May 14, 2024

Get Ahead of the Pack: Booking Flights with Points and Miles

Michael Dixon

May 14, 2024

Michael Dixon

Be First In Line When Booking Flights With Points And Miles

Be First in Line When Booking a Flight Using Points and Miles

Do you know that one of the best ways to book a flight using points and miles is to make a booking as soon as seats are released? This is because many airlines will release points and miles seats as soon as bookings open. Then once these seats are gone, it is unknown when they will release more seats, and depending on demand, they may never release more seats for those flights.

Booking Open Dates for Points and Miles Flights

So, how do I know when bookings open for points and miles flights? And what can I do to be first in line?

Let’s address the first question. Each airline loyalty program has a fixed schedule for when they open bookings for points and miles flights. This schedule varies from loyalty program to loyalty program. The schedules for the 19 airline loyalty programs that Pointrs currently support are as follows:

Air Canada Aeroplan – 356 days in advance
Air France-KLM Flying Blue – 359 days
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan – 331 days
American Airlines Aadvantage – 331 days
ANA Mileage Club – 355 days
Avianca Airlines LifeMiles – 360 days
British Airways Executive Club – 355 days
Cathay Pacific Cathay – 360 days
Delta SkyMiles – 331 days
Etihad Airways Etihad Guest – 330 days
Emirates Skywards – 328 days
Malaysia Airlines Enrich – 361 days
Qantas Frequent Flyer – 353 days (short-haul Qantas flights and partner airline flights), 353 days (Premium Economy, Business or First Class long-haul Qantas flights – Gold, Platinum or Platinum One members), 323 days (Premium Economy, Business or First Class long-haul Qantas flights – Silver members), 297 days (Premium Economy, Business or First Class long-haul Qantas flights – Bronze members)
Qatar Airways Privilege Club – 361 days
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer – 355 days
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles – 355 days
United Airlines MileagePlus – 337 days
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – 331 days
Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer – 330 days

So, for example, if you use Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer to book a Singapore Airlines flight for June 13 2025 using KrisFlyer miles, bookings will open 355 days in advance on June 23 2024. Note that the exact time that bookings open varies between programs and you also need to take into account the time zone that the loyalty programs operate in. Hence, you should start looking a day before to help ensure you’re first in line.

For a particular airline loyalty program, bookings for both their airline and their partner airlines open at the same time. However, regardless of when a loyalty program opens their bookings, you cannot book an airline through that loyalty program any earlier than when you can book that airline through their own loyalty program, or if they have no loyalty program, no earlier than when their cash bookings open.

For example, you can book a United Airlines flight through Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer loyalty program. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer opens their miles bookings 355 days in advance. United Airlines MileagePlus opens their miles bookings 337 days in advance. Hence, you cannot book a United Airlines flight using miles through Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer until 337 days in advance, instead of 355 days in advance.

Strategies to Secure Early Bookings for Points and Miles Flights

As you can see from above, there is great variation between airline loyalty programs with regards to when they open bookings for points and miles flights. This brings both threats and opportunities and also brings us to our second question: What can I do to be first in line?

As Pointrs users well know, an airline loyalty program can be used to fly not just the airline of the loyalty program but many other airlines as well. For example, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer can be used to fly Virgin Australia, Qatar Airways, Air Canada, ANA, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Etihad Airways, amongst others. Points and miles bookings to fly an airline open according to the loyalty program you are making the booking through, not the airline. Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer opens bookings using points and miles 330 days in advance. Hence, to use your Velocity Points to fly any of these airlines, you’ll need to wait until 330 days in advance.

However, you can use other loyalty programs to book some of these airlines well in advance of 330 days. For example, to fly Qatar Airways, you can use Qatar Airways Privilege Club and book 361 days in advance. To fly ANA, you can use Air Canada Aeroplan and book 355 days in advance. To fly Singapore Airlines, you can use Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and book 355 days in advance. In other words, by the time Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer opens its bookings for points and miles flights, these flights have already been on sale with other loyalty programs for quite some time. This means you’ll never be first in line when seats are released and usually the first-release seats will be sold out once to go to book them.

So, how do you stop this from happening to ensure you are always first in line? Simply, for the airline you wish to fly, you need to use a loyalty program that allows you to book earlier than other loyalty programs, and ideally the earliest of all loyalty programs. Fortunately, rather than you having to work this out for yourself, as usual, we’ve done the work for you!

Booking Lead Times for Airlines Using Points and Miles

To be first in line when booking a flight for an airline using points and miles, take note below of the number of days in advance you can book that airline for each airline loyalty programs you can use. Keep in mind that regardless of when a loyalty program opens their bookings, you cannot book an airline through that loyalty program any earlier than when you can book that airline through their own loyalty program, or if they have no loyalty program, no earlier than when their cash bookings open.

Air Canada (Pointr #8864)

Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330, Emirates Skywards - 328.

Air France (Pointr #8877)

Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 353, Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 353, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, Delta SkyMiles - 331, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331.

Air India (Pointr #8865)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337.

Air New Zealand (Pointr #8866)

Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330.

Alaska Airlines (Pointr #8855)

Qatar Airways Privilege Club - 361, Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 361, Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, British Airways Executive Club - 355, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, American Airlines Aadvantage - 331, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - 331.

American Airlines (Pointr #8856)

Qatar Airways Privilege Club - 361, Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 361, Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, British Airways Executive Club - 355, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, American Airlines Aadvantage - 331, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - 331, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330.

ANA (Pointr #8867)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330.

Avianca Airlines (Pointr #8868)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337.

British Airways (Pointr #8857)

Brussels Airways (Pointr #8869)

Cathay Pacific (Pointr #8858)

Delta (Pointr #8878)

Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 353, Delta SkyMiles - 331, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331.

Emirates (Pointr #8882)

Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 353, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, Emirates Skywards - 328.

Etihad Airways (Pointr #8883)

Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, ANA Mileage Club - 355, Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 353, Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 353, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330.

Fiji Airways (Pointr #8860)

Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 361, Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, British Airways Executive Club - 355, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, American Airlines Aadvantage - 331, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - 331.

Garuda Indonesia (Pointr #8879)

ANA Mileage Club - 355, Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 353, Delta SkyMiles - 331, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330.

Hawaiian Airlines (Pointr #8884)

United Airlines MileagePlus - 337, American Airlines Aadvantage - 331, Delta SkyMiles - 331, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330.

Japan Airlines (Pointr #8861)

Jetstar (Pointr #8887)

Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, Emirates Skywards - 328.

KLM (Pointr #8880)

Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 353, Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 353, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, Delta SkyMiles - 331, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331.

Latam Airlines (Pointr #8885)

Qatar Airways Privilege Club - 361, Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 361, Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, British Airways Executive Club - 355, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, Delta SkyMiles - 331, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - 331.

Lufthansa (Pointr #8870)

Malaysia Airlines (Pointr #8859)

Qatar Airways Privilege Club - 361, Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 361, Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 359, British Airways Executive Club - 355, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353, American Airlines Aadvantage - 331, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - 331, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330, Emirates Skywards - 328.

Qantas (Pointr #8863)

Qatar Airways Privilege Club - 361, Malaysia Airlines Enrich - 361, Cathay Pacific Cathay - 360, Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 359, British Airways Executive Club - 355, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353 (short-haul flights), Qantas Frequent Flyer - 353 (Premium Economy, Business or First Class long-haul flights - Gold, Platinum or Platinum One members), American Airlines Aadvantage - 331, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - 331, Emirates Skywards - 328, Qantas Frequent Flyer - 323 (Premium Economy, Business or First Class long-haul flights - Silver members), Qantas Frequent Flyer - 297 (Premium Economy, Business or First Class long-haul flights - Bronze members).

Qatar Airways (Pointr #8862)

SAS (Pointr #8871)

Singapore Airlines (Pointr #8872)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - 331, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330.

South African Airways (Pointr #8873)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337,

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330, Emirates Skywards - 328.

Thai Airways (Pointr #8874)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337.

Turkish Airlines (Pointr #8875)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337.

United Airlines (Pointr #8876)

Avianca Airlines LifeMiles - 360, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, United Airlines MileagePlus - 337, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330, Emirates Skywards - 328.

Virgin Atlantic (Pointr #8881)

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, ANA Mileage Club - 355, Air France-KLM Flying Blue - 353, Delta SkyMiles - 331, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330.

Virgin Australia (Pointr #8886)

Qatar Airways Privilege Club - 361, Air Canada Aeroplan - 356, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - 355, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - 331, Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - 330, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 330.

Using the information above, try to make your booking through the loyalty program that opens bookings first. If that doesn’t work for you, consider using a different airline where you can use a loyalty program that does open bookings first.

If you wish to use a particular airline loyalty program, also use the information to determine the best airline to book when seats are first released. If, for a particular airline, there are many other airline loyalty programs that open bookings far earlier, you’re better off choosing a different airline.

The end result is being able to take that dream flight by booking as soon as seats are released rather than constantly checking and waiting until seats are hopefully released sometime during the year.

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