How I Find Premium Award Space on 5 of the World’s Best Airlines

Booking premium cabin award space on the world’s best airlines is one of the most rewarding — yet challenging — parts of using points and miles.

Earning rewards can be relatively easy, but redeeming them for aspirational, once-in-a-lifetime travel is far more complex. Premium seats can cost thousands of dollars, and finding award availability is often considered the “holy grail” of travel. Over the last decade, I’ve flown business or first class on top airlines using points and miles.

What once felt daunting has become significantly easier with a bit of strategy. Here’s a look at the basics of award space and how I find it on Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, All Nippon Airways, and Cathay Pacific.

Understanding Award Space

The difficult part of booking premium cabin award space is not earning the miles but finding available award seats. Airlines tightly control award inventory, and you can spend hours searching with little to no success.

Saver vs. Standard Awards

Airlines release a limited number of seats that can be booked using miles instead of cash. These seats typically fall into 2 categories:

• Saver awards typically have the lowest mileage cost, but are the most difficult to find
• Standard awards are typically more available, but often priced much higher

I almost always focus on saver award space, as these seats can cost significantly less. With certain airlines, the difference can be hundreds of thousands of points.

Airline Partnerships and Alliances

Most major airlines belong to 1 of the 3 main alliances: Star Alliance, Oneworld, or SkyTeam.

These alliances allow airlines to expand their global reach by partnering with others to share routes, coordinate schedules, and offer passengers a seamless travel experience.

These partnerships also extend to airline frequent flyer programs. In many cases, you can redeem one airline’s currency to book flights on partner airlines, which can mean better rates on award space.

How I Book Award Space on Top Airlines

With the basics covered, here’s how I find award space on some of the best airlines in the world.

1. Qatar Airways Qsuites

My favorite business class product — and one of the most sought-after awards — is Qatar Airways Qsuites. Qatar Airways consistently ranks among the world’s best airlines, thanks to its global route network and exceptional premium cabin experience.  It honestly redefined business class when it launched in 2017, and many airlines have since followed its lead.

You can book Qsuites using Qatar Airways’ own loyalty program, Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Qatar Airways is also a member of the Oneworld alliance, meaning there are numerous other ways to book its business class, including via British Airways Club, Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards, American Airlines AAdvantage, and Japan Airlines Mileage Bank.

Because Qsuites awards are so competitive, how you search matters. I always recommend searching segment by segment instead of looking for a full itinerary. This often uncovers seats that don’t appear in a single search.

Award search tools have also made finding award availability much easier. Seats.aero Pro is one of my favorite tools for finding Qsuites business class award space. It includes a dedicated Qatar Qsuites Finder tool that filters by departure airport and dates to quickly identify available award seats.

2. Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines is also considered among the best airlines in the world, thanks to its stellar service, onboard dining, and overall premium cabin experience. The airline is famous for its luxurious cabins — most notably its First Class Suites on the Airbus A380.

Finding premium cabin award space requires some strategy. The best place to start is with the airline’s frequent flyer program: Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.

While you may be able to find better rates through partner programs, it can be quite difficult to find award space on certain routes. Although Singapore Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, it tends to release more award space to its own members than to partner airlines.

Even just a few days of flexibility can significantly improve your chances of securing a premium cabin. Also, looking for flights departing from secondary hubs rather than major ones can increase the likelihood of finding award space. Many airlines have significant gaps between saver and standard award pricing — and few illustrate this better than Singapore Airlines.

As mentioned, you can also book Singapore Airlines business class through partner programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, which is how I booked it on its fifth-freedom route between the U.S. and Europe.

Hot Tip:

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is a transfer partner of nearly every major transferable rewards currency, including
American Express Membership Rewards, Brex Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

3. Emirates

Emirates is synonymous with luxury, especially its A380 First Class with an onboard shower and bar, and its Game Changer First Class Suite on the Boeing 777. Redeeming points and miles for Emirates first class has always been difficult, but demand for the airline’s premium cabins has skyrocketed over the years, making award availability tougher than ever.

The best way to book Emirates premium cabin awards is through the airline’s loyalty program, Emirates Skywards. However, you’ll need elite status to book first class awards outright. Emirates also allows members to upgrade tickets booked with cash or miles by one class of service, which means you can book its business class and potentially upgrade to its first class product.

Emirates isn’t part of a major airline alliance, but it does have partnerships with individual airlines, including Air Canada and Qantas. While partner bookings are possible, award space is incredibly limited, and the awards are typically priced much higher.

Emirates offers several fifth freedom flights, which can offer excellent redemption opportunities.

Hot Tip:

Emirates Skywards is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

4. All Nippon Airways

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a favorite among points enthusiasts thanks to its exceptional first and business class products and strong award pricing.

Over the last few years, ANA has limited its award space, especially with demands for Japan travel. Still, I’ve flown ANA’s premium cabins more than those of any other airline.

You can book ANA awards through ANA Mileage Club or partner programs, such as Air Canada Aeroplan and United Airlines MileagePlus. ANA also has several nonalliance partnerships, including Virgin Atlantic. Thanks to this special partnership, you can redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points for travel on ANA, which consistently ranks among the best ways to redeem Flying Club points.

ANA recently introduced an award availability calendar tool that provides a quick and easy way to scan months of dates and book seats when award space becomes available. You can see which routes and cabins have open seats, which are waitlisted, and which are completely unavailable.

Timing is critical. ANA tends to release award seats at predictable intervals, so checking for award availability right when the booking window opens gives you the best shot. There’s also occasionally strong last-minute availability for first class.

5. Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific is best known for its incredible premium cabin products, in-flight dining, onboard service, and extensive route network. It’s also a member of the Oneworld alliance, which means you can book awards with partner programs, including Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards, American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Club, and Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, among others.

However, the best way to book Cathay Pacific premium cabin awards is generally through Cathay’s loyalty program, Cathay Pacific Cathay. The program charges slightly more than others, but also tends to release more award availability to members.

The best way to check availability is also to contact Cathay Pacific directly. It has an intuitive search engine that makes finding award space fairly easy. Alternatively, you can use Roame, an award search tool that also searches Cathay Pacific awards.

Final Thoughts

Award space can be extremely competitive, especially for highly sought-after premium cabin seats. With some flexibility, award search tools, and a thoughtful transfer strategy, booking these premium cabin seats with points and miles is still very achievable.

Over the last decade, I’ve consistently been able to book business or first class using these strategies. While it’s gotten more competitive, the opportunities are still there if you know where (and how) to look.