As a frequent flyer member, have you ever searched for flights using points and found that you need a huge amount of points to book flights? Or maybe you have seen something called reward seats or classic seats? As someone who regularly searches for flights using points, I know how frustrating it can be to find that some flights require a huge amount of points. There has to be another way to secure seats without wasting so many points! Thankfully there is and it’s called Reward Seats.
What are Reward Seats?
Reward seats are seats that come heavily discounted for frequent flyer members. Different airlines refer to reward seats as award, classic or redemption seats. Some airlines may also refer to them as ‘saver’ or ‘sale’ seats. The special thing about reward seats is that it offers the same privileges as booking a regular seat if you use cash, points + pay or points to book your flight.
How do I find discounted Seats?
Booking reward seats is the holy grail when booking flights using points and are often available on all cabins including business and first class. The only downside to booking reward seats is actually finding them! Most airlines release them on a limited basis. This means that some airlines will release a limited number of seats for every flight or cabin if any at all. Also, some airlines release reward seats on certain dates. From my experience, booking rewards seats may be difficult around peak seasonal periods and school holidays. If you are looking to book using reward seats – and let’s face it most of us are! The best and most efficient way is to keep your dates flexible. I usually have a date set in mind, then I check 5-7 previous days and another 5-7 days days forward for reward seats.
Which Airlines offer reward seats?
Both of Australia’s frequent flyer programs, Qantas and Velocity offer Reward Seats. Usually when booking using your preferred frequent flyer program, the option of reward/award/classic seats will be available next to your preferred flight. Qantas Airlines calls their reward seats Classic NOT Classic Plus. Classic Plus points fluctuates throughout the year based on airline availability. I have found that there are more Classic Plus seats in the school holidays, when there is higher travel demand. While Classic seats are in non-peak periods such as March, August and November. Therefore, classic seats are the way to go as they have a fixed point amount for the selected flight. United Mileage Plus members can book via Award flights or Saver Award (for economy). British Airways also has Reward Flight Saver which offers a good value for flights with a low flat fee to cover fees and taxes and are shown with the symbol below.
How Do i book reward seats?
Qantas Frequent Flyer
To book classic seats with Qantas, search your flights, dates, how many people etc and select Rewards.
Click on Search Flights once all the information has been entered. The cheapest point fare usually will be displayed as Classic Seats, although for some dates there may only be Classic Plus.
Velocity Frequent Flyer
To book using Velocity Points, head to the Virgin Australia website select ‘Use Velocity Points’, then enter in all the details required.
When booking using Velocity points you may see two of the same flights listed on their page with different amounts of points needed.
What we have above are two of the same flights with two differences.
1. The flight numbers are different (VA 8000 and UA 842) and
2. One is a reward seat with massively discounted points compared to the first flight.
These flights take you to the same destination, on the same flight, with the same seats to choose from – only one option offers reward seats that are offered by United Airlines whilst the first option is the standard cost of purchasing a seat using points. Please don’t select the first option! The remaining amount of $130.21 or $163.61 are fees and taxes provided by the airline. This is why it is crucial to research the best flight and dates for your journey. By booking the reward seats, you save yourself 75% of your points for your return flight home or for the rest of your family travelling with you.
Point.me and seats.aero
Another cool option when searching for reward seats is to use point.me or seats.aero for a complete list of all airlines. This works out well if you are an Amex member and can transfer points to their airline partners. Point.me offers a paid subscription, however, this is free for US American Express holders.
Seats.aero is free only if the dates fall within the next two months. If you are wanting to search outside of 60 days, you will need the paid version. When using seats.aero simply search your desired flight and date – tick the box ‘+/- 7 days’ and view the results if your dates are flexible. Once you have selected your flight click on the Information button and open the new link that can take you straight to the airline partner’s website. By searching flights with seats.aero to Tokyo in July, I was able to find many airline flyer programs and the amount of points needed to book with them.
How much are points worth when booking reward seats?
Another way to compare if you are getting the best available deal is to calculate the value of one point or cents per point. Generally speaking 0-1 cents per point isn’t that great as we will soon see, 1-3 cents is average and expect anything over 3 cents to be a steal!
For this example, lets use the velocity flights above for SYD – LAX.
First: Find the amount you would be expected to pay if you pay with cash.
| Points per flight | 120 200 Pts + $163.61 | 44 800 Pts + $130.21 |
| Subtract the total flight cost by fees and taxes. | 885.11 – $163.11 = $722 | 885.11 – $130.21 = $754.90 |
| Divide the new price by the amount of points needed to book the flight. | 722/120200= 0.0601 cent per point | 754.90/44800 = 1.685 cents per point. |
When is the best time to book?
Most airlines release Reward Seats between 330-353 days before Departure. Qantas reward seats get released 353 before departure whilst Velocity releases seats 330 days before Departure. Qantas also releases classic seats in batches at certain times throughout the year. These batch seats are normally mentioned through promotions and normally drop on a certain date and time- this is normally 10am Sydney time but may differ based on the promotion.
Conclusion
Reward Seats are worthwhile in securing a seat for exceptional value for frequent flyer members. Although researching flights may be time consuming and tiresome, the level for savings may be worthwhile for your given flights and destinations.
Blog That Travels xx