So which airlines are the most or least generous when it comes to
frequent flyer award seat availability?
Not exact matches
Booking a premium cabin
award aboard Lufthansa through a partner airline is very difficult since the carrier reserves most those
seats for its own
frequent flyer program members.
Scott McCartney, Travel Editor of The Wall Street Journal, discusses how the airlines now make more money from their
frequent flyer programs than they do from normal airline operations, and which airlines are the best and worst at making
award seats available to passengers.
When it comes to
frequent flyer awards from the airlines, some
seats are, well, freer than others.
That means plenty of
award seat availability in
frequent flyer programs.
You can get an
award seat on Etihad Airways through several
frequent flyer programs.
To anyone who is accustomed to the relative simplicity of redeeming an
award seat with a U.S. - based
frequent flyer program, using a foreign program like Dynasty
Flyer can seem like a challenge primarily because you can't book online.
In
frequent flyer forums, I keep seeing the same question: If my flight is cancelled because of weather, do I have to wait for an
award seat at the same redemption rate to open up on another flight?
Booking directly with Miles & More
award miles is the easiest way to get in Lufthansa's coveted first class cabin, for which
seats only open for partner airlines»
frequent flyer bookings two weeks before departure, and SWISS first class, which is only open to Miles & More members.
Tickets start at $ 599, and members of Miles & Smiles, the carrier's
frequent flyer program, can get
award seats and upgrades on this route at a 25 percent discount.
Travelling in premium cabins is a dream for most of us, but it can be reality if you can redeem
frequent flyer miles for a premium cabin
award seat.
You can get an
award seat on Qatar Airways through several
frequent flyer programs.
They are considered the ultimate prize in
frequent flyer circles because the flights are long and the
award seats are scarce.
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.
Each airline puts their
award seat inventory into a pool that Star Alliance
frequent flyer programs have access to.
This week we already learned that the combined United - Continental
frequent flyer program will have expiring miles and that last
seat availability for standard (additional miles)
awards would be restricted to elites and credit card holders, plus that cardholders who are elites would be eligible for complimentary upgrades on domestic coach
awards.
Remember that in almost all cases,
award seats offered by oneworld airlines are the same regardless of which oneworld
frequent flyer program's miles you are using to make the booking.
Because their
frequent -
flyer programs are based on the costs of the ticket, Southwest and JetBlue have
award seats available on nearly every flight.
Partner
award seat availability may be different for Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members than for members of the partner's own loyalty /
frequent flyer program.