How To Book Award Tickets During Peak Seasons: My Insider’s Strategy

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The holidays might mean cozy fires and winding down for most, but for award travel enthusiasts, it’s game on. Peak seasons like Christmas, New Year, and summer vacations turn the award travel booking process into a frenzy of swiping apps, refreshing browsers, and crossing fingers. Winter 2025 brought its fair share of chaos, especially for travelers eyeing award flights to Asia. But guess what? I came out on top with a dream itinerary for my family. Here’s how I pulled it off, and how you can apply these strategies for your spring break 2026 or summer 2026 trips.

Further Reading: https://mariapointstheway.com/how-to-prepare-winter-2025-award-bookings/

Winter 2025 Travel Drama: What Went Down?

If Asia award travel was on your radar for winter 2025, you probably ran into some major roadblocks:

• EVA Air Award Availability: Normally good for one award seat here and there, EVA Air decided to pause releasing seats for key dates. By late December, they started trickling out one seat per flight for outbound routes like San Francisco to Taipei. But let’s be real – most people were flying back to the U.S. by then.
• Cathay Pacific Award Availability: Cathay Pacific froze its outbound awards from December 6 across all North America to Hong Kong routes and Europe to Hong Kong routes. A few scraps of availability reappeared around Christmas, but only for outbound flights. Inbound? Still frozen.
• Japan Airlines & All Nippon Airways (ANA) Award Availability: Japanese airlines, bless their reliability, stuck to their schedules. Consistent and predictable, just the way we like it.
• Qatar Airways Award Availability: Qatar Airways said, “You want business class? LOL.” Long-haul awards were gone, and economy tickets skyrocketed from 35,000 to 190,000 Avios per segment.
• American Airlines & Alaska Airlines Award Availability (For Booking Partner Airlines): By early January, neither showed the “bookable” past December 6 (as I wrote this post on January 6, 2025)

The Secret Sauce: Timing Your Award Bookings

Timing is everything in award travel planning, especially for peak season award bookings. For winter 2025, I used these carrier-specific quirks to my benefit:

Japan Airlines:

Their awards release 360 days in advance, like clockwork. For example, on January 6, 2025, searching for award seats for January 1, 2026 was available. Saver award availability starts at 50,000 miles for business class from North America to Tokyo, but rates climb fast – 70,000, 75,000, or even 160,000 miles. The challenge in the U.S. is that Japan Airlines award miles are hard to earn, and Marriott Bonvoy is the only transfer partner. Solution to this? I decided to use Marriott Bonvoy points for the return leg of my trip.

Cathay Pacific:

Cathay Pacific’s system theoretically shows availability 360 days out, but awards were paused. However, Japan Airlines awards often appeared on Cathay Pacific’s platform. I transferred my American Express (Amex) Membership Rewards (MR) points to Cathay Pacific for my outbound flights.

British Airways:

With a 355-day window, British Airways program is great for spring or summer award bookings. Transfer bonuses from Amex, Chase, Citi, and Capital One make British Airways a flexible tool for peak season travel.

American Airlines & Alaska Airlines:

These two are better for mid-term or last-minute bookings. For winter 2025, I skipped them for early-stage planning but kept them as backups.

How I Secured Winter Travel For My Family

Here’s the process I used to book award flights for Asia:

Outbound: Los Angeles → Tokyo (Haneda)

• Class: business class on Japan Airlines.
• Cost: 89,000 Amex MR points per person, transferred to Cathay Pacific.
• Pro Tip: Cathay Pacific lets you add five family members to your nomination list for free. If you have Diamond status? You can have unlimited nominees.

Inbound: Tokyo (Haneda) → San Francisco

• Class: business class on Japan Airlines.
• Cost: 50,000 Japan Airlines miles per person, covered by 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (transferred at a 3:1 ratio).
• Pro Tip: Marriott Bonvoy to Japan Airlines transfers take 48 ~ 72 hours, so timing is critical. 

Here is the information about Transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to one of their partner programs.

For families who just want to get on the plane, economy class award or premium economy class award are still great options. (Note: Cathay Pacific doesn’t support premium economy class redemptions. Use British Airways or Alaska Airlines instead.)

How To Tackle Regional Award Flights In Asia

Once the long-haul flights were secured, I shifted focus to regional flights within Asia. For this trip, my final destination is Hong Kong. Here’s what I am planning:

• Prioritized Long-Haul Flights: These are the hardest to find during peak season, so they were my first focus. Checked!
• Regional Options:

• Award Tickets: I refreshed search tool apps constantly and set up alerts for availability.
• Amex 35% Points Rebate: I used Amex MR to book cash fares in business class through AmexTravel and took advantage of the 35% points rebate.
• Cash Tickets: When award options were scarce, I compared cash fares and booked the most reasonable option.

Lessons For Spring And Summer 2026 Award Travel

If you are planning for spring break 2026 or summer vacation 2026, start strategizing your points earning, the programs you will use and the way to consolidate them! Here’s how to prep for it:

• Step 1: Define Your Destination & Dates

• Decide where you want to go and when.
• Be flexible with dates and departure airports to increase your chances of finding availability.

• Step 2: Understand Award Redemption Windows

• Japan Airlines: 360 days in advance.
• Cathay Pacific: 360 days in advance(availability can be spotty).
• British Airways: 355 days in advance.

• Step 3: Build Your Points Portfolio

• Focus on transferable points like Amex MR, Citi ThankYou Rewards (TY), and Capital One Miles, based on the above searches.

• Step 4: Lock In Long-Haul Flights First

• Business and first-class award availability will be gone fast, so secure these first.

• Step 5: Have A Backup Plan

• If premium class award seats aren’t available, consider economy class or premium economy class first. Then keep searching until the better options appear.

Best Credit Cards & Points Strategies For Building Your Balance In 2025

Based on the above takeaways, the strategic planning to build and diversify points and miles in 2025 to beat the competition is important. Here’s what I’m keeping an eye on:

• Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi ThankYou Rewards has very tight partnership with the sought-after Asia-based airlines transfer partners like Cathay Pacific (using Cathay Pacific “Cathay” program for their own flights and Japan Airlines) and EVA Air. 

• Build the Citi trifecta: Citi Strata Premier, Citi Custom Cash, and Citi Rewards+ credit cards – to maximize ThankYou Rewards points earnings.

• Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific’s “Cathay” program remains valuable for premium cabin travel within Asia and beyond.

• Familiarize yourself with transfer partners like Amex MR, Citi TY and Capital One Miles to Cathay Pacific in order to maximize redemptions.
• Plan your earning strategies accordingly – Cathay Pacific program is ideal for scoring Japan Airlines “early birds” award tickets and Cathay Pacific long haul routes.

You can transfer your credit card points to Cathay Pacific at a 1:1 ratio. Here are the credit cards with best sign-up bonus right now:

• Capital One Venture Rewards: Annual Fee: $95. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.

• The Business Platinum from American Express: Annual Fee: $695. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of card membership.

• American Express Business Gold: Annual Fee: $375. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of card membership.

• American Express Platinum: Annual Fee: $695. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership.

• American Express Gold: Annual Fee: $325. Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership.

• American Airlines

Provided that you are flexible with your travel plans, American Airlines program continues to offer exceptional value, especially for long-haul premium travel on Japan Airlines, and regional travel on Cathay Pacific.

• Monitor partner airlines award availability regularly and plan strategically for premium routes on Japan Airlines, and even American Airlines itself (e.g. Los Angles – Tokyo Haneda route)

Final Thoughts

Award travel during peak season is an art and a science. It takes planning, persistence, and a little creativity, but the rewards are worth it. Start building your points and miles now, stay flexible, and don’t be afraid to reposition or mix and match cabin classes. Whether you’re planning for award flights to Asia, family travel hacks, or just your next big adventure, the steps you take today will get you closer to the trip of your dreams. Have questions or tips? Share your story – I’d love to hear how you’ve conquered award travel challenges!