Great deals can often be like spotting shooting stars. You have to be outside, the night has to be cloud free, and must be looking up. There it is, something brilliant. And then it’s gone.
So, let’s talk about having your planets correctly aligned for the moment those great deals fly into your airspace. And they will.
We recently reported on The Ultimate Mileage Award. Now, this easily-missed deal requires striking when hot; here’s a way to make deals like this easier to capture; and a way to freeze them long enough to take full advantage.
Know-How #1: The Clever Club of Cluster Clutchers
You might have points in one basket and need to move them to another to secure a deal. But that might take 24 to 48 hours, or even more depending on airline and transfer partner, and the availability that you were eyeing when you initiated the transfer might have disappeared when the transfer hits so you might miss out.
So look at clusters of availability for routes and dates. That way if you miss one day, there’s a good chance of availability the next, or the day after that, or the days before. Here’s an example of a cluster of availability on American from Miami to Paris in January 2018.
And here’s an example where there’s not a lot of availability, in this case, Philadelphia to Frankfurt in January 2018.
So, let’s say you’re in the midst of transferring points and the seat disappears. If you have the right points, meaning the ones from major credit cards that are transferable to numerous airlines (AKA strong currencies) the good news is that you’ll be in a good position the next time a shooting star comes along.
If you’d rather not miss that availability, or can’t afford to, there might be another way.
Know-How #2: How to Snap-Freeze Opportunities to Extend Time for Point Transferring
Imagine if you could snap-freeze that shooting star right there in the sky.
You can. You just need to know the airlines that allow you to do it, meaning hold your award reservation while the points transfer.
For a more in-depth look into snap-freezing these opportunities, effectively lending you the time to transfer or buy points when you spot lucrative availability, review FCF's special report on What the Humble Pea Can Point Out About Using Miles & Points for Premium Air Travel.
You have that ability, so avail yourself of it. That’s why it’s called availability.