Nicole Elgin’s only travel these days is a 15-mile commute by car to a hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s a pediatric nurse, and her days are long and stressful. “But when I clock out from my shift, my mind shifts seamlessly to that next perfect beach,” she said. And with good reason: Last year Ms. Elgin flew more than 100,000 miles on trips from San Francisco to destinations such as Bermuda, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Most of her flights were virtually free, courtesy of her skills at redeeming frequent flier points.

No one knows when the coronavirus pandemic will end and travelers will be able to take to the skies again. But observers of airline frequent flier programs expect there to be good news for people like Ms. Elgin.

“Travelers will see points and miles incentives targeted to high-value fliers,” said Robert Sahadevan, who once ran a major airline’s loyalty program. “And depending how long the travel slump is, they may make offers large and broadly available.”

“It’s a flier’s market,” said Brian Kelly, the founder and C.E.O. of The Points Guy, a go-to source of information on travel rewards. With demand extremely low, there are deals on rewards tickets in all cabin classes and across many carriers for future travel. Mr. Kelly said his company’s research shows, for example, many more business-class award seats available through United Airlines’ MileagePlus loyalty program, for flights departing after August 2020 (as compared to November 2019). American Airlines has more seat upgrades available than usual. The airline also has a good number of seats available for flights paid with miles to destinations like Australia and Europe, especially in early 2021. Delta Air Lines shows the least movement in the number of reward seats available compared to six months ago.