A primer: booking your first award flight

So, you've put in the work of gathering all the points or miles you need for that business class flight to Tokyo. But how do you actually book it? Below, I'll provide a basic overview of the process (and things to be mindful of). This assumes you have already identified the flight you plan to fly on (rewards program you're using to book, flight number, airline, day & time of flight, etc.). In other posts, I'll highlight how to find the best routes and rewards programs to use to book your ideal flight.

Brief refreshers/reminders: Often the sweet spot for award flights is using the rewards currency (airline points or miles) of a particular airline to book tickets on a different airline that they are partnered with. For example, Singapore Airlines and Air Canada are both members of the Star Alliance, meaning that they may allocate a few tickets that can be booked using the other program's points or miles. A few months ago, when I planned to travel to Singapore, I was able to book two business class tickets on Singapore Airlines from SFO-SIN for 87,500 Air Canada Aeroplan points. I have a trip next year from BOS-NRT that I booked using my AAdvantage miles on a Japan Airlines flight, and another trip from ATL-IST I booked using my Avianca LifeMiles on a Turkish Airlines flight.

Terminology: Award flight=flight able to booked with points or miles | partner airline=an airline rewards program or airline that works with/allows members to book flights using the miles or points of a different airline | rewards currency=the type of points or miles used to book your flight

Basic steps:

1. Confirm you have enough points or miles to book the flight. Sometimes points or miles prices are dynamic, meaning that the economy flight you saw for 19,000 AAdvantage miles from ATH-JFK may have gone up to 25,500 (true story). Relying solely on websites like seats.aero or PointsYeah can be dangerous because they are not always up to date. Which leads into step 2.

2. Make sure that the flight you are planning to fly on is still available to be booked via the rewards program you plan to use. Log in to the website of your selected rewards program, input your departure dates, and search. Just because you see plenty of cash and points/miles bookings with the airline you will be flying with does not mean that the rewards program you use will have that flight available.

   Example: You see a United airlines Saver fare for business class routing IAD-TYO for 56,000 United Miles. You don't have enough United miles, so you want to use your Air Canada Aeroplan points instead. United controls whether or not their partner airlines have access to this flight, so this flight may or may not be bookable via Aeroplan. So, if you want to book this flight with Aeroplan, make sure you log in to your account and search for it first. Better yet, you will have already semi-confirmed availability using a reward booking tool like pointsyeah.com or seats.aero prior to step 1.

3. Now that you've confirmed that your flight can be booked via the rewards program you're using, it's time to transfer your points. [If your points are already in your account, skip to step 4]. Log into your credit card company's website, link your account to the rewards program you will be using, and transfer. Remember: You should not transfer points from American Express, Chase, Capital One, or Citi prior to verifying the flight is available. In most cases, the award flight you are trying to book won't sell out in the time it takes to transfer over your points, but it can. You can usually call the airline rewards program you're trying to book with and see if they can hold the flight while you transfer over the points. Points transfers are often instantaneous, but some, like to All Nippon Airways (ANA), notoriously take a few days. Plan accordingly.

4. It's time to book! Make sure you're aware of the program terms and features of the ticket class you're booking (economy, business, first). Depending on the program, your miles or associated taxes/fees may or may not be refundable. Often times business class tickets come with free checked bags, lounge access at the departing airport, and more. Keep track of your eTicket number, confirmation code, and confirmation email.

5. Pre-select your seats (optional). If you booked direct with the airline you're flying with (e.g., booked a United flight with United miles) this should be easy. If you booked via a partner airline, you may or may not have been able to select your seats during booking process. If not, you can call either airline to see if they can do it for you. Note: the airline you're flying on will not have the same confirmation code you received after making the booking on the partner airline. You'll want to call the rewards program you booked with (or scour your confirmation email) to a find a PNR number. The PNR might be what you need if you're going to select your seats via the airline you're flying on.

   Summary:

   -Confirm the amount of points/miles required to book your flight. Be aware of the transfer times to your airline rewards program

   -Make sure the flight is bookable via your rewards program before you transfer over your points from a credit card

   -Transfer points from your credit card rewards program to the rewards program you'll be using to book the flight (if applicable)

   -Book the flight. Make note of the terms and conditions

   -Keep track of every single ticket number, confirmation code, etc. that you receive. Find the PNR if you'd like to pre-select your seats.