The best way to secure saver award space during busy travel periods is to be patient and wait.
I spent New Year’s in Germany with my family. We planned to return to Los Angeles sometime during the first week in January, but had no return ticketed booked.
Now I think that would scare most people. It certainly scares many Award Expert clients when I propose it. Go to Europe without a return ticket? What if I get stuck? What if I have work and therefore a hard deadline to return home? My response is always the same: don’t worry. Trust me. I know my award space and it knows me.
Honestly, I had zero doubt that we would be able to get home for saver-level pricing. The question was only by what routing. Here’s how it went down.
I got a call on January 3rd requiring me to stay behind in Europe for a couple weeks. That meant my wife and son would need to travel without me (again) but it also meant finding space became easier: two seats are usually easier than three.
I asked my wife what day she wanted to return and she picked last Wednesday. All this time I had been tracking space and every day, without fail, at least 2-3 saver options opened in both economy class and business class.
On Tuesday night, SWISS opened award space from Zurich to San Francisco in business class for Wedneday. I could tack on a San Francisco to Burbank segment for no extra miles and my wife would have a relatively easy trip home with my two-year-old son. 55K Aeroplan miles each and no fuel surcharge.
But she decided she wanted to spend an extra day in Germany. No problem. Last week was a peak travel week but the end of the last week and start of this week was the peak of the peak week. Even so, I figured space would open.
When she said on Tuesday night she wanted to go Thursday, there was nothing open for Thursday. Not a single option in first class, business, or economy at saver-level prices. I advised her that something as smooth as ZRH-SFO-BUR might not open. She shrugged, knowing I would not let her down.
Nothing opened on Wednesday morning, but by Wednesday evening several choices had opened. While the same option as Wednesday or the SWISS nonstop to LA did not open, I was able to secure an afternoon departure in SWISS business Chicago with a connection in first class to Los Angeles for 55K Aeroplan miles and about $100 each.
The gamble worked. It always does.
If you don’t believe me, check out space between any major city in Europe and any major city in the USA (or Asia) for tomorrow. Chances are, especially using Star Alliance, you’ll find several options. That’s the beauty of award travel. That’s the beauty of being patient.
CONCLUSION
Parents will appreciate the trajectory of two-year old Augustine. He went from being a little angel in the air, sleeping through to anything, to a little monster, to being a little boy. I no longer need to fly him in first class because he can sit quietly in a business or even economy class seat and keep himself occupied with books and puzzles and toys. I figure in another year or so the IFE system will be able to babysit him.
I’m looking forward to family traveling become even easier…that is, until we decide to have another one…
If it always works, it’s not a gamble then, is it?
Clearly, the odds have proven to be in your favor time and time again. And you obviously know what you’re doing. I’d certainly trust you with my travel 🙂
But eventually, one of these times it’s *not* going to work…
Does this work with all awards ? AA, BA and UA and Alaska?
I remember some program
BA blocks the 72 hours ??
Star Alliance works best.
In my experience, no saver award is ever available on AA. Well, that is really not true, every once in a long time, one can find a saver award in economy on AA. But then again this AA I am talking about and I am sure no one in surprised.
In the process of burning-ff all my AA stash for use in 2019. I just (miraculously) got two saver-level (85k + $5.60 each, one-way) awards on AA metal:
LAX-JFK 77W, 3-class, First Class
JFK-LHR 77W, 3-class, First Class
End of May.
A 6am flight out of LAX is kinda gross and not optimal, but I’ll take it for that price and cabin.
Do you find this to be true only for flights to/from Europe? Or is it the same to/from Asia?
Same with Asia.
Since the merger I have only seen one first class saver ticket to Europe and it was to Frankfort. I live in Philly area so I end up having to fly with them more often than I would like.
Don’t you technically need proof of a return ticket back to the US, though? The last two times I’ve gone to AMS, I’ve done the trip on separate tickets, and DL has asked for my onward travel details before letting me check in (though I didn’t have to actually show them anything; they took my word for it). How do you get around that? Genuinely curious…
Have only been asked once on SAS. I just put something on hold on the spot and that satisfied them.
Would it also work from a less connected European city, like Prague, Berlin or Nice? For Asia to LA, would it require you to double-back (i.e. go through Chicago opposed to LAX/SFO/SEA)?
Yes to Eastern Europe and the answer is often yes on backtracking for an Asian return, sometimes even via the East Coast to the West Coast.
How well does this work with Lifemiles? Any close in fees?
LifeMiles has been known to block Lufthansa award space, but it’s worth checking. No close-in fees or fuel surcharges with LifeMiles.
This is a nice tip but may be difficult to pull off if you’re relying on a transfer of credit card points.
Depends on the points, though. Many are instant transfers.
Interesting. Unfortunately most of us require some degree of certainty for family vacations due to school and work commitments. Rolling the dice without a cost-effective backup plan is not an option. It is one thing to have an inconvenient itinerary as a backup and hope that space opens for a better option (which it often does). But as a practical matter even finding the “backup” can be difficult when seeking 4 business class seats during peak summer season, particularly from west coast. Winter is traditionally slow season
FWIW, I’ve found summer no different. Here’s I’m not talking about the coming winter slow period, but about the peak New Year’s travel period in which planes go out full.
Finding four seats is more difficult – it may require splitting up — but school/work commitments should not be the concern. Staying together would be the only potential issue.
Did the exact same thing from Asia. Needed to get from BKK —> SEA on 1/1 or 1/2. 90k lifemiles got me BKK—>NRT In TG F and NRT to SEA on NH in Biz on 1/1. Fun ride but the waiting game was a nail-biter. Opened up at about 30 hours out!
Does the same hold true when leaving the US during peak periods?
In my experience, yes.
What about SkyTeam?
i am a newby but learning, do you have a preferred methods thats easy for the searching of your saver-level pricing deals?
What tools do you use to check flights?
United and Aeroplan websites for Star Alliance.