Which Frequent Flyer Programs Allow Award Ticket Holds?

When it comes to miles and points, being able to earn is just as important as being able to make good redemptions, particularly when it comes to flights. Finding award availability can be tough, but confirming the booking can be a pain as well when it comes to using transferable points. However, a number of frequent flyer programs allow their members to put award tickets on hold, removing some of the stress of the award booking process.

Let’s take a look at everything that you need to know about award ticket holds, including the various frequent flyer programs that allow holds and how you can hold a ticket for your next booking.

What is an Award Ticket Hold?

Finding flight award availability can be hard at the best of times, even when utilizing the best practices of booking award flights or using the various flight award search tools that are available.

However, once you find that perfect flight that fits your travel plans, the urgency of booking as soon as possible cannot be overstated to ensure that no one else books your seats. This can be complicated by a number of issues such as confirming vacation time off work or dealing with transferrable points currencies.

Certain frequent flyer programs allow members to hold award tickets for a set period of time. Utilizing an award ticket hold removes the seats from the available award flight pool and gives members an extended amount of time to resolve any questions with their booking and finalize it within the next day or two.

Not all frequent flyer programs offer the ability to hold award tickets, and those that do, have their own timeline and fees to take advantage of this service.

The Value of Award Ticket Holds

While the ability to put award tickets on hold is a bit niche, there are a few great use cases that showcase the value of this feature.

The most valuable one is when you are looking to make an award booking in a specific frequent flyer program that you don’t yet have the required points in your account because you were planning on using a transferable currency. For example, you might want to transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles to make a Cathay Pacific first class booking.

Using an award ticket hold when transferring points into the program is a massive benefit because you can secure your ticket and then transfer the points once you know exactly how many you will need. This also avoids stranding points in a frequent flyer program that you might not plan on using after making your booking. As an aside, check out our miles and points transfer tool to see all current points transfer bonuses in addition to timelines for transferring points.

Award ticket holds can also be beneficial if there are a few details you need to finalize about the vacation before booking. Perhaps you need to put in a vacation time request at work or coordinate with your significant other to see if you can make the proposed travel date work. In this situation, an award ticket hold is an easy way to lock down the seats while you iron out the final details before finalizing the booking.

Holding an award ticket could also be valuable if you are trying to piece together an itinerary across frequent flyer programs. If you hold an award ticket, it can buy you additional time to figure out the rest of your itinerary before you have to lock into the booking.

Frequent Flyer Programs That Allow Award Ticket Holds

As of 2024, there are currently seven frequent flyer programs that allow members to hold award tickets for a set period of time. The below details are accurate per our findings and experiences, but they may differ over time and can also be customer service representative dependent so they should be used as a reference point at most.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

When booking through the Air France/KLM Flying Blue program members can hold award tickets for up to three days.

In order to hold an award ticket, members will need to call the Flying Blue reservations line at 1-800-237-2747 to speak with a customer service rep to initiate the hold. There is no fee for placing an award ticket on hold, but there is a $25 USD fee to book over the phone which will be incurred upon completing the booking.

Members can typically hold partner award space through the Air France/KLM Flying Blue frequent flyer program, but it is not guaranteed and may be customer service representative dependent.

American Airlines AAdvantage

American Airlines AAdvantage is the only frequent flyer program that allows members to self-serve to hold a ticket when booking online. If a member finds an award flight they are interested in but they don’t have enough miles, they can hold the ticket for up to five days while acquiring the rest of the miles.

In order to hold an award flight, members will need to find their desired award flight and go through the booking process as normal. Once they reach the payment screen, they will see the below banner stating their current miles, the additional mileage required to finalize the booking, and the option to “Hold”.

Once the ticket is held, the member will need to acquire enough miles before the hold expires in order to finalize the booking. American Airlines has a straightforward infographic on the process:

There is no fee to hold award tickets with American Airlines AAdvantage and members can also use the service to hold partner awards. This could make it a great option to secure your Qatar Airways QSuites award tickets and then top up with the required miles to finalize the booking. AAdvantage also charges no fees to change or cancel an award flight, making it a great all-around program to book with.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles members can hold award tickets for up to two days.

To reserve a ticket, members must find the award availability and call the Asia Miles reservation line at 1-833-933-2244. There is typically a $39 USD fee to hold a ticket, but your mileage may vary as this is an aspect that is very phone representative dependent.

When holding award tickets within the Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program, only Cathay Pacific seats are truly on hold. There is a risk of held partner seats disappearing, so be aware if you decide to hold partner awards through this program that a risk does exist.

Reed had a first-hand experience with Cathay Pacific award ticket holds, so consider reading more about how he booked Cathay Pacific first class with an award ticket hold for more information.

Lufthansa Miles & More

Lufthansa Miles & More members can hold award tickets for up to five days.

To hold an award ticket, members will need to call the Miles & More loyalty program at 1-800-581-6400. There is no fee for holding award tickets.

Members can hold award tickets for select Star Alliance carriers and all airlines within the Miles & More frequent flyer program, including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS International Airlines, and Lufthansa.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is one of the more inconsistent frequent flyer programs for award ticket holds, as the amount of time a ticket can be held is up to the phone agent’s discretion.

In order to put an award ticket on hold, members must call Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer reservations line at 1-833-727-0118. The fee that is charged can also vary by the agent you speak with but the most routine fee we have seen is $25 USD.

Members cannot hold award tickets on partner airlines.

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles allows members to hold award tickets for up to two days.

If a member wants to put a hold on an award ticket, they will need to call the Turkish Miles & Smiles reservations line at 1-800-874-8875. There is no fee for holding a ticket.

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles members can also hold award tickets on partner airlines.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members can hold award tickets for up to one day.

To reserve a ticket, members must find the award availability and call the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club reservation line at 1-800-862-8621. There is no fee charged to hold award tickets.

Virgin Atlantic does allow members to hold partner awards as well.

Conclusion

The ability to hold flight award tickets is another handy tool for miles and points enthusiasts, especially when dealing with transferable currencies. If you are interested in making a booking with one of the frequent flyer programs listed above and foresee yourself potentially using the hold feature, ensure you understand the ins and outs before calling in to put your award seat on hold.

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