School is back in session. Pumpkin lattes are flowing. Spirit Halloween stores are open.

Summer 2024 is over, and fall is here.

And if you want to use your points and miles for summer 2025 travel, fall is the perfect time to start thinking about it.

You may think it's too early, but if you're looking for business class seats to book with points and miles-especially for a family-now is a great time to start searching for award availability.

Here are several strategies you can take.

Strategy 1: 10-11 months away

The early bird gets the worm. Airlines release seats for flights as early as 10-11 months out. This is when the booking window opens, and it will be your first chance to book award seats.

If you're trying to book on a partner airline, such as a United flight through Air Canada Aeroplan, you need to wait until both airlines open their booking windows.

For example, Air Canada Aeroplan releases seats 355 days in advance, but United MileagePlus releases seats 331 days out. You'd need to wait until the 331-day mark to book.

Curious how to figure out when that day is? Just Google it.

Even if your trip is not for next August, I recommend searching like this. Doing so will help you determine the typical award pricing for seats you're eyeing, how many seats in a cabin tend to be available, and if there are saver award pricing for seats.

Saver awards are the lowest-priced seats in a cabin, so they are essentially your benchmark for a "deal" in that cabin.

Strategy 2: Search and set alerts

Missed the early bird window? No problem.

Search for your desired dates, and see what's available. If there are enough business class seats for your family on your desired dates, go for it.

If you don't see much or are looking for a centralized search engine, try a points search tool like Seats.aero or PointsYeah to search for your desired cabin and dates.

You can set alerts for seats with both search tools, but here's what you need to know.

Seats.aero:

• Free version: You can search up to 60 days out.
• Paid version: You can search more than two months out. This unlocks the ability to search and set multiple alerts for seats. Cost: $9.99/month as of September 2024.

PointsYeah:

• Free version: You can set four searches for flights, but know that you're limited to four days total (two days in each direction.)
• Paid version: You can set up to 32 flight alerts and search up to eight days. Cost: $89.99/year as of September 2024. (Premium and Elite members can enjoy 30% off their first-year membership through Perks.)

Strategy 3: Wait until the last minute

If you're not the planning type and chafe at searching for flights nearly a year in advance, disregard this entire newsletter and wait until the last minute.

If this is your strategy, being flexible is key. If summer is the only time you can travel, try to be open to a variety of destinations. You'll find somewhere to go with your points.

Here are a few examples of ways to use last-minute deals to decide your destination:

• Flying Blue Promo Rewards: Each month, Flying Blue runs flash sales for transatlantic flights on Air France and KLM. I've seen one-way economy tickets for as low as 15k points. You have to book this month for flights through next February, so if you're looking for the summer, I'd keep an eye on this over the wintertime.
• Singapore KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes: Singapore KrisFlyer offers a 30% discount on award seats on some of its Singapore Airlines flights to Frankfurt or Singapore from New York, Newark, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. This one is a shorter timeframe. Seats are released one month in advance, so you can book for October with some blackout dates.
• Lufthansa: The airline only releases first-class award seats 14 days ahead of the flight. No credit card points transfer directly to Lufthansa, but you could book through a partner like Avianca LifeMiles or Air Canada Aeroplan.

What to do now: Earn the points and miles

Whether you're a planner or get a high off last-minute travel, there is one thing you can do now: Earn a signup bonus on a new card so you'll have the points and miles you'll need for your trip.

Depending on the card, it usually takes about three to six months to earn a card's signup bonus, so if you opened a card this week, you could have the points in your account by January. That's six months or more before your trip!

Here are some of the best signup bonuses available now:

Earn 75k points

• Spend $4,000 on the card in the first three months
• Comes with an application credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck

Earn 75k points

• Spend $4,000 on the card in the first three months
• Access to airport lounges included

Earn 60k points

• Spend $6,000 on the card in the first six months
• Earns points at a high rate for the long haul

Earn 60k points

• Spend $4,000 on the card in the first three months
• Access to some of the best airline transfer partners available

Earn 80k points

• Spend $8,000 on the card in the first six months
• Includes a bunch of fancy statement credits

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