Tag Archives for award availability.
Australia may re-open to international travel July 1. At least that’s what the CEO of Qantas is saying, and Qantas has loaded international flights for sale as of that date. Qantas had previously killed its full international schedule through the end of September.
Seeing this news I immediately went to look for award seats
Star Alliance member EVA Air has wide open business class award space from Los Angeles to Taipei (and beyond in Asia) for August 2021 through end of schedule.
International travel right now isn’t an option for most – especially to Asia – but come summer 2021 the world is likely to look a lot different than it does today. I’m betting that late summer and fall travel is going to be possible, and mileage trips are exactly what you want to be booking given the flexibility to cancel and redeposit miles. I’ve got an Asia trip on the books for the back half of 2021 already myself.
Right now there’s great business and first class award availability on Star Alliance airline ANA from several US cities to Tokyo and back starting in August and running through the end of the current airline schedule (basically, October). That’s great for connecting onward to Asia.
Two passengers can fly from Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose or Seattle using miles from United (or Chase), Avianca LifeMiles, or even better Virgin Atlantic (which partners with several credit card transferable points programs).
At the end of the current Japan Airlines schedule first class awards are wide open for two passengers on the New York JFK – Tokyo Haneda route.
Here’s availability for not just two award seats – far more widespread – but for four passengers at 34,000 miles each way per person and without big fuel surcharges.
It’s nice to see how much award space is open on Singapore Airlines non-stops from the U.S. While two business class seats are common throughout 2021, in August and September there’s a wide variety of days on the Los Angeles – Singapore route where four business class saver award seats are available.
American Airlines is getting in on the business class award party for premium cross country flights with New York JFK – Los Angeles wide open throughout 2021 offering business class awards at good prices for groups of travelers.
U.S. frequent flyer programs aren’t the most valuable. In fact some airline programs seem almost allergic to the idea that some consumers somewhere might actually benefit in an outsized way from what they offer. United and Delta have actually devalued their award prices for travel on partner airlines during the pandemic. And when we see promotions they aren’t especially rich – either it takes a lot more from the customer compared to what the program is willing to give, or earning is capped at very low levels.
The real value comes from airlines around the world who won’t so quickly devalue, and whose airlines will begin to ramp up service perhaps before demand fully returns. Expect to see a lot of award seats available on Emirates, whose planes like Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s are too big for many routes at least for awhile.
Qatar has one of the best business class product in the world in its ‘QSuites’. These are revolutionary suites with doors and movable partitions that allow two and even four passengers to travel together in their own space. Right now there’s fantastic award availability booking for late summer and fall 2021 for Qatar’s QSuites product – out of several U.S. cities – with four business class seats available.
Traditionally non-stop cross country flights in premium cabins are tough to get but that is a lot of premium cabin inventory at a time that business travelers aren’t flying. Or – perhaps this is an early mistake on United’s part that won’t last. But every single day between the February 1 start of service and the end of the airline schedule 11 months from now has numerous business class saver award seats open.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
