AWARD FINDING TIPS AND TOOLS -- ONE WORLD

Booking an award ticket is another complex area which is rewarding if you understand how to go about doing it. There are several things you could do to find that availability of desired award. Below are some steps you could take before you call the airlines customer desk to inquire about the award availability: 

1. Check the airlines website for which you have miles to see if your desired award is bookable online. For e.g. if you have miles on American Airlines (AA) you can first check the award availability on AA. American Airlines does not provide award search for all its partners. As of now it provides award seach for American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Hawaiian Airlines and Qantas. Make sure you have "ticked" "Redeem AAdvantage Miles" box before you begin your search.

2. Determine which alliance your airline belongs to? American Airlines belong to One World Alliance so it would help you determine what all airlines you can possibly fly on? The complete member list can be found here.

3. Determine which airlines fly to your desired destination. This would help you short list tools which you could use for award availability search. Below listed are some free option's for checking award availability:

• British Airways Avios check tool can be used to find award availability on most of the One World Alliance. It gives pretty accurate availability but is frustrating at times as it tries to route you through London always!! The idea here is to trick the tool to to avoid looking for award availability on British Airways (BA) Carrier. This is because BA would inadvertently route through London and thus impose huge fuel surcharges. You will need to register for free British Airways Avios account after which you can access their award booking tool. The link to the tool is here.
• Qantas FF tool is another which gives accurate availability on various partner airlines. Since it only allows specific listed destination you might not able to search for award to your desired destination. The availability listed does match with actual availability. You need to be a member to access the award search. The program is free to join for anyone outside Australia and New Zealand and the link is here.
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles tool only allows for searching award availability on Cathay Pacific flights. This tool is not really useful since the award availability listed is most of the times only available for its Asia Miles program members and might not be available for partner programs like American Airlines. You need to be a member of Asia miles to search for awards. The link to join for this free program is here.
• Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank tool is another great way for searching award. It is specially useful for finding award on Cathay Pacific. You will need to become a free member of this program to use their tool. You can register for this program here. Below is the snap shot of what you need to select for the award search on JAL site.

Japan Airlines Award Search Tool

4. If any of the above does not help you can check out several non airline tools available. Some of them are free with limited features while better options are available with paid subscriptions. Check the below list for these tools:

• KVS Tool: This tool provides capability for searching awards on One World Alliance, Star Alliance and Skyteam. It is paid tool with different subscription level and features. The most basic subscription is $20 for 6 months.
• Expert Flyer: This has really nice interface and has monthly paid subscription. The basic subscription is $4.95/ month.
• Award Nexus: This tool allows searching for Award availability on Star Alliance, One world and Skyteam. You can become free membership with 100 search credit points if you are member of milepoint or flyertalk community. For premium options you will need to buy the search credit points.
• Wandr Tools: This frequent flyer has bunch of tools available for award search. Some of them are free and others are paid.

5. Once you have found your desired itinerary availability you are all set to call the airlines to book that award ticket!!