I am a huge fan of earning nearly-free travel through points and miles. The thought of my next trip without having to pay for it makes me really excited. However, the process of finding the perfect redemption can be quite time-consuming. Luckily, there are some simple tools that can do all the hard work for you.
The most helpful award search tools function like Kayak or Google Flights, but specifically for miles and points redemptions. You can input the miles or credit card points you have, along with your travel details, and these tools will show you all the available options. Some tools even assist you in selecting the best seat, choosing the right plane, and getting the most value out of your points.
Having redeemed millions of miles and points myself, I rely on these tools to help me find the perfect award redemption.
PointsYeah
My go-to for: Finding award space across various hotel, airline, and credit card programs.
Cost: Offers a free basic version and a pro version priced at $11.99 per month or $99.99 annually.
PointsYeah is my preferred award search tool for both hotel and airline awards. The interface is user-friendly, and it provides real-time searches for award inventory, ensuring you are not looking at outdated availability. The tool is fast, and paid users can input multiple departure and arrival airports simultaneously.
One of the most valuable features of PointsYeah is the alerts. Even free users can set up email alerts to be notified instantly when award space opens up. This eliminates the need to constantly check for availability on airline or hotel websites.
PointsYeah allows you to filter by card issuers currently offering a credit card transfer bonus. It also integrates airline-specific discounts, such as the 15% discount available to Delta American Express cardholders on award flights.
One drawback of PointsYeah is its inability to search for airline-specific stopovers or multi-city benefits, like the United Excursionist perk. For such itineraries, direct searching with the airline is necessary.
Which loyalty programs does it track?
Seats.aero
My pick for: Searching for very specific redemptions, such as a particular airline cabin.
Cost: There’s a free basic version and a pro version that costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually.
Seats.aero is my favorite tool for finding premium cabin award space across a wide range of dates and airports for aspirational redemptions like Japan Airlines first class, Qatar Airways Qsuites, and Etihad apartments. Pro users can search over an entire year for availability, and all users can filter by regions, such as North America and Europe.
Unlike PointsYeah, which provides real-time data, Seats.aero primarily uses cached data with some live data depending on the airline and route. This may result in slightly outdated information, so it’s essential to double-check availability. The tool also offers a feature for searching hotel award space called Rooms.aero.
While Seats.aero is powerful, it may not be as user-friendly for beginners. The interface can be a bit cluttered, and understanding the results may require additional knowledge about each award program, especially regarding partner award availability. Additionally, alerts are removed once triggered, so users need to set them up again if desired.
One of the unique features of Seats.aero is the ability to filter by routes serviced by a specific aircraft type, which can be beneficial for airlines with different cabin configurations. For example, I used the tool in the past to find routes on Asiana Airlines operated by a Boeing 747, which had a specific first-class seating arrangement that I wanted to experience.
Points Path
My pick for: Determining whether to use miles or pay cash for a flight.
Cost: There’s a standard free version and a premium version for $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually.
Points Path is a fantastic tool for quickly deciding whether you should utilize miles or cash for a flight. It functions as a browser extension for Google Chrome and directly connects to Google Flights. Search results display both the cash and points cost for a specific flight, making it easy to evaluate the value of a potential redemption. Users can also set their own point valuations, influencing the tool’s recommendation to “use cash” or “good deal” for a points redemption.
The free standard version grants access to five airlines, while the pro version provides search results for nine airlines and various other features, including email alerts.
For more savings, I usually book rental cars using my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which allows me to redeem points as a statement credit against travel purchases.
Flight Connections
My pick for: Discovering route maps from a specific airport for particular airlines or airline alliances.
Cost: There’s a free basic version and a premium version for $39.99 a year, or $133 for lifetime access.
Flight Connections is my top tool for finding routes from a specific airport with a specific airline or airline alliance. It is my first choice for many of my award searches. For example, if I want