Scoring mileage award seats can be hard, especially in Business and First Class. So when pickings are slim, do you just give in? Those words aren’t in FCF’s vocabulary. Here’s why.
There’s nothing like sharing a First Class experience with a loved one. Memories are made of this (I often hear from readers, who recall many a great flight). Maybe it’s just us romantics at FCF, but we think the memories are even more special when you score those First Class seats with some smart tactical thinking.
Here are six ways to score more than one premium ticket when that’s all there seems to be at first.
Searching for Mileage Award Space
Most folks naturally search for availability depending on the number of people traveling. We don’t. We search for one seat. Then search for a second seat. Why? Because when you search for two seats you won’t see the one-seat options available. It’s just the way airline search engines work. Search for two seats and you’ll find much less availability.
Singapore Airlines, for example, is notable for only releasing one First Class award seat at a time. But here’s the thing: They continue to drip-feed availability up to departure time, as do other airlines. So when you do get that precious award seat, it doesn’t mean you won’t get another; you just have to play the game and be patient.
Grab a Seat in First and One in Business
If it comes down to it, grab the one award seat in First and then search Business Class, as it tends to have better availability. Grab that seat, too. Then you have a few choices:
- You can toss a coin as to who gets to sit in First.
- Call us crazy, but if you want to sit next to your honey, you can offer your First Class seat to the passenger next to them in Business Class as a trade. We’ve never heard anyone say, “No thanks, but I prefer the service and comfort of Business over First.”
- Be pragmatic about it, even if it is on a different flight. You’ve just spent a week together, she needs to do some laptop work and I’m going to watch a movie—we can endure being a cabin apart or on a different flight in order to fly in comfort.
Award Availability Is a Game of Brinkmanship
It’s a fact of flying: award space tends to open up as the day of departure approaches. If you can stay on top of the ever-changing allotment of low-cost award seats, you can score big upgrades, simply by upgrading confirmed seats to their more luxurious cousins 20 yards ahead. Etihad, Singapore, and Japan Airlines, for example, often only open up award space two or so weeks before departure for First Class, and the same holds true for flights to regions such as the South Pacific. Maybe we should call it “blinkmanship”—in the staring contest with the airline, who’s going to blink first?
Size Up The Aircraft
All things being equal, consider the size of the cabin. The more seats there are on one particular flight, the greater the chance of getting two mileage award seats on the one flight. That’s simple math, but not everyone thinks about it.
For example, take Los Angeles-Frankfurt on Lufthansa for travel June 5. Lufthansa offers two non-stop flights that day, LH457, an A340-600 aircraft that has 44 to 56 Business Class seats, and LH451, a B747-8 aircraft that has 80 Business Class seats—36 more seats can increase the odds of low-cost mileage award availability opening up along the way.
Waitlist Award Space
It’s worth waitlisting if you’re not having much luck with other options. We’ve seen it come through, but it came through one seat at a time, not both together. All Nippon, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and United are best for this.
Buy One Ticket With Cash
If all else fails, get the other with miles and you’re still 50% ahead.
Concentrate on the Long Haul Segment
If you’re traveling internationally from a smaller U.S. city, put your chips on the long-haul flight. For example, if you live in Boise and are going to London via Chicago, the important seats are the ones on the Chicago to London leg. It sounds obvious, but divide the legs and you’re more likely to conquer them.
Be Proactive: FCF to the Seat Rescue
FCF gives you a heads-up on multi-seat availability in our Sweet Redeem alerts with an Availability Calendar. It shows one-, two-, and four-seat availability by route, so you can see at a glance what’s on offer. If you want to make award flying easy like I do, just book “Where the seats are.”
