When Does American Airlines Release Award Seat Availability?

Johnny Jet , Contributor

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Predicting when to redeem your American Airlines AAdvantage miles isn't an exact science. A big part of making the most of your award miles and the best travel credit cards is understanding when airlines release award availability as well as how partnerships with other airlines within the same network function. Here's a quick post on when American Airlines releases award seat availability.

Timing is Everything with American Airlines AwardsDepositphotos.com

When does American Airlines release award space?

In general, the American Airlines calendar opens 331 days in advance of a given award flight; however, there is no guarantee that awards seats for the flight you want will be available exactly when the calendar opens. American Airlines will monitor the capacity of the flight and release award seats as they see fit, and that means award availability can be hard to come by.
Newer American Airlines routes, for which the airline may not have demand data, are usually the best bet for getting award seats right at the beginning. Peak booking times, generally 30 to 90 days out, are also a difficult time to find award seats as the airline won't release seats that they anticipate will be booked. Business Class and First Class American Airlines awards can be extremely frustrating to book especially close in, so if you can plan ahead. This is doubly true during the holiday season and peak vacation seasons. It is unlikely that many "saver" seats will be available during this time.

Most importantly, be aware of when American Airlines fees kick in. American Airlines charges a $75 fee for award tickets booked less than 21 days prior to departure. One way to make sure you never miss awards availability is to use a seat notification service, such as ExpertFlyer. And here's another tip on how you can avoid close in fees on American Airlines.

Understand Partnerships for Additional American Airlines Award Flights

If you didn't know, you can use your American Airlines miles for an award flight on other airlines. This gives your American Airlines miles more flexibility and makes them more valuable. I've used my American Airlines to Cathay Pacific, Qantas, LAN, and many more airlines.

American Airlines is a member of Oneworld Alliance and code-shares with  British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, TAM, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and S7. They have additional commercial agreements with Air Tahiti Nui, Alaska Airlines, Cape Air, El Al, Etihad Airways, Fiji Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Jet Airways, Jetstar, Seabourne, and WestJet.
It's important to note that award availability for flights on partnership airlines can vary, in some cases by as much as two months. This is because partner airlines will generally offer space to their own awards members before opening up space to partner awards members. Each airline loyalty program will have their own policies on releasing awards, but you can find many of these airlines releasing award space on the American Airlines website.

Summary on When Does American Airlines Release Award Space

American Airlines releases award space 331 days in advance of a given award flight. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean the award space you're looking for is going to be available. Finding premium cabin awards to Europe and other international destinations can be frustrating as well, but you will give yourself a better chance by planning ahead, and looking at all of American Airlines partners.
Your best bet is to have rewards points in several programs so you have flexibility when it comes time to book an award flight. Diversifying your miles is important because you never know which airline or partner airline will release an award seat for the flight you're looking to travel on.
I usually check frequently and often when I'm looking for an American Airlines award seat, but you can always set a flight alert on Expertflyer or another seat alert website.