There are tons of ways to earn lots of ANA miles too, which elevates the reputation of ANA Mileage Club. By telephone via your Miles & More Service Team. If you plan to travel with a lap infant, please call the airline you are traveling with first. You can search for other Star Alliance awards using the Singapore Airlines website, but I've found that it doesn't show as many awards as United.com or ANA. The Star Alliance consists of these airlines: Its a lot to handle, but the main thing youll want to take away is that there are a ton of different ways to search for award availability. Designate your trip type (round-trip, one-way, multi-city), type in your origin and destination cities, departure and return dates, the number of passengers, and select your cabin class. You can also click the arrows to the left and right of the dates of travel at the top of the screen to scroll to view award space for the preceding and proceeding dates. Card Rating is based on the opinion of TPGs editors and is not influenced by the card issuer. I was able to get the FRA-STL leg upgraded no problem, but got the same message you got on STL-FRA. If an ANA segment of your itinerary is canceled, the upgrade request for that segment will also be automatically canceled. Setting up your ExpertFlyer searches. Here are the directions you can follow to begin your award search at Aeroplan: Using Aeroplan is a fabulous way to search for award availability. Delta also recently eliminated mileage upgrades, meaning that the only traditional upgrade option left is using one of the carrier's highly-exclusive Global and Regional Upgrade Certificates that upper-tier elites can select as a Choice Benefit. For more information on our advertisers, see here. Credit ranges are a variation of FICO Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application. When space opens, Singapore Airlines will email you notifying you of the open award space and give you a number to call to finalize the ticket. Still, if you hold elite status or are willing to spend some extra cash or points, upgrades can be a great way to travel in a little more comfort than you actually need. Do note that ANA passes on fuel surcharges on some award tickets, but you can avoid them when you fly on SAS, Avianca, and other airlines. No matter who you are or where you live, clean energy and energy efficient consumer choices are available now, and the Department of Energy is working to make . Offer ends 5/3/23. 6x Marriott Bonvoy Points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program. Terms and Conditions Apply. Type in your departure and return airports, Choose the number of passengers and class of service, If youve got a specific airline in mind for your route, you can choose from the drop-down box that says. Is there any way around this to confirm our upgrade in advance?[/pullquote]. Opinions expressed here are the authors alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Do you think I will get the same result if I tried the United site as recommended in this article? 4x points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping. 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For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Check here before booking an award fare. You can use the award calendar to narrow your results down. It will change depending on the airline. Click on, On the left side, there is an area titled. I highly recommend keeping the Flexible travel dates box checked this will let you view a week's worth of award space at once. You'll earn 15 elite night credits each calendar year, and receive automatic Gold elite status. Let's take a look at the different upgrade fare codes for the three major US legacy carriers. You'll also notice that there's an option to search for an open-jaw booking. One of these benefits is the ability to earn and redeem airline miles across all alliance member airlines. For example, you may opt to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Avianca LifeMiles to book low-cost United Airlines domestic award tickets. If anyone on our team wouldnt recommend it to a friend or a family member, we wouldnt recommend it on The Points Guy either. Find the right card for you. The terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Delta comes last on this list because it offers the fewest options for upgrading your flights. Click here to see a list of advertisers that we work with. Upgrade at a fixed price: depending on your existing flight class and your flight route, we can offer you an upgrade here at an already existing fixed price. Its one of the most powerful search engines you can use, and for those who learn how to use it, it can be tremendously helpful. Since ANA doesn't allow its members to book one-way award tickets, you can't use the tool to search for them without adding a return leg. He's been a miles and points fanatic since 2014 and previously wrote for Upgraded Points and Credit Karma. You'll be immediately greeted with search fields. This guide shows you how to find award availability for your favorite Star Alliance flights. Those wishing to book further in advance must use Lufthansa Miles & More miles to book. PlusPoints can be used on Lufthansa-operated flights for one-segment, one-cabin upgrades on any multi-cabin international flight operated by Lufthansa and marketed by Lufthansa or United. Getting the myOffer Lufthansa Upgrade. Searching through Aeroplan is just to help you locate award space so that you can then book through EVA Air directly using your miles. Check here before booking an award fare. When I checked a couple of months before the flight I didn't have the option to upgrade, but two weeks before the flight, eureka! I was having none of it. Our first choice for award searches is using Air Canada Aeroplan. "Reader Questions" are answered twice a week by TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Ethan Steinberg. Click on a date you're interested in booking to view all available flights. Bottom Line: Using Aeroplan will generally steer you in the right direction with Star Alliance awards. PlusPoints can be used on flights operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) for one-segment, one-cabin upgrades on any multi-cabin international flight operated by ANA and marketed by ANA or United. Carry out upgrades, receive special access to advance seat The Best Ways to Search for Star Alliance Award Availability [2021] Star Alliance is the world's largest alliance. Regardless, it can be a powerful tool to have on hand when you're looking to use United miles to cover an expensive ticket. He went from studying abroad in Paris to moving to Shanghai after graduating college, where he covered all things travel in the Asia-Pacific region for TPG. The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex is a stacked card with a rewards rate that will help you earn bonus points on everyday and business-related purchases. This presents a problem if you're transferring miles to Singapore Airlines from a credit card. But for the vast majority of bookings, you'll have to use Singapore's own miles to book your tickets. ANA short for All Nippon Airways is the largest airline in Japan. Award availability isnt constant. This bonus value is an estimated valuation. Once you've set up your flight search, click the red Search button at the bottom of the screen. You may request an upgrade using PlusPoints as early as time of ticketing in order to upgrade from Lufthansa Economy or Business Class to the next higher cabin. In addition to nonstop flights from San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX) and Newark (EWR) to Singapore (SIN), it also operates a handful of fifth-freedom flights from the U.S. like New York-JFK to Frankfurt, Houston (IAH) to Manchester (MAN) and others. Your PlusPoints will be automatically redeposited 24 to 48 hours after the cancellation. This is a great way to find nonstop tickets as when you sort by stops nonstop flights will appear first. Certain hotels have resort fees. Fixed-price upgrades when you check in online are available under the following conditions: The check-in for the relevant flight is open. What were basically saying is that if youre looking for award travel on any airline except for Singapore Airlines business and first class, start your award search at Aeroplan. In the case of United miles, you can redeem miles on partners that offer a better inflight experience or fly to a destination that United doesn't serve. Click on a date you're interested in booking to view all available flights. Thus, you need to find availability on LifeMiles if you intend on using LifeMiles to book your flight. "C" inventory is for a one-cabin upgrade to business class (or two-cabin domestic first class), "A" inventory is for an upgrade to first class on three-cabin aircraft, which only applies to American's Boeing 777-300ERs and specially configured Airbus A321Ts (for, PZ Platinum and Premier 1K certificates and all mileage upgrade awards, 6 points per dollar on eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 4 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and U.S. shipping, 2 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases, Earn a free-night award each card renewal month (up to 35,000 points), Receive 15 elite night credits to jump-start status, Must spend $60,000 in a year for second free-night award. Not only does it differentiate based on the class of service to which you're upgrading; it also uses different fare classes for different elite status tiers. If his flight doesn't have upgrade space available, he can set an alert for his desired number of seats and receive an email if they open up. Plus, your own feed of TPG content. Avianca LifeMiles availability isnt the same as other partners. This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. Once he gets word of enough available seats, he should call to make sure he and his family can ride up front. Terms and Conditions Apply. For those who like to see all the options, this is a comprehensive method to search for award flights. is a senior editor at The Points Guy covering loyalty programs. You may request PlusPoints upgrades for up to four people traveling on the same reservation. Ive been struggling with the aeroplan site to find any flights from YYZ LHR. Adding yourself to a waitlist will give you first dibs at the award when it opens. The following Copa fare classes are eligible for PlusPoints upgrades: A, B, E, H, K, L, M, O, Q, S, T, U, V, W, Y. The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex is a stacked card with a rewards rate that will help you earn bonus points on everyday and business-related purchases. If youve already done your research and decided that youre flying on a Star Alliance carrier, the next step is to figure out what the award availability landscape looks like. Choose your fare classes, such as business or first. If you're new to the points and miles world, airline alliances are a group of airlines that band together to operate codeshare flights and share reciprocal frequent flyer benefits. Please see the terms and conditions below for specific eligibility rules. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. They have a handy tool that breaks down the differences between a premium and basic plan, so youll know which is right for you. To do this, present your Miles & More service card and have your Miles & More PIN ready to hand. If youre searching for an ANA flight and. Related: Book this, not that: Star Alliance award tickets. Tell her that you are on standby for an upgrade. Remember, these flights cannot be booked with partners, so skip over them if you're planning to book your Star Alliance ticket with a partner loyalty program. Multi-traveler reservations require all travelers be upgraded; partial upgrades are not permitted. Finally, leverage the above tools and strategies to maximize your chances at riding up front. Our points-obsessed staff uses a plethora of credit cards on a daily basis. Because that will probably require making a new login with United to see the available award spaces. ExpertFlyer is a tool that gets a lot of love as far as award searches go. However, if they move to a dynamic pricing model for award flights, theyre not going to be very useful for this. However, each website has its own quirks, upsides and downsides that you should keep in mind when searching for award space. While American is quite stingy with its business class ("C") upgrade space, I find that first class ("A") is often wide open, especially on American's premium transcontinental routes. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Voting Is Now Open for the 2021 FlyerTalk Awards! You can often get around this by searching for your award tickets segment by segment. As soon as you select American Airlines, the following list of fare classes will pop up for you to search. The operating airline is specified on your reservation. ANA is definitely the most accurate, but also one of the more clunky search engines. Upgrade to Premium Economy Class On long-haul flights Just like a regular award search, type in all your flight and travel information. Here are the instructions youll want to follow to search for award flights on ANA: ANA has a powerful search engine, and heres what we love about it: Here are the drawbacks of using ANA for your award searches: Bottom Line: Overall, if you want the most accurate search capabilities, look no further than ANA. 2x points on all other eligible purchases. Relax before departure in one of the Lufthansa Business Lounges, and make yourself comfortable on your flight in the new Business Class seat which can be converted into an almost two-metre-long bed. That being said, its not entirely perfect. Erickson. Upgrades can be requested until 24 hours prior to departure. any time. However, the credit card information that we publish has been written by experts who know these products inside out, and what we recommend is what we would (or already) use ourselves. Some of its largest members are United Airlines, Air Canada, ANA, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and Brussels Airlines. I have had it happen to me. Book the reservation using the points currency of your choice. has been a frequent flier for as long as he can remember. I've seen this get better over the years but still run into issues from time to time on multi-partner award tickets. United has a slightly more complicated set of upgrade fare codes. Of course, the actual amount you'd save will vary depending on your particular route, travel date and flight duration. This link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Swiss International Air Lines first class is nearly impossible to book. ANA may impose blackout periods where upgrades are not permitted. We recommend searching from other airports that offer nonstop flights between that airport and LHR. One great aspect is that its one of the best ways to search for multi-city routes. Further, the tool isn't very user-friendly from a design perspective either, but you'll get the hang of it after running a few searches. Benefits such as room upgrades, free breakfasts, offers, deals, discounts and credit to spend in the bar or spa are available at Grand Hyatt hotels & resorts if you book with specialist agents. Upgrade at the price you want: make us an offer and, with a bit of luck, youll get your upgrade. If you want to book a seat on a specific flight, set a flight alert for the date and flight number you want to fly the program will email you when an award ticket opens up. Upgrades are subject to availability and valid for paid, published fares only. Find the right card for you. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. It consists of 28 airlines, such as German-based Lufthansa and Asia-based Singapore Airlines. Enter the requested information, then click Verify and Create and you'll be all set. Now though, I am wondering how I get the site to show me other Star Alliance carrier flights, as all the flights I am shown are Air Canada and the fees are very similar to the actual flight price Air Canada charges for that route. Enjoy Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status with your Card. Note down your flight numbers, dates, and times. Upgraded Points, LLC uses reasonable efforts to maintain accurate information on the site and p. rior to applying for any credit card offers found on UpgradedPoints.com, all visitors should review other features of such credit cards including but not limited to interest rates, annual fees and transaction fees, and should determine the suitability of such credit cards considering their own individual financial position. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. This isn't the worst thing, though. Requests for seat assignments, special meals and amenities should be made directly with the operating carrier. Additionally, the airline has an intuitive calendar search option that you can use to view a month's worth of award space at once. Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. Outside of the travel world, Andrew is a cyclist, craft coffee aficionado and despite now living in NYC a Chicagoan at heart. Using Smart Search is a good idea if you want to see all of your options. If you'd like to add a comment to this article and share your valuable feedback and opinions, please click here to leave your comment. You do not need to be traveling with the passengers to request the upgrades and you can request upgrades for travelers with a different last name than yours. One question I have about Star Alliance award booking and availability (or Oneworld or Skyteam for that matter) is if award availability is found on Aeroplan, for example, but not on Aviancas website, can this flight still be booked on Avianca if Im willing to go through the frustration of calling Avianca LifeMiles? Enjoy more personal space and other amenities, such as a fruity welcome drink, in Premium Economy Class. Related: The phantom award space menace strikes again, stranding 240,000 points. Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive compensation. In this guide, well be showing you how to use various Star Alliance airlines award search engines to pinpoint the exact flight to take. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Stephen has been privileged to enjoy many premium cabin products and 5-star hotels. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments. Country and language selection; currently. The waitlist will clear automatically as upgrade space becomes available on the flight. Related: Earning miles with the United MileagePlus program. No label was found using the key: Version_Enter, How to use PlusPoints on these partner airlines, Open United's Instagram feed in a new tab, Open United's LinkedIn profile in a new tab. Enter booking data Manage bookings online Manage individual bookings Using your booking code you have access to all your flights. Make sure to check out our full guide to using ExpertFlyer for more info and a complete explainer on using the tool. For example, ANA releases the most award space to ANA members, whereas they release more limited availability to United. With nearly 30 carriers worldwide, Star Alliance provides numerous options for redeeming your miles, and the above websites are your best bet for finding award options. : ABCD10 or 132-312334) and your name. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone. Click here to see a list of advertisers that we work with. Related: How to avoid fuel surcharges on award travel. Additionally, Avianca LifeMiles also has some of the best first class award costs. The same search on the LifeMiles website resulted in no availability none for the same day or the week before or after, on any Star Alliance airline. Redeeming across different alliance members is a great way to maximize your points and miles. The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, tax or legal advice. We'll run a soft credit check to find special offers, but it wont affect your credit score. For example, since Air Canada and United are both in the Star Alliance, United members can earn and redeem miles on Air Canada and vice versa. Further, United.com sometimes has an issue piecing together certain connecting award tickets. If you're trying to upgrade to United Polaris or domestic first class, you'll need to find space in one of the following two fare classes: Meanwhile if you're looking to upgrade to United's recently launched Premium Plus cabin, you'll need space in the RN fare class, regardless of your elite status. Copa Airlines may impose blackout periods where upgrades are not permitted. Simple: Only Miles & More Senator and HON Circle members can redeem miles to book Swiss first class. We may be compensated when you click on links from one or more of our advertising partners. Yes, I would say it would be worthwhile to check through United as well to see if you can locate the space youre looking for. If upgrade space is available at the time of the request and you choose to confirm the upgrade, United will automatically deduct PlusPoints from your MileagePlus account. Unfortunately ExpertFlyer doesn't currently support searching for two digit fare codes, so you'll have to do your upgrade hunting directly with United. I have been looking at booking EDI-FRA-HKG for October in C and was wondering if Senator 2 e-Vouchers would be enough to upgrade to F but can't find out about upgrade availability? We'll run a soft credit check to find special offers, but it wont affect your credit score. You can also book a hotel or a rental car directly, or even take out travel insurance. You can also use the calendar to view availability on a monthly basis. This will let you view additional award space, making it easier to shop for flights when you have flexibility in your travel dates. The process is user-friendly, and the search engine is very accurate. Hot Tip: Check out our guide on the best ways to redeem Avianca LifeMiles for maximum value. Simply click on Awards & Upgrades at the top left, enter your search criteria, select Lufthansa from the drop-down, and check the box for O first-class awards. One last warning to heed: All of the above websites will price multi-segment itineraries at the premium-class level, even if only one of the legs has business- or first-class award space. There are various options for redeeming eVouchers in combination with a fully paid ticket (in certain booking classes): Directly online when booking your upgrade award. It certainly wouldnt hurt! *Any PQP you got for using your United MileagePlus credit card doesn't count toward earning more PlusPoints, unless you have the United Presidential Plus SM card or the . Related: How to search award availability for the major airlines. Please see the terms and conditions below for specific eligibility rules. Thanks to President Biden's Investing in America plan, it's easier than ever to take control of your energy costs, make your home safer and more comfortable, and help save the planet. You'll earn 15 elite night credits each calendar year, and receive automatic Gold elite status. This added award space is only bookable with United miles, so you won't be able to book with partner miles. This is marked above the award ticket price across all classes of service, and you can see an example in the screenshot above. 6 points per dollar on eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 4 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and U.S. shipping, 2 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases, Earn a free-night award each card renewal month (up to 35,000 points), Receive 15 elite night credits to jump-start status, Must spend $60,000 in a year for second free-night award. Star Alliance award space is easier to search than with other airline alliances; most of the major Star Alliance airlines have good search tools that show most Star Alliance availability.