When is the best time to book airline tickets with points?

The best time to book an airline ticket with points is when it becomes available on the booking calendar.

Indeed, to find the most coveted award tickets, you have to be lucky, have a lot of flexibility or master the system!

Knowing the best time to book is crucial especially to people:

• who travel during high demand periods (spring break, summer vacation, construction holidays, holiday season, etc.)
• who travel in groups or with their families
• who want business or first class products

Since the changes to the Aeroplan program, all available seats can be purchased with points for flights with Air Canada. The best time to book is the same as for tickets paid in cash, therefore depending on market fluctuations.

So, I advise you to book early, especially if the moment you want to travel is a popular one.

However, this does not apply to other partner airlines that can be booked with Aeroplan points.

Each carrier releases a limited number of “award tickets” while all of their available seats are available for cash.

So, for a group wishing to go to Munich for the Oktoberfest, for example, you will have to watch for the award tickets release more closely!

Each carrier plans its calendar release between 300 and 365 days in advance.

It is therefore very important to know when the airline unblocks its calendar: this is the best time to book because you have access to all available award tickets.

To determine the best time to book an award ticket, this day calculator is an excellent tool to use. Simply enter the start date, then subtract the number of days corresponding to the program used.

Also, consider the time difference when you want to book with a program from another country than your own. Finally, the premium seats are not necessarily released at midnight.

Tickets that can be booked with points are limited on Star Alliance partners. However, over time, changes and cancellations will make some seats vacant again.

So if you have missed the moment, you will need to use a tool such asExpert Flyer to track fluctuations in availability. Award flight search engines such as Point.me and Seats.areo can also help.

Companies that sometimes release last minute award tickets are:

• ANA
• Austrian
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates
• Etihad
• Japan Airlines
• Lufthansa
• SWISS
• United

You are constantly refreshing your browser on the famous date, but the desired flight does not show up?

Some airlines do not allow the purchase of certain award tickets through partner loyalty programs, or make them available only at the last minute.

For example, First Class (and even Business Class) award tickets on Singapore Airlines are only available to KrisFlyer members. On the other hand, economy class flights can be found on Aeroplan.

Secondly, the Air France “La Première” seat is only open to Flying Blue elite members. Therefore, you need to have Flying Blue points and status!

The best time to book in these programs is also when the award tickets go on sale.

In order to find the best time to book a points ticket, you often have to play with two calendars:

• that of the company operating the flight
• that of the company with which you plan on using the points

Although Aeroplan‘s calendar opens 355 days in advance, you’ll have to wait before you can book a flight on Etihad Airways since its schedule is only available 330 days before departure.

In my guide to Qatar Airways Qsuite, I detailed the multiple programs one can use to book this seat with points. The programs mentioned in the article are:

The best time to book the Qsuite is when the Qatar Airways calendar is released, which is 361 days in advance. Especially if your group would like to sit together in the four-person compartment.

By using Asia Miles points (360 days) versus Alaska Mileage Plan points (330 days), you get a 30-day head start on those coveted seats.

In addition to the best time to book an airline ticket, you should also consider the type of points you can earn, the number of points required for your destination and the price of taxes to be paid.

In the field of travel hacking, being able to book award tickets for the flights you want is very important. Since these seats are as limited as VIP seats at a show, you need to know the best time to book.