Originally Posted by
AwardBee
As others said, it is 5 days max for the hold, although when your hold expires and the seat goes back into inventory, you can re-hold again. Also, if you're willing to take a small chance, I've actually *flown* an outbound to Asia without the return booked, or at most with a dummy itinerary so I could show I had an onward ticket (for countries like Singapore that like to see it).
And within the few days before the return departure, I've *never* failed to secure an excellent redemption heading back to the US, because as I mentioned earlier, CX releases the majority of their unsold premium seats within 2 weeks of departure, and sometimes within 2-5 days, with availability changing by the hour.
It can make your trip a bit stressful, but in general, I've never been stuck in Asia without a return, and I've personally made 3 CX award trips to Asia in the last year where the return was booked last minute, just as I've described.
This is not going to work for Susiesan knowing her fame in CX forum from a few years back, asking questions and worrying stuff a year before she actually was able to book anything on a trip...
Joking aside, as long as CX continues its pattern of inventory control, the willingness to wait for award seats open up thus able to change to more desirable date(s), works very well. The danger lies in, when and if CX changes its practice. Then Susiesan's obsession of nailing down everything a year before trip would probably be a safer approach.
I do agree that it is very unlikely one would be stranded in Asia, giving there re alternatives, albeit may not be CX nor direct flights.