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Alaska Airline            329 American Airlines      329 Continental                330 Delta                          331 Northwest                  352 United Airlines           331 US Airways                330

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Everyone knows that it can pay to book mileage tickets and upgrades as far in advance as possible. But it also pays to know how far in advance you can actually secure a mileage booking since it ranges from 329 to 352 days. Of the US carriers, Northwest has the longest window, 352 days.

Six Tips to Improve Your Mileage Redemption Odds

1. Some airlines will allow you to book a seat farther in advance than others. Your odds of getting a seat increase if you check with each airline at the earliest time it allows you to make a booking. In other words, don’t pass on what is available on Northwest now for what might be available on Continental later.
2. Some flyers make the mistake of waiting to book their outbound flight until they can book their return flight. Don’t do that. It’s best to make it a two-step process: Confirm your outbound flight ASAP and ask the reservationist to “hold” the outbound seat(s) until you can confirm the return segment. If push comes to shove and the airline will no longer hold your outbound flight without your ticketing it, book a dummy return flight (as long as you can change it later for the flight you actually want).Depending on the airline, changing your return flight will cost little or nothing. If you can’t get the return seats you need, you can redeposit the miles into your account for $100 or less. (Keep in mind that transferred credit card points are final).As an example, if you are planning to upgrade using miles, ask them to hold the one-way economy class fare (full-fare if necessary) along with the Business Class seat (but don’t ticket yet). When your return flight(s) become available, say a week later, you can have the reservationist re-price the lowest economy class upgradeable fare. Because it’s so far in advance, your fare will likely be lower unless you don’t have a Saturday-night stay. Not all airlines allow you to hold a confirmed seat (more on this soon).
3. Don’t wait to book your ideal return date. Instead, start trying to secure your return flight for the earliest date you can live with. Try to move it out each day thereafter. This way, you have a seat even if your preferred return date doesn’t come through.
4. Don’t give up if you can’t get an outbound flight. Getting a mileage upgrade on the return segment is better than no upgrade at all.
5. Keep all the mileage purchase options available in mind. It can pay huge dividends to call airlines you don’t necessarily have miles with to see if they have seats that will work for you. See FCF Dec. 2006 Page 7 for more.
6. It’s impossible to know exactly when fares/seats will be ‘loaded’ into the system. It’s often well into the middle of the morning, not exactly as the clock strikes 12:01. Don’t get discouraged, just be persistent.