How to search award flights with Real-Time and Mega Search

When should you use a live search?#

Use Real-Time Search when you know where you want to fly and have specific dates or a manageable date window. It is a useful next step after discovering a promising route in Panorama, and a good starting point for time-sensitive travel where you need to compare actual itineraries.

Mega Search gives you a way to combine a wider live search into one workflow. The number of route, date, and program combinations you can submit depends on your current account access. Check the form's limits before expanding the search; a focused set of plausible airports and dates is easier to compare than every possible combination.

How to set airports, dates, passengers, and programs#

1. Choose airports and dates

   Enter your origin and destination. Add nearby airports only if you could realistically use them. Select the departure date or supported date range and the trip direction offered by the form.

2. Set passengers and cabin

   Enter everyone traveling and choose the cabin you want. A result for one passenger does not establish that the same award is available for your entire family or group.

3. Choose booking programs

   Select the loyalty programs you can use or fund through eligible transfers. The booking program can differ from the operating airline, so judge the itinerary and funding path separately.

4. Run and compare

   Submit the search and review the loaded results. For searches spanning dates, use the date comparison controls to identify useful days before narrowing the itinerary list.

How to filter award flights and check mixed cabins#

Start with the minimum requirements: cabin, passenger count, maximum points, cash taxes, and acceptable stops. Then refine departure times, arrival times, total duration, connecting airports, airlines, or aircraft where available. Reset filters if the list becomes empty and add restrictions back one at a time.

Business and First results can include mixed-cabin itineraries. Use the premium-cabin percentage filter where available, then expand the flight to see which cabin applies to each segment. A premium label alone is not enough to establish that your longest flight is in the cabin you want.

For a fixed event, check the arrival date and time rather than just the departure day. For a short holiday, a slightly higher points price may leave you with more usable time than a long connection. Compare these tradeoffs directly instead of sorting only by miles.

Use the result view that suits the decision#

List view gives individual itineraries room for detail. Table view aligns schedules, connections, seats, and prices for quick comparisons. Grid view places cabin availability and prices together. Choose the view that makes your current question easiest to answer; changing the layout does not change the underlying trip requirements.

Sort by points when your balance is the constraint, by duration when time matters, or by taxes when the cash component is important. Open the flight for segment-level airports, airlines, flight numbers, aircraft, and layovers. Check the price basis and calculate the total for your party before comparing options.

Continue to booking or create an alert#

The booking information panel shows the loyalty program's award price and any eligible transfer options. Book Now takes you to the airline program. Transfer rows can explain a bank-to-program path and offer a Transfer Guide. Check the program's current availability, taxes, and rules before proceeding.

If no result fits, try nearby dates, another airport, or an additional program you can use. For a trip that remains specific, create a real-time alert from the supported search controls or the Alerts page. Review the alert form carefully: only supported preferences carry into monitoring, and you still need to save the alert.