What does “No blackout dates” really mean?<\/p>\n
You often hear commercials and\/or other advertisements promoting airline miles with “no blackout dates ” (I’m looking at you, Alec Baldwin and Capital One). So what the heck do they actually mean when they make this claim?<\/p>\n
As you might expect, the truth is a bit different than what it seems on the surface. When it comes to frequent flyer points, there are generally 2 different categories of points: (1) points with an airline directly, and (2) points with a generic rewards program. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I’ll write a future Guide comparing the 2, which can help you decide which system works better for you, but for this Guide, I’ll primarily be addressing the claim of “no blackout dates.”<\/p>\n
When it comes to redeeming frequent flyer points, each flight generally has a set number of tickets that are available for point redemption (contrary to what I’ve heard from some folks, the price you pay for your ticket and\/or whether you use points for your ticket play no part in what specific seat you will sit in). If a certain flight has 10 seats available for point redemptions, once those 10 tickets have been booked, that flight is no longer available for point redemptions.<\/p>\n
When an airline or credit card touts “no blackout dates,” they’re not claiming that you can use your points on any flight; it simply means that there are no dates that initially have 0 seats for point redemptions. If they release even 1 seat on 1 flight for a particular day, then that day is not fully “blacked out.” As soon as 1 person books that seat using their points, there are no more seats available to book with your points, but the date was not “blacked out” because there was at least 1 seat available for using your points.<\/p>\n
So don’t be fooled by the marketing lingo – “no blackout dates” doesn’t mean you can use your points on any flight anytime. It simply means that on every day out of the year, that airline made at least 1 seat available for point redemptions.<\/p>\n\n