How to Navigate Award Travel Blackout Dates and Avoid Them

As a frequent TPG reader, you're likely aware that gathering and utilizing travel rewards can be an incredibly effective way to significantly reduce your travel expenses.

For points and miles enthusiasts, blackout dates are the arch-nemesis. These dates can make the rewards you've earned through your travel credit cards nearly worthless, transforming an affordable trip into a costly one. Luckily, there are strategies to overcome blackout dates. Here’s what you need to succeed in booking award travel.

What exactly are travel blackout dates?

Essentially, blackout dates refer to specific times when you can't earn or redeem airline miles, hotel points, vouchers, and so forth for travel. These are most commonly associated with travel promotions like flash sales, preventing you from traveling during high-demand periods.

Blackout dates are increasingly becoming obsolete. Many leading airline and hotel loyalty programs have dropped these restrictions, enabling you to redeem rewards for nearly any available airline seat or hotel room. Even if the cheapest 'saver' award isn't available, you may still use your rewards, albeit at a significantly higher cost.

Another tactic these programs employ to complicate your award travel is known as 'capacity control.' An airline or hotel may selectively release a limited number of saver-level awards at once, regardless of actual availability. This often leads to exorbitant award prices or a complete inability to secure an award. The specific dates when loyalty programs implement this practice are rarely made public, making it hard to anticipate when it might affect you.

Airline award blackout dates

Major U.S. airlines like American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines proudly claim that they don't impose blackout dates for travel on their own aircraft. If there's a seat open, you can book it using points or miles.

However, that doesn't guarantee an inexpensive fare. For instance, a business-class ticket with United Airlines could range from 80,000 miles to 200,000 miles. If you require the seat, it's beneficial to have the option to use rewards, even if the cost feels excessive.

There are exceptions to the no blackout dates policy. JetBlue, for instance, has a considerable list of blackout dates for using travel certificates on certain routes. Additionally, redeeming miles on select Delta partners, like Korean Air, may involve blackout dates for specific routes.

Hotel award blackout dates

Much like airline loyalty programs, hotel chains such as Hilton and Marriott typically permit you to book almost any available room. However, unless you're securing standard rooms (usually the most economical option), expect to pay a hefty price.

Here’s the award calendar for the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi for fall 2024. Standard rooms require 150,000 points, which may seem steep, but these rooms are priced at over $2,000 per night. If standard rooms aren't available, you can book a more upscale room, but those go for over 1 million points per night. While it's technically feasible to book these rooms, it’s an incredibly poor value.

Other hotel chains like Hyatt and IHG also profess not to impose blackout dates. However, they might restrict point usage to select suites only. This means that while standard rooms might be plentiful, none may qualify for award redemption.

In addition, Accor and Wyndham both indicate that blackout dates may apply, with variations depending on the specific property.

How to evade blackout dates

The simplest way to avoid blackout dates is by maintaining flexible travel plans. In fact, flexibility is the most valuable trait an award traveler can possess. If you can adjust your vacation dates, you can explore pricing over several months to discover the best offers — potentially saving tens or even hundreds of thousands of points based on your itinerary.

A hotel-specific strategy is to adjust your stay duration. For some inexplicable reason, certain hotel chains (like Hilton and Hyatt) might not show standard room availability unless you book for a certain number of nights. If you're having trouble finding your desired dates, consider extending your stay by a day or two (or three). You might be surprised to see standard rooms that can be booked with points suddenly become available. You can then reach out to the hotel to cancel the extra nights.

One of the most reliable methods for bypassing blackout dates is by redeeming Capital One miles at a fixed value of 1 cent per mile to cover paid travel expenses. Purchase your flight or hotel stay with a Capital One miles-earning credit card, such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. You'll have a 90-day window from the purchase date to redeem your miles for travel-related costs.

Final thoughts

Blackout dates are a major frustration for award travelers. Luckily, they are becoming increasingly rare.

Over time, travel programs have significantly enhanced the options for booking flights and hotel stays using rewards. However, in many instances, they demand substantially higher points to secure the last available seat or room.