How I Got a Reclining Seat Across the Pacific for 75,000 Miles

Australia and the Pacific Islands are some of the toughest destinations to get reasonably priced premium seats due to their long-standing popularity as a wish-list item for many travelers, as I discovered when looking to redeem points and miles for flying. Australia to the united states

With many popular programs now using dynamic pricingBusiness class awards priced at 250,000 points or miles (or more) each way, per person, are unfortunately the norm, not the exception.

However, there are some ways to find better trades. For example, while I initially couldn’t find anything suitable for a recent booking when I searched many months in advance, one tool helped me find a 12.5-hour business class flight on Fiji Airways for just 75,000 miles.

This is how I did it and how you can do it too.

Related: My beginner’s plan to find the award flights you want

Premium cabin award seats throughout the Pacific can be difficult to find

If you’ve ever tried to search for premium cabin awards across the Pacific for less than 100,000 points or miles, you’re probably in for a big surprise. I occasionally see saver level prices, usually on flights operated by Qantas or American Airlines, for last-minute awards within a week or two of departure, but if you look far in advance, they can be some of the hardest seats to get at reasonable prices.

I knew that one world Member Fiji Airways operated flights to Australia and the US through its hub at Nadi International Airport (NAN) in Fiji, and I was happy to spend a few days relaxing on a tropical island between flights if it meant finding a reasonably priced lie-flat seat. (Trying a new airline was a plus.)

I started my flight search using the Seats.aero toolwhich searches multiple routes, dates, cabins and transfer partners to help me see potential award availability in seconds. Personally, I’m a big fan of this rewards tool.

While Seats.aero allows you to search months in advance, sometimes availability, especially in premium classes, simply doesn’t exist, even nine months before departure, as I experienced.

My success in setting a prize alert

Instead of resigning myself to an economy seat across the Pacific, I set up an award alert on Seats.aero to notify me if a premium cabin award seat can be booked with American Express Membership Rewards points were available.

I had a few days of flexibility in my travel plans and was happy to fly to any of the three continental US destinations where Fiji Airways operates from NAN, so I set the alert to cover flights to:

• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)

With a Seats.aero Pro account, you can also choose advanced filters. For example, you can be notified only when seats open on a specific airline (or multiple airlines), set maximum prices for points and miles, and note the taxes and fees you’re willing to pay.

With my Pro account, I can choose to receive email or text message notifications of any results (if you have the Seats.aero app, you can also receive push notifications). I chose text because I wanted to be notified as quickly as possible if the seat I wanted was available.

I set the alert and quickly forgot about it, figuring that if nothing opened, I might eventually find a more creative route to fly across the Pacific at the last minute since I had plenty of time to finalize my travel plans.

A month later, I woke up to a pleasant surprise: a text message from Seats.aero was waiting for me.

Even better, it was on Fiji Airways’ longest route to Dallas, so I quickly booked it online for 75,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles (now called Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points), which was a slightly better deal than booking with Qantas Frequent Flyer points or American Airlines Advantage miles.

Related: I’ve never flown with Alaska Airlines before: Here’s why I want their new premium credit card

Tips for Getting Reclining Seats with a Prize Alert

Flexibility is key to maximizing the chances of seats opening up. Consider setting dates before and after your preferred travel date(s) and choosing other airports you can fly to or from. Flight connections is a useful tool for finding which airlines fly which routes.

If you are earning transferable currencies, such as Pursue ultimate rewards points, it’s a good idea to set an alert to cover all Chase partners rather than just one airline program. While Fiji Airways saver seats should be available through all Oneworld partners, you never know if one program might have better availability than another, so you’ll want your alert to cover all potential transfer partners.

When you can’t find the ideal seat initially but are still determined to travel, consider booking whatever is available, even if it’s not in a premium cabin or at a great price, and then set an alert to potentially “upgrade” to your preferred premium award if a seat opens up. Many awards can be canceled online for free if you want to upgrade to a better award, and if not, it’s worth taking the time (and potentially paying a small change or cancellation fee) to upgrade your award to something better.

If you receive an alert, I recommend that you stop what you’re doing and book immediately, as you may not be the only person to receive an alert for that seat and you’ll want to make sure another savvy traveler doesn’t beat you to it.

In a nutshell

Setting up award alerts can be a smart way to secure hard-to-find premium cabin seats. Instead of constantly checking for availability, tools like Seats.aero allow you to invest a few minutes now to cast the net as wide or as narrow as you want.

Then “set it and forget it,” and if the seats open up, you might wake up to a pleasant surprise, as I did, and a comfortable flight to look forward to.

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