Re: Ask El Diablo
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Do you have suggestions for booking a business class ticket on an award in international travel when you are planning on staying at your destination for longer than 2 weeks? A catch-22 of most reservation systems since they book 330 days out and only hold reservations for 2 weeks max.... And yes, i read <a href="flyertalk.com" target="_blank">flyertalk</a> but the answers aren't really there.
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Generally, if FlyerTalk doesn't have the answers then there aren't answers to be had.
Can you claim the award, book the outbound flight and leave the return open until you fall into the 330 day (I thought it was 360 days?) window? If there's no business available for the return, you could book the seat in coach then keep calling to see if they have opened up any inventory in business.
Another factor is your destination. If it's someplace like western/central Europe, I wouldn't be too worried. On the big alliances you should be able to find availability once the window opens.
At the other end of the spectrum is something like a biz class award ticket to Australia on Qantas. These are virtually impossible to get as they are snapped up by the Qantas top-tier elites who get a 30-day head start on booking. Creative routing (say, through New Zealand or Hong Kong) might help here, but it could cost more miles.
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