I’ve got a family – my wife and my 2 boys. Having a family has limitations in regards to using points for business class flights because many routes and airlines does not have four on the one flight. This causes difficulty for many families trying to book their flights all on award points. The optimum way to secure a reward flight is if you were flying just by yourself thus opening up much more award availability.

Don’t get me wrong though – flying with my family on premium travel is one of the best experiences I can provide them – travelling in luxury and actually enjoying the flight rather than dreading it. I have flown many times with them to Hong Kong on Business Class and have experience on which airlines and frequent flyer programs tend to have a bit more award space to cater for a family. I have 2 family trips coming up – one to the US and Japan flying Japan Airlines Business and First Class and also another to Singapore and Maldives on Singapore Airlines Business Class.

Also travelling with kids means you also need to consider that you most likely can only travel during school holidays as well which means there are more limitations as those are usually peak periods and airlines release less award seats knowing they can sell the tickets instead.

So what are my recommendations?

1. Try and book in advanced as much as possible. The above 2 trips I have booked 11-12 months ahead. Once the schedule opens then for some airlines such as Singapore Airlines there are award seats available straight away. In my case there were 4 award seats available.
2. Book for travel with departure during mid-week. It is a well-known secret that there is usually more award seat available weekdays then weekends.
3. Monitor seat availability at least once a month. You never know – seats may pop up every now and then.
4. Booking just a few weeks before departure – this is a bit risky but if an airline knows they cannot sell premium cabin seats then they will release more as the departure date comes closer.

Also as I have a family of four – I do tend to spend a bit more on accommodation to cater for this. So I would look for available options such as serviced apartments or suites (e.g. Hyatt Diamond Suite Upgrades) so we have a great place to stay and enjoy. If you have small kids – more likely than not you will prefer facilities such as a microwave, washing machine and ample space. That’s why I am more pickier when selecting hotels for my family. If I was just travelling for myself – my only requirement is that it needs to be clean and modern – I can’t stand old hotels!

With hotels – as their points are not valued as much as airline points – I am more inclined to use my credit card and only redeem the points at expensive hotels to get the best value out of them.

At the end of the day – using points for both flights and hotels for luxury travel is one of the best advantages of this hobby when splurging it just for your family for those ever lasting memories that your kids will cherish forever!

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