Beginners guide to finding award space with ExpertFlyer

You are setting yourself up for failure if you only rely on airline websites and phone agents.

Many airline websites don't have the ability to show you every award flight route. Many phone agents don't have the required training to find award flights. Booking itineraries with lucrative partners can be difficult.

You can use additional tools to find that elusive ticket. In this guide, I will show you how to use ExpertFlyer to find available award space and increase your chances of scoring your dream trip.

I will start by talking about the basics of ExpertFlyer and then show you how to use it to find award space and set alerts.

ExpertFlyer basics

There are three plans to choose from: a free account, a premium account and a second premium account. The accounts have access to different features.

1. Free: Set an alert to notify you when a more desirable seat opens up on your flight. You’re limited to one free alert at a time, though you can add more for $0.99 each.
2. Basic ($4.99 per month): Offers additional features, such as award and upgrade inventory search and flight availability (including fare buckets). You can set four seat alerts simultaneously, but you're limited to 250 queries per month.
3. Premium ($9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year): Includes flexible search options, unlimited queries, 200 seat alerts at a time, aircraft change alerts and the ability to create flight alerts when inventory opens up.

You can find everything from airline schedules to seat maps using ExpertFlyer. If you need to find a specific flight last minute, you should keep these in your frequent flyer toolkit. We'll show you how to find awards and upgrade space with ExpertFlyer.

You can search for this inventory on the platform. American shows both award and upgrade space for its flights, so it's a good idea to carefully review the list to see what inventory is available for you. The data on ExpertFlyer is not upgraded by United. All major U.S. carriers other than Delta can be found in award space.

I got a first-class experience thanks to expertFlyer.

Finding award seats and setting award alerts

Let's start looking for award space. Free accounts can't run award searches, so make sure you have a basic or premium account. You can sign up for a free trial if you are a new member.

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Setting up your ExpertFlyer searches

Click the label on the left-hand sidebar to find the awards and upgrades tool after logging in. The first thing you'll see is a search field. Your departure and arrival airports and departure and return dates should be filled in. You can keep the return date empty if you want to fly one-way.

You can use the Premium subscription to find plus or minus three days from your travel date. You can look at a week at a time and search for different classes. It will give you the most award space if you use it.

The fare classes that ExpertFlyer can search alongside a description will be shown when you select the airline. There are saver awards for United Airlines.

I'll check both cabins and look for one seat that's indicated by the "quantity" field.

Select the "Direct/Non-Stop Only" option at the bottom of the search form if you want to only search for nonstop flights. You may be able to exclude codeshare flights from your searches. If you only want to fly the airline you are looking for, this can be helpful. If the option is given, I would suggest enabling this for most searches.

The option to show all dates on one screen is also available. It will make scrolling through the results easier.

Star Alliance award tickets are not a good idea.

Reading ExpertFlyer search results

You can find a list of available flights by clicking the search button at the bottom of the screen. You can find the fare classes you were looking for on each flight option. The number of seats in that class will be shown by some airlines. If the flight has at least the number of seats you searched for available, other airlines will show "Yes" or "No"

You can find connecting options on the results page if you don't limit it to nonstop flights. Every leg of a connecting itinerary needs to have award availability in the class of service it is in to book the entire trip.

You can book your flight online or call an airline phone agent to find out more about the flight you found.

If the flight you're looking to book doesn't have award space in the fare class you want, you can use the top square to set an alert. You will be notified by email if a seat is released if you set an alert. You can avoid running award searches if you use this method.

The alert needs to be given a title. The alert was named after the flight route and date. If business-class award space becomes available, I could book an economy-class seat right away.

Setting up ExpertFlyer seat alerts

If seats on your flight become available, you will be notified. If you set up an alert, ExpertFlyer will send you an email if someone cancels their flight.

To open a seat map and set an alert, you need to enter the flight details in the fields.

I chose economy class because my reservation was in economy class. Even if a first class seat became available, I wouldn't be able to choose that seat without paying for it.

The Economy Plus aisle and window seats are currently occupied.

Clicking on "create seat alert" and using the "select specific seats" feature enabled me to set a seat alert. If seats become available, I would like to get email notifications for Economy Plus seats.

Clicking "Any Aisle Seat" will alert me if an economy class aisle seat becomes available as all of the aisle seats on this flight are either occupied or blocked.

There is a way to increase your chances of getting a better seat.

A real-world example of using ExpertFlyer to book an award

It's one of my favorite loyalty programs because of its large list of airlines.

You can't book partner flights on the website If you don't know which award space to book, it can take a long time to call the airline. If you can find a flight with award space on the day you want to book, it will be much easier. You can tell the agent the award you want to book and make sure there is enough award space available.

It is possible for me to book a business-class flight from New York to Brussels for just 44,000 miles with the help of Etihad guest.

I will start the search by going to the awards and upgrades page. I will enter my search criteria and select the class I am interested in booking. Three days before and after my departure date, I will look for availability. I'll only look for nonstop flights.

The "Seats" column indicates that seats are available on Oct. 28.

I will take note of the flight number and dates and call the airline. The agent will be told to search for the flight I found on ExpertFlyer. Sometimes it can be helpful to tell the agent that the airline has a two-character IATA code for its fare class. You can find both of these in the search results.

I would say something like this instead of asking an agent to search for an award ticket.

I would like to book a partner award ticket. I would like to book a seat on the flight from JFK to BRU. There are seats available in the I business award fare class.

If everything goes according to plan, the agent can book my ticket in a flash. I can save time on the phone and make the booking process simpler by using ExpertFlyer.

ExpertFlyer restrictions

Most award seat availability will be at the saver level. It should be bookable using any partner program's currency, but it won't show you the expanded award inventory that can be found through some programs.

ExpertFlyer can’t find expanded availability for United elite members and cardholders

The first example shows that United flights on ExpertFlyer only show "I" and "X" for business class and "X" for economy. The award classes are standardized. If you have an eligible United credit card, you can access additional award inventory that isn't on ExpertFlyer.

The United flight from Dulles International Airport to San Francisco International Airport only has XN award space. The award space is only available to co branded credit card holders and United elite members, so it can't be booked with Star Alliance partners.

This is not a big problem. Air Canada Aeroplan and Avianca LifeMiles are Star Alliance partner programs that should be used to book United flights.

It’s missing award space for important airlines

The airlines it doesn't have is perhaps the biggest downside. The service was able to find award and upgrade space for 87 airlines. Most major US and European carriers are included. Some major airlines are not included. It is not possible to search for award space for Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines, andQatar Airways.

Award space on these carriers can be hard to find. I would love to be able to set an award alert for Qsuite, but I can't because ExpertFlyer can't find it. Before taking out a subscription, be sure to check out the airlines.

I believe that ExpertFlyer works well for most everyday searches and will make your travel life easier.

It has become even more valuable for American Airlines to use ExpertFlyer.

ExpertFlyer quick tips

I will give you a few tips on how to get the most from the tool after you know how to use it. You will save a lot of time when using the tool to find award tickets if you keep these in mind.

1. Select the time of day you want to depart if you see the option. ExpertFlyer shows a limited number of search results, so if a popular route has multiple flights, you may think it’s unavailable just because it isn’t displayed. But you'll only see this option when searching for awards on select airlines.
2. For premium subscribers, use the "Saved Query" feature to easily return to looking for a specific flight with upgrade space or business availability without re-typing everything.
3. If a fare class is unavailable on some airlines, the flight will not appear.
4. Use the “Refine Search” button rather than the back button when switching your search dates. This will keep all the search fields intact.
5. Read the ExpertFlyer EduGuide and User Guide. I’ve been using ExpertFlyer for years and still learned some new things from these sources.

There is an ultimate guide to searching award availability.

Bottom line

It can be difficult to find award space in premium class. Some websites and phone agents are better at finding available seats than others. The world of points and miles is powered by knowledge.

You can escape a less-than-ideal seat by learning how to set seat alert through ExpertFlyer. Every traveler should have an expertFlyer in their tool belt.

The additional reporting was done by Kyle.