How we find award seats.

A search covers these programs, and only these. Each one sets its own price for a seat, so the same flight can cost different miles and cash depending on the program you book it through.

• EL AL MatmidClassic award seats on EL AL's own direct flights to and from Tel Aviv for one or two travellers, using standard Matmid one-way rates. FlyCard discounts and cash fees are not included.
• Atmos RewardsAlaska Airlines' program, read for seats on Alaska and its oneworld partners, from Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines to Qatar Airways.
• Air France-KLM Flying BlueAir France and KLM's program, read for SkyTeam seats out of Paris and Amsterdam and across the SkyTeam network, priced in miles.
• LifeMilesSeats on the Star Alliance airlines LifeMiles sells, United, Lufthansa, EVA Air and Air Canada among them, priced in miles with the cash LifeMiles adds on top.
• Virgin Atlantic Flying ClubVirgin Atlantic's own direct flights, priced in Virgin Points with the cash on top, for one traveller. Seats it sells on partner airlines are not read yet.
• Thai Royal Orchid PlusThe Star Alliance seats it sells, not only Thai Airways' own: Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish Airlines and Singapore Airlines among them. Its search does not reach airports in the mainland United States.
• British Airways ClubReward seats that avios.com sells on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, direct or with the connections it builds itself, priced in Avios for the whole journey. The cash on top is not read yet.
• United MileagePlusSeats united.com sells to its members on United and its partners, Lufthansa, Swiss and Air Canada among them, priced in miles with the taxes and fees on top.
• Delta SkyMilesSeats delta.com sells with miles to one adult on Delta and its partners Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico, in economy, premium and Delta One, with the taxes and fees on top.
• Qantas Frequent FlyerClassic and Classic Plus reward flights returned by Qantas, including Australian domestic routes, international routes and partner itineraries, with the cabin and cash fees for each offer.

The airlines each one books are listed on coverage.

We read the award seats each program shows publicly. We never ask for your program login and never sign in as you.

How often a route is read depends on the program and on how much the route is searched. The busiest routes are read again within a day or so; the quietest about once a week, sometimes less often. A search shows what we last read, so a seat can have gone since.

A route with an alert on it moves to the most frequent schedule its program runs, and its reads are queued ahead of the program's other routes.

What a month of these reads shows for business class, program by program, is in our award price study, with its method and data.

Pro's live re-check asks the program again about one seat before you move points, and an alert re-checks the exact seat seconds before its email leaves.

Searching departures in the next 60 days is free with an account, with no card. Departures up to 12 months out, the live re-check and alerts are Pro. Plans and the trial are on pricing.

The cash figure is what the program charges on top of the miles for that seat: taxes, airport charges and any surcharge it adds. Programs can recalculate taxes when you book, so the amount you pay is the one the program shows at checkout.

For Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club the cash is read off the seats we have collected rather than a fee table, so it is shown on their program pages.

Thai Royal Orchid Plus does not reach the mainland United States. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is read for Virgin's own direct flights only.

Programs we do not price yet: American AAdvantage, Cathay Asia Miles.

We do not book anything. A result tells you which program has the seat and what it costs; you book it on that program's site, under its rules and at its price at that moment.