How To Find Award Flights

Award flights are one of the best ways to save money on travel, but finding them can feel like a puzzle. With a little strategy and the right tools, you can unlock amazing trips using points and miles. In this guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to find award availability and book your next adventure.

What Are Award Flights?

Award flights let you book airline tickets using points or miles instead of cash. There are two main types of award pricing:

Fixed Level Awards: These awards are priced at a fixed amount based according to award charts defined by the airline. Airlines will use either a distance-based award chart or zone-based award chart to define these prices.
Dynamic Pricing Awards: These awards are variable in price and can fluctuate to meet demand. There's no definitive price for a given route and the price can change day to day. These awards should generally be avoided unless you manage to get saver level pricing.

Award Charts like this are how some airlines price out their award flights.

What is Award Availability?

Award availability refers to the number of seats airlines set aside for booking with points or miles. These seats are separate from regular cash tickets, and their availability can vary based on the airline, route, and time of year. Airlines typically release a limited number of award seats on each flight, which means they can sell out quickly, especially on popular routes or during peak travel seasons.

There are two main types of award availability:

Saver-Level Awards: These require fewer miles and are often the best value for your points. However, they’re limited in quantity and may not be available during high-demand periods.
Standard Awards: These are more widely available but often cost significantly more miles, making them less appealing for budget-conscious travelers.

Saver level awards will give you the best pricing available.

Search Airline Award Availability with an App or Third-Party Tool

The best way to find award flights is to use award search tools. These tools search popular airline programs and compile prices into an easy to view website and even let you set up alerts to notify you of when an award seat becomes available. Some examples of popular tools are:

Seats.Aero: A more advanced tool that easily lets you see close-in award availability for the major airline programs. Has a great alert feature that notifies you when award seats open up.
PointsYeah: A more user friendly award search tool that can search multiple airline programs and show pricing. Also has a good alert feature.
AwardTool: An award search tool that looks like Google Flights and functions similar to PointsYeah.

These tools save time by searching multiple programs for you and alerting you to opportunities.

Seats.Aero view of award flights between New York (JFK) and Rome (FCO).

Search Airline Programs

While award search tools make the process a lot easier, they aren't comprehensive so you'll still have to understand how to search airline programs for award availability to make sure you don't miss any programs that the tools can't search.

Start by logging into the airline's frequent flyer portal and heading to the "Book with Miles" or "Award Search" section. Then enter your desired route and dates and perform the search like you normally would a cash booking and see what flights show up. Thankfully, some airlines like American Airlines and United, offer helpful calendar views to show availability over several days or weeks, which is perfect if you're flexible.

Use calendar view to help you find award flights quickly.

Now that you're familiar with how to perform searches, let's look at some more specific ways to find award flights.

Best Ways to Book Award Flights Within North America

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: Ideal for short-haul Alaska Airlines and American Airlines flights within the U.S. and Canada, thanks to its distance-based award chart.
Air France/KLM Flying Blue: Great for short Delta flights.
Air Canada Aeroplan: A good way to book United awards

Best Ways to Book Award Flights to Europe

Air France/KLM Flying Blue: Great for booking cheap Air France and KLM awards as well SkyTeam partner award flights. They also offer a monthly list of Promo Rewards, which can cut the miles needed by up to 50% for select routes.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: Virgin Atlantic now has the cheapest pricing to fly between the US and London if you get their saver level pricing.
Avianca Lifemiles: A hidden gem for booking Star Alliance flights to Europe. It offers competitive award pricing making it a budget-friendly choice. You can use their website to find and book flights on partners like Lufthansa, Swiss, and LOT Polish Airlines.

How to Find Award Availability on British Airways

You can log in to your British Airways Executive Club account and manually search for British Airways award space. However, an alternative is to leverage the monthly calendar view of award flights that American Airlines and Qantas offer on their websites.

Log into your British Airways account and use the Book With Avios option to find British Airways award availability.

Best Ways to Book Award Flights to Asia

Air Canada Aeroplan: Aeroplan offers great award rates for Star Alliance airlines to Asia like Asiana, EVA Air, and Singapore Airlines. It’s user-friendly and allows for stopovers at reasonable rates.
American Airlines: Use the AAdvantage program to book Oneworld partner flights on Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

How to Find Award Availability on ANA

ANA's website isn't the easiest to use but using ANA Mileage Club is still the best way to find award availability on ANA. If you're flexible on dates, you can try using United's calendar search to see if any last-minute award availability shows up for ANA. It's very unlikely you'll find any ANA award availability if you're not looking 12 months in advance or for last-minute awards.

Log into your ANA account and use the Award Reservation option to find ANA award availability.

Best Award Flight Options by Airline Alliance

For Star Alliance Partner Airlines, Use:

For Oneworld Partner Airlines, Use:

For SkyTeam Partner Airlines, Use:

Other Tips for Finding Award Space

Search and Book in the Optimal Time Window
Some airlines release award seats as soon as their booking window opens (typically 365 days in advance), while others add availability closer to departure.
Be Flexible with Your Origin and Destination Airports
Sometimes nearby airports have better availability. Search a few options to improve your chances.
Be Flexible with Your Travel Dates
Award seats often depend on demand. Try midweek travel or off-peak seasons and avoid holidays to find more options.

FAQs About Award Availability

What is the best time to book award flights?

The sweet spot is often as soon as the booking window opens or within the last few weeks before departure.

Why can’t I find award availability?

Award seats are limited, especially during peak seasons. Flexibility with dates and routes is key to finding award availability.

Are there blackout dates for award flights?

Some programs have blackout dates or restrict saver awards, so it’s always good to check individual program rules.

Can I book partner flights using my miles?

Yes! Most major airlines allow you to book partner flights within their alliances.

Do all airlines show partner award availability online?

No, some partners require you to call customer service to book, so double-check availability through other partner airlines.

Final Thoughts

Finding award flights doesn’t have to be stressful. With the right tools, programs, and a little flexibility, you can use your miles to take amazing trips for a fraction of the cost. Start exploring today, and happy travels!