Anonymous wrote:OP here: thank you all, again, for great advice.

I’ve never heard of seats.aero until now, but I can see how useful that will be.

Very excited to have a new hobby obsessing over award availability!

Once you go on an overnight flight in a lie flat seat that you only paid $200 in fees and some points for, it's hard to go back.

OP here: thank you all, again, for great advice.

I’ve never heard of seats.aero until now, but I can see how useful that will be.

Very excited to have a new hobby obsessing over award availability!

Anonymous wrote:With kids I need to fly on specific dates so looking a year out. So I want to fly to Europe in business June 2026, and I know awards will most likely open in July. Right now I'm tracking the airlines I want to fly to try to see what time of day they release awards.

Good luck, but keep your expectations low. Lots of other parents are in the exact same position of making summer vacation plans, and some of them are shelling out for award concierge booking services that will likely beat you to the punch. Airlines have also gotten quite stingy with transcontinental business class saver award inventory. They know that there will be enough less discerning travelers who have no qualms about blowing their stash of points/miles on standard awards even when it's a horrible value.

With kids I need to fly on specific dates so looking a year out. So I want to fly to Europe in business June 2026, and I know awards will most likely open in July. Right now I'm tracking the airlines I want to fly to try to see what time of day they release awards.

If you’re looking to book soon then pay for a Seats.aero pro account and set a bunch of alerts.

You can always book early, then continue to monitor for better deals (either fewer miles or less money equivalents) and if better deals pop up you can jump on them and cancel the earlier reservation. If you do that, most airlines will automatically (and instantaneously) refund the miles to your account.

This wouldn't booking only with points/or miles, but in the days leading up to departure some airlines will start dropping the price to "buy up" into business from economy if it looks like there will be lots of empty seats up front.

Definitely for summer travel, try and book when the schedule opens. Another option if you don't see exactly what you want, but see something you could live with, is grab that and hope you get a schedule change 6 months later. Then you can call and they will usually give you your preferred itinerary.

Finally, if looking for business but can live with economy, book econ to lock in dates, then watch like a hawk, especially as you get within 2 weeks of departure. You'd be surprised how much availability fluctuates over time.

Depends on which airlines. For our tickets on United we have booked as early as 11 months out.

Thanks for the replies. I'm prepared to book as soon as the dates are available, but there seem to be amazing deals as the travel dates get really close.

If you're a book-at-the-last-moment type, do you book accommodation way ahead and feel confident you'll find flights? Or do you book whatever lodging is available? (Maybe that ought to be a separate thread.)

For my last two trip to Europe, I booked as soon as the calendars opened. My recent trip was OW on Flying Blue-KLM, and OW on United. (Both legs economy but I did find business flights at reasonable prices)

The Flying Blue calendar had the cheapest prices for about a week after the calendar opened, and then after a week there were still some cheap economy flights but not the prime dates (ie, weekends). United's flights were cheapest 1-2 weeks after the dates opened, and then again, you could find those cheap flights later but not in all dates. So if your dates are flexible you can book later. But if you want to fly on a Friday or Saturday and not a Tuesday, then book now.

We went for Spring Break, Saturday-Sunday.

If you are thinking business, book 1 year in advance or a few says before leaving.

I booked my last business award flight to Europe two days before. You can find good availability that way!

Depending on the destination I’m booking at calendar open. Sometimes we block time and book whatever is open T-14.

If you're trying to fly in business, as soon as they're available. If economy is fine, waiting is okay. Airlines started catching on about ten years ago and miles/points redemptions aren't nearly the great deal they used to be.

If you make use of airline/credit card points, how far ahead of travel do you tend to book?

For summer travel to Europe (next year), I was thinking of taking what I can get as soon as I find something palatable, even this early. How do more experienced travelers do it?