As we all recognize, it can sometimes be difficult to secure award availability, particularly for travel in first and business class. Many individuals believe that airlines will always release some award seats right when the schedule first opens, but that is not the reality for most carriers.
Nonetheless, a few airlines have award seat guarantees, promising that a specified number of award seats will be available as soon as the schedule becomes accessible. In this article, I would like to discuss the airlines that provide this guarantee and explain what it involves.
Airlines that guarantee award seats
At present, there are two or three frequent flyer programs that guarantee a particular number of award seats as soon as the schedule opens. These programs include British Airways Club, Finnair Plus, and Iberia Club (sort of). Let’s examine the specifics of each.
British Airways’ award seat guarantee states that the airline guarantees 12 to 14 award seats per flight:
– For short haul flights, you can anticipate at least eight economy (Euro Traveller) award seats and four business class (Club Europe) award seats.
– For long haul flights, you can expect at least eight economy (World Traveller) award seats, two premium economy (World Traveller Plus) award seats, and four business class (Club World) award seats; first class awards do not have guarantees.
Finnair’s award seat guarantee promises six to eight award seats per flight:
– On short haul flights, you can anticipate at least four economy award seats and two business class award seats.
– On long haul flights, you can expect at least four economy award seats, two premium economy award seats, and two business class award seats.
Next, let’s consider Iberia’s award seat guarantee. Officially, the airline states that it “guarantees a minimum number of seats that can be exchanged for Avios on all Iberia Group flights,” without specifying what that number is. However, I observe that Iberia tends to follow a similar pattern as British Airways and Finnair:
– For short haul flights, you can expect at least four economy award seats and two business class award seats.
– For long haul flights, you should anticipate at least four economy award seats, two premium economy award seats, and two business class award seats.
It is important to note that these figures are not formally published, but they align with my observations alongside the airline’s promise of a guarantee.
A few points to consider regarding these opportunities:
– Guaranteed award availability is loaded as soon as the schedule becomes available, which is 355 days in advance with British Airways Club, 361 days in advance with Finnair Plus, and 360 days in advance with Iberia Club.
– For specific reasons, you must select “Finland” as the country on Finnair’s website to unlock the full availability of seats through the guarantee.
– The award seat guarantee represents a minimum, meaning that in many cases, you might find that more award seats are actually available.
– These guarantees only apply through the “native” frequent flyer program, so they often won’t be bookable via partner frequent flyer programs.
– For Finnair Plus, the award seat guarantee only applies to flights to and from Helsinki (HEL) and does not include the Doha (DOH) route.
– In some instances, these awards may have high carrier-imposed surcharges, particularly with British Airways.
I should also point out that even for airlines lacking award seat guarantees, typically, the prime time to redeem miles is right as the schedule opens or close to departure, when airlines release a significant number of unsold seats for miles.
Finally, to be comprehensive, it is worth noting that Virgin Atlantic Flying Club previously had an award seat guarantee but no longer does so since transitioning to dynamic award pricing.
Other airlines have different types of guarantees
The aforementioned are the two frequent flyer programs that I would consider to provide the most beneficial guarantees regarding award availability. However, there are additional aspects that deserve emphasis.
For starters, there are numerous frequent flyer programs that are revenue-based, allowing the redemption of points for any seat on any flight. This includes programs like JetBlue TrueBlue and Southwest Rapid Rewards. Clearly, these airlines also have an award seat guarantee (in the sense that there will always be space), but it may not represent a good deal, so I don’t think it deserves the same level of emphasis.
Moreover, even airlines with loyalty programs that aren’t revenue-based generally have award seat guarantees nowadays, where you can redeem points for any seat on a flight. This includes programs like American AAdvantage and Delta SkyMiles. However, this typically does not offer good value, as in many cases, an award may cost many hundreds of thousands of points.
Final thoughts
Award availability can be difficult to locate these days, particularly for