Tag Archives for award availability.
Spanish flag carrier Iberia is owned by British Airways parent company IAG. It’s a member of oneworld, and part of the same transatlantic joint venture as American Airlines. They have a nice business class product, and right now they have amazing business class award availability from several U.S. cities for four passengers for next fall.
Right now there are some great opportunities to use your miles for the whole family on Qatar Airways QSuites from San Francisco to travel to the Mideast, Africa, or region around India as well as to travel on the new Qantas Chicago – Brisbane flight. Space is generally available throughout 2021, and by the second half of the year we could be past the current unpleasantness.
Swiss is making tremendous business class award space available between North America and Zurich for summer 2021. You can find four or more business class awards not just from East Coast gateways like New York JFK (and Newark) and from Chicago but even from Los Angeles and San Francisco, which used to be nearly impossible to find. From Zurich you can connect beyond to myriad destinations you might like to visit.
With hotels around the world hurting, and occupancy down and recovery stalled, you’d think a hotel would want revenue anywhere it can get it.
When members redeem points, the hotel chain pays the hotel for the room the guest is using. Yet hotels that used to shun award guests aren’t now welcoming them with open arms. I suspect they’re just not paying attention well to their own businesses.
A month ago there was much fanfare over Hyatt’s taking over the Travaasa Hana hotel on Maui, on the eastern tip of the island – the opposite side from where most of the resorts are located. Initially part of their Destination Hotels brand (where many elite benefits don’t apply), it’s believed that it’ll become an Alila property when its renovations are complete.
One thing immediately stood out about the property, however: absolutely no award rooms. While they’ve been selling stays at the property, there weren’t any award nights available through the end of the schedule. That’s finally changed.
United will start flying Newark – Johannesburg March 27, 2021. You wouldn’t be taking a holiday there now, but five and a half months is a million years in Covid time and mileage redemptions are especially flexible – a much better idea than paying cash for an international ticket right now.
The route will feature United’s new business class, and there’s excellent award availability right now.
Summer 2021 is likely to look a lot different, a lot more normal, than the world looks today. It’s as far out as you can book a ticket on most airlines. And the great thing about using miles in most programs is how flexible they are. Worst case scenario a usually modest fee, but some programs like American AAdvantage are waiving award cancellation fees entirely right now. So it’s a great time to book your next adventure!
Cathay Pacific is currently making business class awards widely available between the U.S. and Hong Kong for up to four passengers, from several gateway cities. This allows you to connect beyond Hong Kong to much of Asia.
American Airlines has added back more flights than Delta or United. They also appear to be pricing more aggressively, something that United CEO Scott Kirby has publicly said he will not do.
Under American’s revenue-based model low prices also bring inexpensive award inventory. Often that’s only true for connecting flights but right now it seems to be true even for premium cabin international non-stops.
This is a great opportunity to use American or British Airways miles to Europe next year with very good availability and low cost.
January through end of schedule in July Singapore Airlines is making four business class award seats available most days in both directions for Los Angeles – Singapore non-stop. This is a great way, of course, to connect beyond in Southeast Asia.
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 »
