You’ve been busy building up your points balance and eyeing a redemption, so when can you get first dibs on an award seat?
In this post, we have compiled the information on how early each frequent flyer program releases award seats.
| Program | Days before departure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 353 | Reduced to 308 days for Bronze & Silver members in premium cabins on some Qantas long-haul flights; 300 days for travel on Jetstar |
| Velocity Frequent Flyer | 330 | May find Singapore Airlines awards at 331 days |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 353 | More expensive Choice and Tailored Awards at 360 days |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 355 | |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 356 | |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 305 | |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints | 350 | |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | 331 | |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 330 | |
| ANA Mileage Club | 356 | |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 360 | |
| British Airways Executive Club | 354 | |
| Delta SkyMiles | 331 | Sometimes up to 362 days |
| Emirates Skywards | 330 | |
| Etihad Guest | 330 | |
| Finnair Plus | 361 | |
| HawaiianMiles | 330 | |
| Iberia Plus | 361 | |
| Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank | 330 | |
| LATAM Pass | 330 | |
| Lufthansa Miles & More | 359 | |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | 354 | May find at 361 days if required miles already in account |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 361 | |
| Royal Jordanian Royal Plus | 362 | |
| S7 Airlines Priority | 330 | |
| SriLankan FlySmiLes | 361 | |
| United Airways MileagePlus | 335-338 | United flights at 335 days; partner flights at 338 days |
This table is based on information collated from other frequent flyer blogs and confirmed by searches performed by Point Hacks in February 2018.
As we do not have access to the inside information in frequent flyer programs, there may be discrepancies in these numbers. If you have had a differing experience in researching and booking redemptions, please feel free to share in the comments below and we will endeavour to update this table for the benefit of the wider frequent flyer community.
Strategies to get in quick
Partner airlines
If you want to fly with a partner airline, the calendar that dictates this is that of the frequent flyer program you want to use your points with, not the airline with whom you want to fly.
So, if you wanted to use American Airlines AAdvantage miles to book a Qantas flight, even though Qantas allows redemptions up to 353 days before departure, you’d have to wait until 330 days when booking through American Airlines.
Therefore, if you were eyeing a Qantas First or Business Class redemption on a popular route, like to Los Angeles, you may want to secure the seat through Qantas (353 days) or Asia Miles (353 days) even though redemption rates are cheaper through American Airlines (330 days) and Alaska Mileage Plan (331 days).
Similarly, if you want to use your Velocity Points to fly on Singapore Airlines, you may find that a lot of the seats have been already booked by Singapore’s own KrisFlyer members, as they have access at 355 days before departure compared to Velocity’s 330. If you want to increase your chances of securing a seat, then you may consider transferring your Velocity points to KrisFlyer miles.
Singapore Airlines A350 Business Class
Qantas routes with no/limited premium cabin availability
Qantas generally do not release Business and First Class seats on the following routes:
- Perth – London
- Sydney – Honolulu (for A330 flights; you may have more luck if there is a 747 flying)
- Sydney – Johannesburg
- Singapore – London
Seats may also be limited on Sydney – Santiago and Sydney – Bangkok services.
Domestic vs international and Economy vs premium cabins
Generally speaking, it is easier to find award seats on domestic flights than international flights.
It is also much easier to find availability in Economy compared to seats in First, Business or Premium Economy Class. However, we usually recommend saving your points for redemptions in premium cabins as they often give you the most value.
Combining these two facts, if you are looking for a Business or First Class seat between Australia and the US, you are best to do this as far in advance as you can (i.e. 11-12 months before departure), as these are some of the hardest award seats to find in the world.
Automatic alerts
If you have a Premium subscription to ExpertFlyer, you can seat a flight alert up to 361 days before departure, which will do the work for you and automatically notify you if seats on your desired flight become available.
A couple more notes
- Award seats do not necessarily become available at midnight (or another certain time) every day—we, unfortunately, do not have access to that information
- Lufthansa First Class redemptions are available to Miles & More members 359 days out but to partners like United, KrisFlyer and LifeMiles only 14 days before departure
- Singapore Airlines First Class and some Business Class redemptions are only available through KrisFlyer (more availability) and Velocity (less availability)
How to easily calculate dates
My favourite tool to use is timeanddate.com, which allows you to enter your desired departure date and subtract the number of days to find out when the award calendar will open.
Summing up
By being aware of when the award calendar opens up for the program you want to use your points with, can increase your chances of being one of the first to secure an award seat when the inventory is loaded for the date you want to fly on.
Remember, award availability is based on the program you want to use points with, not the airline you want to fly.
With gratitude to Point Hacks Team Member Steven for his collaboration in researching information for this post.
I managed to secure an Emirates business class flight to Rome at the beginning of July for a flight at the end of March 2019. I had a big advantage though, I’m travelling alone and I think this helps. Thank you for this information, I’m always chasing points and, like you say, using them for international flights is by far the best value.
I dont know how, but i managed to book 4 business class SYD-FRA on CX with qantas points 360 days in advance. I called them and said that i see the 4 tix in inventory, but cannot book it. The lady said its because it is too early, but i insisted that it is there and she manually book it for me. This was for high peak season in December, within 30 min of CX releasing those tickets… so, sometimes it is possible?..
That’s great!
Hi Matt
Great help with all things points!
To clarify, i want to book for Europe from Australia for this time(JUNE) 2019 using Qantas points. There are some flights available but it seems from your table Emirates flights will come available in July as they are a month behind? And guessing there are more Emirates reward flights than most others? (SYD – Rome Early JUNE 2019).
Qantas will preference Emirates results over most of their partners, yes. Technically, Emirates seats should appear at 330 days before departure but I’ve seen up to 333-335 days, so try to get in a little early. Use this tool to calculate dates.
Any idea where this calendar is? I used to acces it via flight search and then use classic reward search. Now only shows the day I selected.
This guide may be the one you are looking for.
what is if want to use my qantas frequent flyer points on a Jetstar flight – how many days before my departure date will they be released. Thank you 🙂
They should be released around 300 days—I’ve added that into the table. However, we would recommend using your Qantas Points for travel on Qantas or other partner airlines rather than on Jetstar.
Hi Matt
I want to fly Melbourne to Europe using Velocity points, preferably with Etihad A380 business class.
Is it best I book this seperately, as I think the A380 only flies from Sydney? Also what’s the chance of snagging 3-4 reward seats in business this way? (Ie 1 year ahead?)
Etihad releases only max 2 ticket per flight. Etihadguest shows very clear availability. Have to book as soon as the calendar opens, as you can book pretty much on any day. You will have to fly 2pax, then next day another 2 pax. If you wait like 15 days after calendar opens – your chances become slim for any day availability. Good luck!
Does Qantas gold/platinum change this at all?
Yes, in the table, it states, ‘Reduced to 308 days for Bronze & Silver members on some long-haul flights’, meaning that Gold and Platinum members get preference on these routes.
Just redeemed a pair of first class return seats from Syd to Chc on Emirates A380 for May. It’s the best kep secret and worth taking advantage of before the final A380 service across the Tasman inevitably stops.
If you want to use your Qantas Points to fly on Emirates, you can book up to 353 days before departure (according to the Qantas calendar)—you don’t have to wait until Emirates opens its calendar up at 330 days. That gives Qantas members a headstart on Emirates’ own Skywards members!
My experience is that I can only see Emirates award flights up until around the 333 day mark, rather than 353 as suggested here. Is this because i’m only QF Bronze?
Thank you.
Nope, you’re right! Please see response to Sergey in comments.
Partly incorrect – you can’t use Qantas points (353 days) to book Emirates seats before the 330 days mark as Emirates reservation system cannot handle anything over 330 days.
You’re right. Even though the Qantas flexible date calendar can show availability in excess of 330 days, when you click on the individual dates, the award space is phantom. Thank you for pointing this out. I have updated the guide to clarify.
If I am using Qantas Points (but only have Silver status), will I be able to see Emirates Business or First class award seats 330 days in advance (in line with the Emirates timing) or 308 days in line with Qantas Frequent Flyer rules?
What about other One world partner airlines (using Qantas points) as a Silver qantas member?
That’s a great question! I have updated the table to show that the restriction is for long-haul flights on Qantas, so regardless of status, Qantas members should have access to the same Emirates inventory at 330 days.