Questions and Answers

When looking up Lufthansa First availability yesterday per Ben’s post, I saw Biz class availability on Lifemiles that wasn’t showing on United or Aeroplan (but IS showing on expertflyer). I havent called any of the plans to attempt booking but any idea if this is more likely to be phantom availability, an error on both United/Aeroplan sites, or real difference in availability?

Specifically, I am looking to book a Biz award to Europe (from NYC) for early June and unsurprisingly space is pretty weak on most programs I’m looking at. I’m pretty flexible on routing (not just star alliance) but not on the date.

Outside of the unannounced massive award space dumps (AA, Lingus, et al), what airlines start reliably opening up close-in availability the furthest from date of departure?

BA award space is usually plentiful, but fuel surcharges are high.

You may get lucky finding AF or KLM space a year out. Sporadically, Delta and Virgin.

Maybe it wasnt clear, i’m looking for CLOSE IN inventory for 2 months from now, not a year out (other than BA).

Given that early June is about a month away – I’d be jumping on that business class space from Lifemiles today if the dates work with your schedule. Only way to know if it’s phantom availability or not, is to call.

Good luck!