Award availability is the number of seats an airline releases on a given flight for redemption with miles, which is usually far smaller than the number of seats still on sale.
Award availability is the number of seats an airline releases on a given flight for redemption with miles, which is usually far smaller than the number of seats still on sale.
Also called: Award space, Award seat.
How it works#
Whether a flight shows award space is decided by revenue management, not by how empty the cabin is. The airline releases individual seats into a separate booking class and pulls them back when demand picks up. An almost empty aircraft can therefore show no award seat at all. Because partner programmes see different inventory, searching through a partner often reveals space the operating airline’s own site hides.
Not to be confused with#
Award availability is not the same as an empty seat: a seat can be for sale in cash and still be closed to miles, because the two sales come out of separate inventory buckets.
In German#
The German term is Prämienverfügbarkeit. German version of this term
Related terms#
- Saver award: A saver award is the cheapest award level in a programme, the level that is tightly rationed and the only one partner programmes are able to book.
- Married segments: Married segments are flight legs that a reservation system only releases in a particular combination; searched on their own, the seat does not exist.
- Phantom award space: Phantom award space is an award seat a search displays but cannot book, because the operating airline’s system does not confirm it.
- Partner award: A partner award is a redemption in which one programme’s miles pay for a flight operated by a different airline.
Articles that use this term#
TopicEvery article and term onPoints and miles.