***FOR EXEC SUMMARY SEE BELOW - FOR THE MORE DETAILED SUMMARY SEE POST 2***
EXEC SUMMARY
Key - Airline/How far ahead can DC book awards(days)?/What's the furthest ahead I can see easily and usually for free please*(days)?/By what method can I see myself*?
'bmi'
'bmi'/361/355/Aeroplan and sometimes 'bmi'
Star Alliance Airlines
Adria/361/359/M&M
Aegean/184/184/ANA or ANA via KVS or Aeroplan or Continental or Expert Flyer
Air Canada/355/355/Aeroplan or Expert Flyer
Air China/361/363/Expert Flyer
Air New Zealand/354/355/Expert Flyer
ANA/355/355/ANA or Aeroplan
Asiana/351/351/Aeroplan
Austrian/361/359/M&M
blue 1/330/330/ANA or ANA via KVS or Aeroplan or Continental
brussels airlines/340/341/Aeroplan
Continental Airlines/336/337/Aeroplan or Continental
Croatia Airlines/361/359/M&M
EgyptAir/355/355/Aeroplan
LOT Polish Airlines/361/359/M&M
Lufthansa/361/359/M&M
SAS Scandanavian Airlines/330/330/ANA or ANA via KVS or Aeroplan or Continental
Singapore Airlines/354/354/Aeroplan
South African Airways/355/355/SAA Voyager
Spanair/361/339/Aeroplan
Swiss/338/339/Aeroplan
TAM/184Intercontinental+3monthsSouthAm&Domestic/184Intercontinental only/ANA or ANA via KVS
TAP Portugal/361/355/Aeroplan
Thai/340/339/Aeroplan
Turkish Airlines/354/355/Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
United/331/336/Continental
US Airways/331/334/US Airways Dividend Miles
'bmi' 'Partner' Airlines
bmibaby/368/NA/NA
Jet Airways/holding space - info updated once joined 11 Oct 10Qatar/361/334/Qatar Privilege Clyb
Transaero Airlines/11 months/NA/NA
Virgin Atlantic/336/336/Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Spreadsheet & notes link ... ->
http://ftjonnyboy.yolasite.com/
* For details of the 'easy access' methods click the link http://ftjonnyboy.yolasite.com/ and open the spreadsheet. All methods are free, excepting ANA via KVS (subscription but service is very quick for checking availability for less than 330 days) and Expert Flyer (but you can get a once only free 5 day trial). For sub 330 day bookings I have found ANA and ANA via KVS the easiest to use, with ANA via KVS the quickest but you pay for it; for 330 days+ then Aeroplan seemed to work best for me and often finds creative routes, but it is a little slow. M&M method is via JetFriends for the under 18s - takes 2-3 weeks to get credentials so plenty of planning ahead needed!
END OF EXEC SUMMARY
*******END OF EXEC SUMMARY - ORIGINAL POST 1 BELOW*******
ORIGINAL POST 1
The original post will be edited as info comes in to fill the blanks - thanks!
***ALL INFO COLLECTED NOW - SEE POST 2 FOR THE DETAILED SUMMARY & SPREADSHEET LINK***
Hi there
I have looked and cannot find the answers, so hopefully some of you can help fill in the blanks and the info will be of use to others too.
If it was a redemption booking for me I wouldn't care less and take my chances closer the time. But this one is for others and on routes where First/Biz availability is hard to find unless you jump on the seats when they are released so hence my unusual forward planning...
Anyway here are the 2 questions:-
1) How far in advance can you book 'bmi' award seats via the ICC and when are they loaded?
'Phoned the ICC and told lots of different things
, with a consensus from agents around 11 months ahead. BUT persevered and eventually found a helpful agent that would try to do a booking more than 11 months ahead and we checked over a few different days and worked out that it is possible to book
361 days ahead, strikingly similar to LH M&M; today (13 Sept 2010) could have booked for 9 Sept 2011 but not any further forward.
The story on-line for 'bmi' award seats is different and on 11 Sept could book 354 days ahead, on 12 Sept could book 353 days ahead and on 13 Sept could have booked 352 days ahead, i.e. as far ahead as end of current month + 11 months, up to a maximum of 359 days ahead (checked this on Oct 1st 2010).
So from this it seems safe to assume if you go via the ICC, and get a helpful agent, it is at the 361 day mark they can take bookings from and open up their seats, and I would guess if other * awards are open then they could book those too?
2) When do the various *Alliance partners first release Award seats?
I appreciate that availability often opens up nearer the time and on same routes hardly ever does, but it is not all like that and interested when each airline normally first opens up its main tranche of award seats for its own flights (no code-shares). And this is the regular variety that is, not like the ones or similar in some programmes where you can pay double miles and have access to a special award class or revenue class converted into an award seat AND most importantly that 'bmi' Diamond Club can normally book for DC members (obviously!)!
And I do appreciate just because they have opened their regular award seats up to their own members it doesn't necessarily mean that they are always going to be open to book by 'bmi' as some airlines block booking for a while just to their own members, or some programmes block off access to * partner bookings (which I don't think 'bmi' do).
Nonetheless, it is as good a starting point as any...
So far I have worked out or gathered from other posts - the 'Original List - (roughly worked out so don't hold me to it) or have found since I first posted this - the 'Discovered List'. I have also assumed here seats open up on a daily load rather than say a once a week load:-
Original List
* 'bmi' -
361 days though expect to be told it is 11 months
* LOT Polish Airlines -
361 days
* Lufthansa -
361 days
* ANA -
355 days
* Singapore Airlines -
354 days
* brussels airlines -
340 days
* Swiss -
338 days
* United Airlines -
331 days
* TAM -
184 days International; 3 months Domestic
Discovered List - Info on other * airlines from other posters/subsequent discovery
* Adria - 361 days
* Air China - 361 days
* Austrian - 361 days
* Croatia Airlines - 361 days
* Spanair - 361 days
* TAP Portugal - 361 days
* Air Canada - 355 days (thank you YQMer)
* EgyptAir - 355 days
* South African Airways - 355 days
* Air New Zealand - 354 days (thank you TEX277)
* Turkish Airlines - 354 days
* Asiana - 351 days
* Thai Airways - 340 days
* Continental Airlines - 336 days
* US Airways - 331 days
* SAS Scandanvian Airlines - 330 days (thank you Svantevit)
* blue 1 - 330 days
* Aegean - 184-193 days
***LIST NOW COMPLETE - REST OF ORIGINAL POST NO LONGER RELEVANT - THANKS FOR HELP***
Don't know for the others, esp Air New Zealand (most interested in) who I know is greater than 330 days but how far greater don't know.
So, if anyone does know for Air NZ or the missing * airlines perhaps you could add to the thread. Assuming that 'bmi' do book 361 days ahead, then for those hard to get seats with some * partners it could prove useful for all those trying to get a head-start on the usual ANA method of checking 330 days out, or give us the chance to book awards seats before the likes of say UA or CO members can wade in on * partner bookings.
I will add in underlined italics the days for those airlines I don't know that you let me know about and hope that proves useful for others too.
How you would be able to check easily without ANA at greater than 330 days out I don't know - but maybe when we are all forced to M&M we can check there too in due course.
So any help with the ?s and the missing airlines I'd appreciate. And if you have any dispute with the days ahead listed then let me know too.
Thanks all
Jonny