You’ve been busy building up your points balance and eyeing a redemption. So when can you get first dibs on a coveted reward seat booked with frequent flyer points? Two factors are in play here – the airline’s booking calendar and the release pattern for reward seats – and it helps to know the quirks of both.

When does the booking calendar open?

The timeframes below are when the airlines open up their calendars for flight bookings. It’s the earliest opportunity you can book reward seats if they are available. In an ideal world, reward seat availability is also released at this time, but this is not always the case anymore.

So even though the Qantas calendar may open 353 days before departure, keep in mind that you still might not find any reward seats for that newly opened date.

ProgramDays before departureNotes
Qantas Frequent Flyer353*300 days for travel on Jetstar

330-339 days for travel on Emirates
* Note: If Qantas releases premium cabin reward seats on its international long-haul flights in advance, Bronze members can usually only book them from 297 days out and Silver members from 323 days. Gold members and higher get access from 353 days.
Velocity Frequent Flyer330May find Singapore Airlines awards at 331 days
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles353May find rewards earlier on Qantas
Etihad Guest330
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer355
Air Canada Aeroplan356
Air France-KLM Flying Blue359
Air New Zealand Airpoints350
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan331
American Airlines AAdvantage331
ANA Mileage Club356
Avianca LifeMiles360
British Airways Executive Club354
Delta SkyMiles331Sometimes up to 362 days
Emirates Skywards330
Finnair Plus361
HawaiianMiles330
Iberia Plus361
Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank330-360330 days for domestic flights; 360 days for international ones
LATAM Pass330
Lufthansa Miles & More359
Malaysia Airlines Enrich354May find at 361 days if required miles already in account
Qatar Airways Privilege Club361
Royal Jordanian Royal Plus362
S7 Airlines Priority330
SriLankan FlySmiLes361
United Airways MileagePlus335-338United flights at 335 days; partner flights at 338 days
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club331

This table is based on information collated online and confirmed by searches performed by Point Hacks.

There may be discrepancies in these numbers. If you have had a different experience in researching and booking redemptions, please feel free to share in the comments below.

Usually, the new booking day opens up at midnight GMT (which might be 10:00 am in AEST), but sometimes it can be based on the local time for the airline’s headquarters.

Why is knowing the booking calendar important?

In short, some programs offer a larger window of over three weeks to book seats over other programs. This comes down to which GDS the airline uses (e.g. Amadeus or Sabre). You should look at the calendar of the airline/frequent flyer program you want to use your points with, not the airline with whom you want to fly.

Let’s imagine you want to use American Airlines AAdvantage miles to book a Qantas flight. Even though Qantas allows redemptions up to 353 days before departure, you’d have to wait until 330 days when booking through American Airlines because that’s when their booking calendar opens.

Instead, you may want to secure the seat through Qantas (353 days) or Asia Miles (353 days) even though redemption rates are cheaper through American Airlines and Alaska Mileage Plan (331 days).

Similarly, if you want to use your Velocity Points to fly on Singapore Airlines, you may find that a lot of the seats have been already booked by Singapore’s own KrisFlyer members. That’s because they have access 355 days before departure compared to Velocity’s 330 days.

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When do reward seats actually get released?

This question is trickier to answer as it’s always evolving. Broadly speaking, we’re seeing three different types of release patterns now, but airlines do sometimes combine various strategies.

1. Release seats every day far in advance

Many airlines still release premium cabin (e.g. Business Class) reward seats on the day bookings open. The non-exhaustive list below has been checked by us in August 2024, looking ahead as far forward into 2025 as possible.

For Velocity partners, that includes:

  • Virgin Australia
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Qatar Airways (excluding peak holidays)
  • ANA (though a very limited number)

For Qantas partners, the list includes:

  • Fiji Airways
  • Finnair
  • China Airlines
  • Malaysia Airlines (though a very limited number)

Economy seats are usually easier to find far in advance with most airlines.

2. Release seats closer towards the travel date

Airlines use reward seats as a strategy to offload ‘distressed inventory’ (i.e. unsold seats) closer to the date of travel. These generally won’t be helpful to those planning a holiday, though you might be able to swap a previously booked seat for a newly released one in a higher cabin if everything lines up.

It’s better for those who can be spontaneous in their holidays or have an urgent need to travel. Usually, these last-minute releases include a decent number of premium cabin seats.

An interesting example is Lufthansa First Class redemptions. Miles & More members can book them from 359 days out. However, partners like MileagePlus, KrisFlyer and LifeMiles only get seats 15 days before departure.

For Velocity partners, the list includes:

  • United (from 1-2 months before departure)
  • ANA (from 14 days before departure)
  • Etihad (premium seats are only released from 30 days before departure)

For Qantas partners, expect last-minute seats from:

  • American Airlines
  • Sri Lankan Airlines
  • Cathay Pacific

3. Releasing seats as batches

Qantas is using this strategy more over the last few years. Instead of reliable daily releases of premium seats, the Red Roo now releases large chunks of seats in batches (often every few months).

The downside is these are quite unpredictable, so it’s hard to plan a trip around it. But the good news is that when these releases happen, Qantas usually opens up a lot of Business Rewards (sometimes up to 5), so it’s easier to book a family in Business Class if your dates work.

Qatar Airways also does this to a lesser extent throughout the year, so it’s worth checking via the Virgin Australia website often.

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Summing up

Knowing when each airline opens up its calendar for bookings is handy. Though it’s never guaranteed, you’ll have a better chance at getting first dibs on reward seats. Remember to check with the program you want to use points with, not the airline you want to fly.

Personally, most of my trips are still booked as far out as possible. Out of the main airlines connecting Perth to the rest of the world, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways are the easiest for us to get two Business Rewards to Europe or similar every year, as long as we book almost 330 days in advance (using Velocity Points).

When do frequent flyer programs release reward seats? was last modified: August 29th, 2024 by Brandon Loo