Easy search for award availability

[Deleted member 29185]

Sorry for the question as I'm sure this would have been asked many times (I just can't find the posts), but is there an easy way of searching award availabilty without searching one day at a time? I don't have an expert flyer subscription.

Second question..... is one world the best way to accrue points for int travel (including availability)? I'm currently deciding upon my flying stategies for the next few years with a view to EU travel in either J or F in perhaps 2014/2015. Most of my current flying is domestic and I'm not adverse to buying points. (I am aware of the current AA and VX promos). I have VA/VX/QF/AA FF accounts. Any thoughts/ideas most welcome.

 

[Hvr]

Sorry for the question as I'm sure this would have been asked many times (I just can't find the posts), but is there an easy way of searching award availabilty without searching one day at a time? I don't have an expert flyer subscription.

Second question..... is one world the best way to accrue points for int travel (including availability)? I'm currently deciding upon my flying stategies for the next few years with a view to EU travel in either J or F in perhaps 2014/2015. Most of my current flying is domestic and I'm not adverse to buying points. (I am aware of the current AA and VX promos). I have VA/VX/QF/AA FF accounts. Any thoughts/ideas most welcome.

Well this is a fairly personal choice but once you make a decision it tends to lock you in. Because when you get status to change means starting again without it and that is hard.

Since you're planning ahead have a look where your proposed travels will take you and what alliance will serve you best.

Happy travelling.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

when you get status to change means starting again without it and that is hard.

Thanks Hvr, I'll requal gold with VA (400 on the knocker....same as last year) but to be honest, status is not my big drawcard anymore. VA have proven quite clearly that loyalty is very much a one way path and I have no doubt that status costs more than it's worth. What I want to do now, is go back to a purely BFOD domestic arrangement and look more to greater options (free of gold/platinum handcuffs) for future J/F int. flights as it appears status offers little over J/F awards.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Someone has mentioned on another thread, a mob called Matrix Airfare Search.

Can anyone point me toward a web site with similar functions that searches award flights? The main things I was really hoping for is a date range (rather than exact date), range of airlines and cabin classes.


Does such a site exist?

 

[an*g-bne]

I've used, with quite a bit of success, Award Nexus. Only ever used it for Star Alliance searches, but it apparently does most airlines.

It's not a free service, although members of Flyertalk do get a complementary (albeit limited) account.

 

[casanovawa]

I hadn't used this site much, but i thought the people searching for USDM awards had thought it quite good???

AwardTravelr - Searching across all possibilities to make your frequent flyer miles work for you

 

[tuapekastar]

Sorry for the question as I'm sure this would have been asked many times (I just can't find the posts), but is there an easy way of searching award availabilty without searching one day at a time? I don't have an expert flyer subscription.

Second question..... is one world the best way to accrue points for int travel (including availability)? I'm currently deciding upon my flying stategies for the next few years with a view to EU travel in either J or F in perhaps 2014/2015. Most of my current flying is domestic and I'm not adverse to buying points. (I am aware of the current AA and VX promos). I have VA/VX/QF/AA FF accounts. Any thoughts/ideas most welcome.

Not sure if this is what you are seeking but QF does have a 'Flexible with dates' box you can tick which then covers and shows availability in all classes (you need to select them after the initial search) for something like a month. You then need to drill down into each day for the actual flights, but it is a start. Not sure about other airlines.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Thanks for the tips. Plenty of research still needed obviously. Lucky I have a while to learn before I start making decisions. I didn't end up buying points in 2012 as I didn't want to find out later award flights were too few to use them. I'll research first and hopefully some points deals might come up later in the year.

 

[cove]

Swanning-it we are on SQ Kris Flyer points and we run up those points using Citibank Visa and Westpac Amex Kris Flyer Platinum credit cards to get J and F redemption flights on a regular basis to Europe and North America. There are no caps on any of the cards we use and there has been excellent availability for us seeing SQ only release their premium seats to Kris Flyer miles account holders. Recently you can get Saver seats that are very good value in J, First and Suites.
If you intend buying points for Europe then my friends are doing US Air Dividend Miles and fly Thai to Thailand then on to Europe for about $2,500 to $2,800 in J and First. It is a bit convoluted seeing you open an account straight away then wait 12 days before you use it. The you buy twice to run up the miles you need when they offer a 100% bonus with purchase that comes pretty regularly.
US Airways are talking to American Airlines about a merger but that may not happen.
You won't be able to use US Airways points on SQ usually as they block out those premium seats.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

there has been excellent availability for us seeing SQ only release their premium seats to Kris Flyer miles account holders. Recently you can get Saver seats that are very good value in J, First and Suites.

Thanks for that. Are the SQ premium seats released to all KF members or only to higher status holders?

 

[cove]

We have zero status.
We warehouse points in Citi and Westpac Platinum Altitude to avoid the 3 year expiry clock starting to tick.
The Westpac Kris Amex transfer points monthly so watch that.
With Suites there is one Saver and one Standard points redemption per A380 flight but there are multiple flights per day for us with zero status but with plenty of points.

 

[RWJ777]

Thanks Hvr, I'll requal gold with VA (400 on the knocker....same as last year) but to be honest, status is not my big drawcard anymore. VA have proven quite clearly that loyalty is very much a one way path and I have no doubt that status costs more than it's worth. What I want to do now, is go back to a purely BFOD domestic arrangement and look more to greater options (free of gold/platinum handcuffs) for future J/F int. flights as it appears status offers little over J/F awards.

Oh - my - God! A rational frequent flyer!!

 

[Princess Fiona]

I have subscriptions to Expert Flyer, Award Nexus and also KVS tool. I've listed them in order of ease of use as well with KVS being the trickiest as it runs on Windows ( I'm a Mac person)
Expert Flyer is great for the email alerts when awards become available and Award Nexus can be set up to autosearch daily up to 21 days + the date requested and is also good for looking at sectors.
Nearly all of the info on these sites can be found individually on the Airlines FF websites but its a huge pain and these sites make searching vastly quicker.
Another great little site is http://www.awardgrabber.com/
I'm pretty useless at calendars and arithmetic and this takes away all the hassle of knowing which day seats become available.
I'm pretty new to the Award seat game so this info is by no means comprehensive but it is what I've found during my short time playing

 

[cove]

Well done Princess Fiona!
You and mini-me was the finale for those Award seats