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Updated: 29 June 2026

Last-Minute Booking with Points: My Strategy for Spontaneous Trips

Honestly: most of the times I book "spontaneously," it's not truly spontaneous. There's a system behind it. Nothing spectacular, nothing secret, but it has been working consistently for me for a few years now. And it revolves around one thing: points that are ready at the right moment. That sounds simpler than it is, because last-minute booking with points requires a different approach than calmly finding an award ticket three months in advance.

The difference? Availability. Or rather: the lack of it. The closer to the departure date, the fewer award seats remain, with virtually every airline. But "fewer" is not the same as "none." And that's where it gets interesting for Belgian travellers who want to use their Membership Rewards points wisely.

Why last-minute booking with points works differently than you think

Let me start with a misconception I see everywhere. People think you can simply redeem points like cashback: you have points, you book a flight, done. That's how it works with direct points redemption (through the Amex travel portal, for example), but not with the method that actually delivers real value, namely transferring to airline partners.

The difference in value is significant. If you spend 50,000 Membership Rewards points directly in the Amex Travel portal, you might get €300-400 worth of flights. Transfer those same 50,000 points to British Airways Avios, and you can book a return to London in business class. That ticket would easily cost €500-800 in cash. The exchange rate changes, so to speak, depending on how you spend the points.

But here's the catch: transfers take time. Usually 1-2 business days, sometimes instant with certain partners. And with last-minute booking, you don't always have that time. What I've learned: for spontaneous trips, always keep a portion of your points already in the right loyalty programme. Not all of them. But a buffer.

Specifically: I permanently keep around 25,000-30,000 Avios at British Airways, and a similar amount at Miles & More (Brussels Airlines/Lufthansa). Those are my two most-used partners from Brussels. The rest stays as Membership Rewards, flexible, ready to be transferred when something comes up.

My three-step approach for spontaneous points trips from Brussels

I haven't given this a name. It's not a "method" or "framework." It's simply three steps I go through time and again when I fancy a trip and have less than two weeks until the departure date.

Step 1: Check availability, not the destination

This is the hardest part if you're not used to it. Most people start with "I want to go to Barcelona" and then search for award seats. With last-minute bookings, that's almost always disappointing. My approach is the reverse: I first check where there is availability from Brussels Airport, and only then decide where it'll be.

Tools I use: the British Airways search function (ba.com) is surprisingly good for finding Avios availability, including for partner flights. For Star Alliance (Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines) I use the Miles & More search function or the United website. The latter sometimes shows award seats you won't find on the Lufthansa site.

Flexibility in destination is the key. A weekend in London or a long weekend in Ibiza? Doesn't matter much when the flight is "free." That's how I think about it, at least. Admittedly, not everyone is that flexible, and I understand that. If you really only want to go to one specific place, last-minute on points simply works less well.

Step 2: Look beyond economy

This sounds counterintuitive, but with last-minute booking there are sometimes more business class award seats available than economy. Why? Because airlines would rather give away a business seat for points than let it fly empty. Economy they fill more easily with cash passengers.

A concrete example: a return Brussels-Bangkok in business via Turkish Airlines (transfer via Miles & More or directly via Turkish Miles & Smiles) can cost 90,000-110,000 points. In cash you'd easily pay €2,500-3,500 for that. The value per point then shoots up to 2.5 to 3 cents each. That is, for the points nerds among us, a very good deal.

But be realistic: such seats aren't always available. Over the past year I searched three times for last-minute business to Bangkok. Succeeded once, failed twice. Honesty compels me to say it doesn't always work.

Step 3: Book the hotel separately, preferably via Fine Hotels + Resorts

Once the flight is sorted on points, I usually book the hotel separately. And here the Amex Platinum comes into play again: through the Fine Hotels + Resorts programme you get complimentary room upgrade, early check-in, late checkout, daily breakfast for two, and a welcome gift of around €100 at 14,000+ hotels. Per stay, that can add up to €650 in extra value.

Last-minute, availability at FHR is surprisingly good. Hotels want those rooms filled, and if premium rooms are still empty three days before arrival, they're simply in the system. Last winter I booked a hotel in Bangkok via FHR, two days before departure, and we received a suite upgrade we would never have gotten otherwise.

How many points do you need as a buffer for spontaneous trips?

This is the question I receive most often by email, and the answer depends on your travel profile. But I can give some guidance based on what I use myself.

My own target: I try never to drop below 80,000 Membership Rewards. That's my "spontaneous trip fund," if you will. Everything above that I invest in planned trips. Everything below: don't touch unless it's truly an opportunity I don't want to miss.

How do you build such a buffer? It goes faster than you'd think. With the Amex Platinum you earn a standard 1 point per €1 spent. With the Booster option (€10/month extra) that becomes 4 points per €1. On a monthly spend of, let's say, €2,000, that yields 8,000 points per month. In ten months you have 80,000 points. Plus the welcome bonus if you're just starting out: via the TravelLux.be referral link you receive the maximum welcome bonus of 150,000 points (one-time, after a minimum spend of approximately €4,000-6,000 in the first 3 months). That's enough for multiple spontaneous trips.

Important to mention: that welcome bonus is one-time only. You receive it once, with your first Amex Platinum application. It's not an annually recurring thing. So plan with it, but don't count on it every year.

When points DON'T work for last-minute: being honest about the limitations

It would be easy to stop here and pretend it always works. But that wouldn't be honest, and on TravelLux.be I try to tell exactly the things other blogs skip over.

Last-minute booking with points works poorly in these situations:

• School holidays and public holidays: forget it. Award availability is virtually zero then, especially from Brussels. Christmas, spring half-term, Easter holidays, summer peak July-August: cash is often your only option.
• Specific flight + specific date: if it absolutely has to be that one flight on that one day, you almost never get lucky with points at the last moment.
• Groups of 3+: award seats are released per seat. Finding two seats is already tricky, three or four nearly impossible last-minute.
• Routes without an award partner: some routes from Brussels are only operated by airlines that aren't a transfer partner of Membership Rewards. Then your points are useless.

And honestly: the Amex Platinum isn't the right card for everyone either. If you only go on holiday once a year, always book well in advance, and rarely sit in a lounge, then €780 per year is a lot of money for little return. The value lies in frequent use: lounges (more than 1,550 accessible via Priority Pass), the Fast Lane at Brussels Airport (otherwise €169/year), the Dining for 2 programme (3x per year a complimentary two-course meal for two), and of course the points themselves. Those who fly 3 or more times a year and actively use the benefits can easily extract €1,500-2,000 in value per year. Those who don't land closer to €400-700, and then it becomes a maths exercise.

My favourite transfer partners for spontaneous trips from Belgium

Not all Membership Rewards transfer partners are equal. Some are better for last-minute than others, simply because they release more award seats close to departure. This is my personal ranking, based on a few years of experience from Brussels Airport.

Other partners worth mentioning: Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (good network, sometimes odd availability), Air France-KLM Flying Blue (regular promo awards that are also usable last-minute), and Qatar Airways Privilege Club (for those who want to fly via Doha).

Want to learn more about how Membership Rewards points work and which transfers yield the most? I've written about that extensively in our guide to Membership Rewards points.

The practical checklist: how I tackle a spontaneous trip

No more theory. This is literally what I do when I decide on a Tuesday evening that I want to get away for the weekend.

Tuesday evening: check availability. I open ba.com, miles-and-more.com and emirates.com. I search broadly: multiple destinations, Thursday to Monday, economy and business. I note what's available and for how many points.

Wednesday morning: make the decision. If something appealing turns up, I transfer the points (if they're not already with the right partner). With Avios it often goes through the same day. With Miles & More I allow 1-2 days. I book the award ticket as soon as the points land in my account.

Wednesday or Thursday afternoon: book the hotel. I first check Fine Hotels + Resorts via the Amex app (the extra benefits are more than worth it), and if nothing there fits in terms of price or location, I fall back on regular booking sites. Tip: FHR hotels aren't always more expensive than the same room elsewhere, and you get breakfast and late checkout included for free.

Departure day: Fast Lane security at Brussels Airport (free with the Amex Platinum), Priority Pass lounge, and off we go. That lounge access is especially nice on last-minute trips, because you sometimes fly at less-than-ideal times and a quiet place to wait is quite pleasant.

Does that sound streamlined? It doesn't always feel that way. I've had evenings where I spent an hour and a half searching and ultimately found nothing. Or transfers that didn't come through before the weekend. Or that one hotel that was just fully booked. It comes with the territory. But when it does click, and you fly business class to a city you've always wanted to visit for a fraction of the cash price, then it's definitely worth the effort.

What this cost and delivered: a concrete calculation example

I love numbers, so here's a calculation from a recent spontaneous trip. We (my partner and I) wanted a long weekend away, destination open.

Honestly: that €1,000 saving is the optimistic scenario. The 52,000 Avios could have been spent on something else, and the cash price for those flights fluctuates. But the point is: we wouldn't have taken that trip if we'd had to pay €1,830. With points, the threshold was low enough to say "yes, let's do it." That's the real value of points: they make trips possible that you'd otherwise skip.

Who this doesn't work for (and that's okay)

I'm writing this article from my own situation: someone who travels regularly, is flexible on destination and dates, and spends enough via the Amex Platinum to build up a points buffer. But that's not everyone.

The Amex Platinum (€780/year, or €65/month) isn't worth it if you rarely fly, always go to the same destination on fixed dates, or do your monthly spending primarily in cash or with a different card. For someone who drives to Spain once a year for a two-week holiday and doesn't travel much beyond that, there are better options. Perhaps a card with no annual fee, or simply cashback. No shame in that.

The typical profiles I encounter where it does work: couples who take 3-5 city trips or holidays per year, business travellers who use their personal card for professional expenses (check your employer's policy), or families who want to stretch the budget for one or two big holidays with lounges and hotel upgrades. Recognise yourself? Then it's worth doing the maths. Don't recognise yourself? That's fine too. Not every card suits every profile.

Also read: Our comprehensive Amex Platinum Belgium review and Priority Pass lounges at Brussels Airport.

Related on TravelLux.be:

• Membership Rewards points: the complete guide for Belgian travellers
• Amex Platinum Belgium review: costs, benefits and honest analysis
• Priority Pass lounges at Brussels Airport: what do you really get?