ExpertFlyer.com Help


Award & Upgrade Availability Search

This service allows you to search for award and upgrade availability on flights between a pair of cities. You can find seats available for award redemption or upgrade using miles/points.


Departing Airport

Enter the airport you want to leave from using the 3-letter airport code (e.g., SFO for San Francisco). The code must be in uppercase letters.

Arriving Airport

Enter the airport you want to arrive at using the 3-letter airport code (e.g., JFK for New York JFK). The code must be in uppercase letters.

Connecting Airport(s)

You can optionally specify up to two connecting airports to search for flights that route through specific cities. This is useful when you want to:

  • Find specific routing options that may have better award availability
  • Build more complex itineraries for maximizing miles or routing rules
  • Avoid certain airports or find flights through preferred hubs

Dates and Times

For both departure and return flights, you can specify:

  • Date: The specific date you want to travel
  • Time: The preferred time of day to start your search from
  • Date Range: Search for availability across multiple days around your selected date

Airline and Alliance Selection

You can search for award and upgrade availability on specific airlines or alliances:

  • Airline: Select one or more specific airlines to search
  • Alliance: Alternatively, search across all airlines in a specific alliance (e.g., Star Alliance, Oneworld, SkyTeam)
  • Exclude Codeshares: Option to show only flights operated by the selected airlines

Class Filters

You can filter results by specific booking classes. This is particularly useful when looking for:

  • Specific award booking classes (e.g., 'I' for business class awards on many airlines)
  • Upgrade-eligible fare classes
  • Multiple classes at once (enter multiple class codes)

Leave this field blank to see all available award and upgrade classes.

Connection Preference

Choose your preferred routing type:

  • Any: Shows both direct and connecting flights
  • Direct/Non-Stop Only: Shows only direct flights
  • At least 1 connection: Shows only flights with connections
  • At least 2 connections: Shows only flights with multiple connections

Results Display

Choose how you want to view the search results:

  • Tabbed results by date: View each date's results in separate tabs
  • All dates on 1 screen: See all results on a single scrollable page

Search Results Features

The search results provide several useful features:

  • Flight Alert Creation: Set up alerts for when award or upgrade space becomes available
  • Flight Details: View complete details about the flight, including aircraft type and routing
  • Seat Maps: Check seat maps to view available seats on the flight