Good afternoon everyone.  Last month, I wrote Reminder: Condor Airlines has Flights to/from Europe for 25K-45K (Economy) & 55K (Business) using Alaska Miles.  At the time I wrote that post, I had booked Condor Airlines business class from Frankfurt (FRA) to Vancouver, BC (YVR) for 55,000 Alaska Airlines miles per person.  I needed to get to Southern California for an event, so I booked a separate award ticket on Air Canada from Vancouver, BC (YVR) to Los Angeles (LAX).

When it comes to award tickets, the price is the price and the availability is the availability on the specific day that you look.  Award prices and availability are constantly changing, so keep checking to see if award tickets get cheaper or better award flights open up.  I originally booked this award ticket on June 4 and my flight was on July 16, so I kept checking every few days to see if I could find a better option to fly back to Southern California.

10 days later, I found Condor Airlines business class award seats from Frankfurt (FRA) to Seattle (SEA).  The award tickets were still 55,000 Alaska Airlines miles per person, but the amount of taxes increased $17.35 per person.  I guess there are lower taxes when flying to Canada than flying to the United States from Germany.  I then purchased a separate Alaska Airlines ticket from Seattle (SEA) to Orange County (SNA).  I looked to see if there was an Alaska Airlines award ticket that I could add to the Condor Airlines award ticket, but they only had 1 flight available in the evening which would have resulted in a very long connection in Seattle.

Luckily, my persistence and tenacity paid off.  About a month later, on July 12 (and 4 days before departure), I found Condor Airlines business class award seats from Frankfurt (FRA) to Los Angeles (LAX) for 55,000 Alaska Airlines miles per person and no change in taxes.  I changed the flight and then cancelled my Alaska Airlines ticket from Seattle (SNA) to Orange County (SNA), which saved me a few hundred dollars.

This is just one of many examples where searching for award space over several days / weeks has resulted in better award routings and cheaper award prices.  If you have any questions about changing Condor Airlines flights that were booked with Alaska Airlines miles, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

P.S. Even though our Condor Airlines flight was delayed 2 hours, we were able to relax at the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge in Frankfurt and we had an enjoyable flight home.  If you want to read a more thorough review of Condor Airlines, check out this One Mile at a Time post from April 2023.