Award Seats Followup Question

AS International award seat availablity.

What time zone at midnight does BA release award seats.

I would think GMT, but do airline reservation systems sync at GMT or local?

Can't say when BA releases into GDS. However, know that many airlines do NOT release on a specified time/date schedule, as they are moving to a dynamic allocation system much like that for revenue tickets.

AS International award seat availablity.

 

What time zone at midnight does BA release award seats.

 

I would think GMT, but do airline reservation systems sync at GMT or local?

What makes you think there's a particular hour, or even day? That's not the way yield management works; seats can be released into award inventory when the flight becomes bookable (in the case of BA, I believe 360 days pre-flight, but probably not bookable with Alaska miles until 330, the US standard.) However that doesn't mean that they will be released at 360/330. They're released only when and if the YM algorithms determine that it's profitable for the airline to do so, based on umpteen metrics that are constantly evaluated - cash sales, historic draw-down of seats, competition, etc. etc. They might make one or two (or none) available at the get-go, then nothing for months, then one or two more, up to the day of the flight. You can start looking at 360 or 330 days, but that doesn't mean you'll see anything, or that you won't at 260 or 100 days.

What time zone at midnight does BA release award seats.

 

I would think GMT, but do airline reservation systems sync at GMT or local?

Other than that time, it's anyone's guess when award seats will come into the system, as Gardyloo says.

What makes you think there's a particular hour, or even day? That's not the way yield management works; seats can be released into award inventory when the flight becomes bookable (in the case of BA, I believe 360 days pre-flight, but probably not bookable with Alaska miles until 330, the US standard.) However that doesn't mean that they will be released at 360/330. They're released only when and if the YM algorithms determine that it's profitable for the airline to do so, based on umpteen metrics that are constantly evaluated - cash sales, historic draw-down of seats, competition, etc. etc. They might make one or two (or none) available at the get-go, then nothing for months, then one or two more, up to the day of the flight. You can start looking at 360 or 330 days, but that doesn't mean you'll see anything, or that you won't at 260 or 100 days.

Glad you asked these questions. I'm thinking you could be The Donald's new advisor. The answers to questions asked is not the problem, it's how they're stated.

As a member of these boards since the AOL days, I have learned a ton about the airline industry and the mysteries within. How does Yield management algorithms work? It's magic that only Gandolf knows the true answer to.

Now to your question of What makes me think there's a particular hour or even day?

Research my friend, research.

For 3 weeks prior to grabbing my outbound flights, I was on Alaska's web site at 6AM every morning researching dates available, possible routing, possible airlines offering seats, etc. I found the BA was very generous with openings and offerings. Emirates would have a couple of offerings, while other AS partners had no offerings at Alaska's opening day of 330.

Now I'm researching for my return flights and that led to my question about local time zone or GMT.

Now if Alaska's reservation system doesn't sync until midnight local time (Pacific time) and seats are opened at GMT,,, then I've lost 8 hours to grab potential limited seats

Thus, leading to my question which by the way you didn't even come close to answering, but I blame myself for not being more effective in my communications .

Do I need to adjust my 6AM search to an earlier hour to better compete with my friends to the East to grab these limited seats?

Glad you asked these questions. I'm thinking you could be The Donald's new advisor. The answers to questions asked is not the problem, it's how they're stated.

As a member of these boards since the AOL days, I have learned a ton about the airline industry and the mysteries within. How does Yield management algorithms work? It's magic that only Gandolf knows the true answer to.

 

Now to your question of What makes me think there's a particular hour or even day?

Research my friend, research.

For 3 weeks prior to grabbing my outbound flights, I was on Alaska's web site at 6AM every morning researching dates available, possible routing, possible airlines offering seats, etc. I found the BA was very generous with openings and offerings. Emirates would have a couple of offerings, while other AS partners had no offerings at Alaska's opening day of 330.

 

Now I'm researching for my return flights and that led to my question about local time zone or GMT.

Now if Alaska's reservation system doesn't sync until midnight local time (Pacific time) and seats are opened at GMT,,, then I've lost 8 hours to grab potential limited seats

Thus, leading to my question which by the way you didn't even come close to answering, but I blame myself for not being more effective in my communications .

Do I need to adjust my 6AM search to an earlier hour to better compete with my friends to the East to grab these limited seats?

Look, I'm sorry if I came across snarky. I too am going on many years of playing the game, and I don't have access to BA's YM people (or bots) any more than you do. You're asking how early is early enough, and the standard response is, how long is a piece of string? I don't see this as some sort of Black Friday sale where you line up outside Target to get the cheapest vacuum cleaners. Others have different views.

So try this. Lurk on the BA award site and as soon as you see space on your desired segments, phone Alaska and book them, or if you don't want to pay the phone fee, see if they're shown as open on the AS online booking screens right when they show up on BA's. Best case, no delay, you've got the seats, badda bing. Worst case, AS can't book them so then you have to wait - either 8 hours for Alaska's clock to catch up with BA's, or 30 days. Meanwhile see if they're still available on BA's site so you're not chasing a goose.

Thank you for the response.

I asked AS about the syncing of their reservation system and most of the phone reps went silent. I think 1 thought that their system was in Tulsa, so they thought maybe the change took place in that time zone.

There are many experts here and I thought why not reach out and ask either for a more definitive answer, or a confirmation.

You're correct in that this isn't a Black Friday sale and I have to stand in line. Then again, there are certain medical conditions involved where I need to consider flight times, layover times, etc. to minimize any discomfort or disruptions. These conditions are not so serious as be life threatening, but if I can alleviate some of the stress, I win.

Again, thanks to everyone who takes time out of their busy days to share information on these boards.

Here's a very relevant thread on Flyertalk, especially post no. 15 and on.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/information-desk/1700208-mission-impossible-not.html