (whichever comes first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date * Includes First Day Rental, Car Rental Allowance, and Trip Interruption Benefits Awards: * JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) * 2017 KBB.com 10 Favorite New - for - 2017 Cars * 2017 KBB.com Best Buy Awards * 2017 KBB.com 12 Best Family Cars Reviews: * Easy to transform from people hauler to cargo hauler; upscale interior; roomy third - row seat; many convenience and luxury - based features available; class - exclusive hybrid engine op
first) from original in - service date * Warranty Deductible: $ 100 * Roadside Assistance * 125 Point Inspection * Limited Warranty: 3 Month / 3, 000 Mile (whichever comes
first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date * Includes First Day Rental, Car Rental Allowance, and Trip Interruption Benefits Awards: * JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) * 2017 KBB.com 10 Favorite New - for - 2017 Cars * 2017 KBB.com Best Buy Awards * 2017 KBB.com 12 Best Family Cars Reviews: * Easy to transform from people hauler to cargo hauler; upscale interior; roomy third - row seat; many convenience and luxury - based features available; class - exclusive hybrid engine op
first) after new car warranty expires or from certified purchase date * Includes
First Day Rental, Car Rental Allowance, and Trip Interruption Benefits Awards: * JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) * 2017 KBB.com 10 Favorite New - for - 2017 Cars * 2017 KBB.com Best Buy Awards * 2017 KBB.com 12 Best Family Cars Reviews: * Easy to transform from people hauler to cargo hauler; upscale interior; roomy third - row seat; many convenience and luxury - based features available; class - exclusive hybrid engine op
First Day Rental, Car Rental Allowance, and Trip Interruption Benefits
Awards: * JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) * 2017 KBB.com 10 Favorite New - for - 2017 Cars * 2017 KBB.com Best Buy
Awards * 2017 KBB.com 12 Best Family Cars Reviews: * Easy to transform from people hauler to cargo hauler; upscale interior; roomy third - row
seat; many convenience and luxury - based features available;
class - exclusive hybrid engine option.
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first) coverage Pricing starts at $ 18,545, less than the outgoing model Detroit, Mich. — Today, Volkswagen of America, Inc., unveiled the all - new 2019 Jetta at the North American International Auto Show.
Generally, the only time it makes sense to book a British Airways
first class award is by using the British Airways Travel Together Ticket so you can get 2
first class seats for the miles of on.
If you're headed to Asia, an
award seat in the prestigious
First Class cabin will set you back 110,000 miles each way, but it's a true once - in - a-lifetime experience.
Additionally, cardholders are guaranteed the ability to book a standard level
award in
first class, business
class, or economy on United if there is a
seat for sale.
SWISS
first class awards are not bookable using KrisFlyer Miles and neither are premium economy
seats on Star Alliance partner airlines.
With 2
seats in
first class from the U.S. to London available several days each month, British Airways is one of the easier
first class awards to find.
In the past, you could not mix an Economy
Class seat into a
First Class award, and would have to find your way to the gateway city on another ticket.
Hot Tip: The ability to put
award seats on hold makes using American miles one of the easiest ways to book Qantas
first class.