And, BA doesn't charge last
minute award fees (unlike AA), which is a huge benefit for people who want truly «free» award tickets.
Not exact matches
You'll also enjoy priority boarding, plus the savings from
fee waivers for last
minute award tickets and checked bags.
Delta also has no
fee for last -
minute award bookings and opens up a larger percentage of seats last
minute than most airlines, so if you need an
award flight on short order, it's a great option.
Last
minute award ticket bookings, those within 21 days of departure, normally incur a $ 75 service charge for general members, but as a United MileagePlus Club cardholder, that
fee is waived.
If you bought the ticket as an
award, you would pay a $ 50 last -
minute booking
fee, taxes, other
fees and 10,000 miles.
The Lufthansa group / Miles & More participating airlines have been known to reserve
award space for their own frequent flyers and only release
award space to other Star Alliance airlines last
minute, resulting in higher
fees for last
minute bookings.
Your valuation may be on the higher end if you have elite status and can avoid various
fees for changing
awards or booking at the last
minute.
There are no last -
minute booking
fees, but all
awards are banned within three days of departure.
No
fees for last -
minute award tickets United charges $ 75 for booking or changing
award tickets 21 days or less before departure.
While many frequent flyers use Lufthansa miles to get into their (and Swiss) first class cabins without waiting until the last
minute, as Lufthansa doesn't release first class
awards to partners until very close to departure, first class redemptions with Miles & More can in many cases be the worst value
awards because of
fees.
They're also a key component to my
award tool belt for avoiding last
minute change
fees.
However, one important thing to note for last -
minute award bookers, British Airways doesn't charge last -
minute ticketing
fees, whereas American charges non-elite members $ 75 for
awards booked within 21 days of travel.
Positives: • No close in ticketing
fee (
fee for booking last
minute award travel).
Considering BA often has great last -
minute partner
award redemption availability and doesn't charge last -
minute booking
fees either, you could be looking at huge savings on this route.