Many Frequent-Flier Seats Available

[jeffrey]

[i]Travelers cashing in frequent-flier miles for free tickets have nearly a 3-in-4 chance of getting the trip they want when they want it, contrary to the perception that airlines have tightened up on the availability of free award seats.

In what might be a first, InsideFlyer magazine tested the common complaint about hard-to-book frequent-flier awards. Researchers for the magazine...tried to book frequent-flier award seats on the six big network airlines: American, United, Delta, Northwest, Continental and US Airways.

The test involved booking travel on several popular routes one week, one month, three months and 11 months in advance. The result: Testers got free seats on the routes and days requested 73% of the time. For award seats in business class, which require more miles, the success rate was 54%...[read more at usatoday.com]