If you're a regular TPG reader, you know that collecting and redeeming travel rewards can be the most powerful strategy to deeply discount your upcoming travels.
The arch nemesis of a points and miles enthusiast is blackout dates. They can render the rewards you earn with your travel credit cards absolutely useless, turning a pennies-on-the-dollar trip into a wildly exorbitant affair. Fortunately, there are tricks to combat blackout dates. Here's what you need to know to have the most success when booking award travel.
In short, blackout dates are specific periods in which you're unable to earn or redeem airline miles, hotel points, vouchers, etc. for travel. They most typically apply to travel promotions such as flash sales, restricting you from traveling during peak season dates.
Related: Your ultimate guide on how to search award availability for the major airlines
Blackout dates are actually becoming a thing of the past. Most major airline and hotel loyalty programs no longer enforce blackout dates, allowing you to redeem rewards for virtually any airline seat or hotel room available. Even if a "saver" award (the cheapest price) is no longer available, you can often still use rewards. You'll just pay an astronomical price.
Another trick these programs use to foil your award travel is known as "capacity control." Seemingly arbitrarily, an airline or hotel may only release a specific number of saver-level awards at a time — even if there's availability. This will result in either sky-high award prices or a complete inability to book an award. The dates on which loyalty programs do this are almost never publicly listed, so it's difficult to know when it's happening to you.
The major U.S. carriers, such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, brag about their lack of blackout dates when traveling on their own metal. If there's a seat available, you can book it with points or miles.
That doesn't mean it'll be cheap, though. For example, a business-class flight on United Airlines might cost as little as 80,000 miles or as much as 200,000 miles. If you need the seat, it's nice to at least have the option of redeeming rewards — even if it's a rip-off.
There are some exceptions to the no blackout dates tradition. JetBlue publishes a sizable list of blackout dates for using travel certificates on select routes. Also, redeeming miles on select Delta partners, such as Korean Air, may be subject to blackout dates on specific routes.
Similar to airline programs, hotel programs like Hilton and Marriott generally allow you to reserve just about any room available. But unless there are standard rooms (often the lowest room category),
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