We get it — mastering points and miles is no easy feat. You may have already seen our guide to getting started with points and miles, but what happens once you are ready to cash those points in for a trip?
Maximizing points and miles to travel luxuriously without breaking the bank doesn’t need to be laborious and time-consuming. In fact, there are various tools available that make it easier to find hotel and flight award availability.
With these tools, you can use your points to travel where you want, when you want and how you want in 2024 without spending hours searching for availability.
Here are 12 of the best apps and websites that help make award travel redemptions easy and stress-free.
Max My Point
What it does: Tracks hotel award availability at Hyatt, Hilton, IHG and Marriott properties
What it costs: Free for basic membership; $3.99 per month for a monthly membership
Max My Point is a website that lets you check award availability for Hyatt, Hilton, IHG and Marriott properties worldwide. It takes the guesswork out of award redemption searches by showing only real-time pricing and availability.
The homepage shows popular properties, but you can also sort by point value and availability or search for specific properties.
Once you choose a property, you can view a calendar that displays standard room points pricing, standard suite points pricing and the lowest cash rate for a full year. This allows you to plan your trip around the dates with the best points pricing.
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After you click on the check-in date you want, you’ll be automatically redirected to the property’s website to start the booking process.
If you can’t find the availability you are looking for, you can register for a free account and set up an alert to receive an email if availability changes.
TPG’s director of content operations, Andrea Rotondo, likes using Max My Point to search for Hyatt award night availability. Although Hyatt guarantees standard room availability on points when the same room is available with cash, that isn’t always the case once you start searching directly through Hyatt.
Related: It’s exceptionally difficult to stay at these World of Hyatt ‘unicorns’ on points — here’s how to book them
Points Path
What it does: Displays award pricing in Google Flights
What it costs: Free
Points Path is a free browser extension that displays award pricing alongside cash prices for select airlines in Google Flights. It also tells you which transferable points can be used with the airlines it supports, recommends when to use points versus miles and suggests when to book a paid rate. Once you select an itinerary, you can book a paid rate as you typically would with Google Flights or redeem an award directly with the airline loyalty program.
Related: How to use the Points Path extension to compare cash and award rates in Google Flights
Points Path simplifies determining when to use cash or miles to buy airline tickets. The browser extension is compatible with Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, but there are plans to create a Safari-compatible version.
StayWithPoints
What it does: Tracks hotel award availability at Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott properties
What it costs: Free
On the StayWithPoints site, you can view points redemption availability from Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott properties around the globe. Or, you can use StayWithPoints’ amalgamated list of popular properties for inspiration.
Clicking on a specific property shows a full year of award availability, points value and cash and points pricing per night.
It can take some scrolling, but you can find some great cash prices and award redemptions. For example, this search brought up a full week of points availability at Zemi Beach House in Anguilla.
After clicking your preferred check-in date, it will take you straight to the hotel’s website to book directly.
If you register for a free account, you can also set alerts for when award redemptions become available for your desired properties.
TPG App
What it does: Syncs your credit cards and loyalty programs to help you spend smarter and earn more points and miles
What it costs: Free
We’re not above a little shameless self-promotion, and honestly, this list wouldn’t be complete without a nod to our very own TPG app.
Within the app, you can see all your credit cards in one place, track your hotel and airline loyalty program points and miles, get recommendations for the best card to use for different purchases, keep up with the latest TPG news and so much more.
Once you’re ready to spend the points you’ve accumulated, you can use the TPG app’s “Award Explorer” tool to find out how many points or miles you’ll need to book your dream vacation.
Just input your departure airport, the destination and how many tickets you need. The TPG app will display estimated points pricing across 21 loyalty programs (based on availability).
You’ll also be able to see how close you are to having enough points for that particular trip and whether you’re better off paying in cash or points.
TPG’s newsletter editor, Becky Blaine, likes using the TPG app to choose the card that will net her the most points based on where she is shopping. Earning points more quickly helps her take those dream trips even sooner.
Point.me
What it does: Finds flight award availability based on your itinerary
What it costs: $5 to enjoy Standard Plan access for 24 hours; $129 annually for the Standard Plan
Point.me‘s robust interface checks for award flights within 34 loyalty programs across more than 100 airlines.
By entering your itinerary details, Point.me will display real-time award availability, including which transfer partner will get you the most bang for your buck.
Point.me also has a team of experts available 24 hours a day to help you travel for fewer points; they provide advice tailored specifically to your needs. How much you pay determines how tailored your experience will be.
To try the service for just one trip, you can pay $5 to access Point.me for 24 hours (unless you have access to a complimentary code). The Standard Plan starts at $129 annually, while the Premium Plan costs $260 per year. You can also use Point.me’s concierge service to have travel experts book your trip for you for $200 per passenger. Additionally, you can schedule a one-on-one consultation to help you meet your points and miles-earning (and redeeming) goals.
Bilt Rewards users can access a limited version of Point.me for free through the Bilt Rewards app. Similar to the full version, you can search for award flight availability, though you will only see results from programs that are Bilt transfer partners. If you have Bilt Rewards you want to transfer to an airline loyalty program to purchase tickets using points, this is a good way to try Point.me for free.
Related: Bilt Rewards app adds live award availability powered by Point.me
Roame.travel
What it does: Finds flight award availability based on your itinerary
What it costs: Free for the basic Community plan but requires signing up for a free account to search
Roame.travel works a lot like Point.me but without the charge. All you need to do is sign up for a free account to search 11 airline programs for award availability. Unlike Point.me, Roame.travel gives nearly instant search results in under 12 seconds.
Roame.travel shows many multicabin awards, so make sure you review your cabin classes closely. In the screenshot above, two of the three flights are mixed-cabin itineraries; the transpacific flight is in economy class.
As always, we recommend confirming award availability before transferring awards.
Related: The complete guide to searching award space on Roame.travel
Pointhound
What it does: Helps you maximize your points by finding the best flight redemptions
What it costs: Free
Pointhound takes the guesswork (and hours of searching) out of turning your points and miles into award flights. The site’s search tool helps you find the best deals by displaying your best booking options for a designated route and date.
For example, if you search for a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), Pointhound will display your flight results alongside all the ways you can book that flight. If you know you want to fly AirFrance but don’t have enough FlyingBlue miles, you can see which programs transfer to AirFrance partners, including those that have current transfer bonuses.
Once you’ve chosen a route and booking option, Pointhound will walk you through the points transfer and booking process. (You still book directly through the airline; Pointhound just gives you the instructions on how to do it.)
If you want to stay informed about the latest flight deals, you can sign up to receive flight alerts from specific airports via email.
Seats.aero
What it does: Displays award seat availability on long-haul, international flights
What it costs: Free for the basic version and $9.99 monthly for the Pro version
Seats.aero searches for award space every few hours and provides results for the next few months. It’s one of the best ways to search for Lufthansa’s first-class award space, as it’s generally only available to Star Alliance partners shortly before departure.
The Pro version allows you to search up to a year in advance on longer routes, set up unlimited alerts and receive SMS notifications when award availability is located.
Reward Flight Finder
What it does: Searches for Avios award availability with British Airways
What it costs: Free for basic searches; minimum 3.33 British pounds (about $4) per month for paid subscriptions
The Reward Flight Finder app and website certainly do not have all the bells and whistles or amount of airlines as other services. However, if your points and miles earning is restricted to only Avios and you’re a British Airways loyalist, it could be all you need.
As you’d expect, you simply need to set your departure and arrival points and hit “Search Now.” The app will then show you an overview of redemptions throughout the year.
The free plan allows for three economy seat searches a day and one alert every 24 hours. Silver Membership costs just 3.33 pounds (about $4) per month and provides unlimited searches across all cabins, worldwide map searches and up to five hourly alerts. The highest tier, Gold Membership, costs 5.83 pounds (about $7.50). It comes with all the Silver Membership features, plus up to 20 instant alerts and additional points pricing insights.
This is an incredibly basic app, but if you’re just starting out in the points and miles world and you’re happy to only focus on Avios, it could prove an easy entryway into award redemption planning.
SeatSpy
What it does: Checks flight award availability based on your itinerary and preferred airline
What it costs: Free for five economy award availability searches per day; minimum $3.32 per month for Premium subscription plans with unlimited searches
SeatSpy is a simple-to-use website that checks for award availability across different airlines, including Air France, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Etihad Airways, KLM, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
Simply select your airline, departure and end destination airports and hit “Search” to see availability across the next 12 months.
SeatSpy is free to use if you’re only searching for economy availability and can stick to a five-search limit. Where the product really shines, however, is in its premium subscriptions.
The entry-level subscription, Premium, costs $3.32 per month and allows unlimited searches across all fares and up to four availability alerts across email, WhatsApp and Telegram. It also includes AwardWallet integration so you can track how many points you have to redeem.
The most expensive subscription, First Class, costs $8.33 per month; it includes everything in the Premium plan, plus unlimited alerts at a more regular frequency. “Experience alerts” for hotel rewards are also currently in beta testing.
Both subscriptions offer a “Where Can I Go” search feature, which will show you all the destinations with award availability from your departure airport on the dates you select to travel.
It may have few features when compared to other services on this list, but in terms of simplicity, it’s a great site — especially if you’re looking at Europe-based airlines.
Awayz
What it does: Displays points, miles and cash pricing for flights and hotels
What it costs: Free for basic membership; $5.99 for a one-time “Trip Pass” and $149.99 per year for paid membership
Awayz helps you make the most of your hard-earned points and miles by helping you determine when to redeem those loyalty points and when to pay cash. You can use the Awayz search tool to look for certain flight routes or hotels in specific destinations. Awayz will then display live award availability and cash rates so you can make a side-by-side comparison.
You can use the site’s robust filtering system to display certain hotel chains, transferable award programs and even those that qualify for free night certificates. For flights, you can filter to see only certain airlines, choose the time of day you’d prefer to travel and even which aircraft you’d prefer. You can also update your “wallet” with the credit cards and reward balances you currently have so it can further tailor your results.
Related: How to use Awayz to improve your hotel award searches
A free membership includes five hotel and five airline searches per month. An Awayz Trip Pass (great for one-time planning) includes 50 hotel and 15 flight searches per month; it also offers award availability alerts and an award availability calendar for a one-time fee of $5.99. An Awayz Premium membership costs $149.99 per year and includes 250 hotel and 50 flight searches, plus 20 award availability alerts, hotel deal alerts and more.
Google Flights
What it does: Finds flight schedules and prices, with several filtering options, for most major airlines
What it costs: Free
Google Flights is your one-stop shop for finding the best flight for your schedule and budget.
You can search flight schedules and pricing across most major airlines and sort results based on price, duration, number of stops, fare class and airlines, among other options. You can also set flight price alerts or only enter your departure city before using the interactive map to choose your destination based on current pricing.
Google Flights does not display points pricing, but that doesn’t mean it can’t help you find award space. You’ll still have to book directly through the airline, but you can save valuable search time by narrowing down your options through Google Flights first.
For example, if you have a bank of points and miles with a Star Alliance, Oneworld or SkyTeam partner airline, you can filter search results by alliance to see routing options. Or, you may find a nearby airport with better pricing that you wouldn’t have searched for otherwise.
Bottom line
The great thing about all of these tools is that they can be used together to find award flights and hotel availability for free nights.
For example, start with the TPG app to learn about how to earn the most points for your purchases. Then, use a site like Point.me to find award flight availability or StayWithPoints for award hotel stay availability.
No matter which combination of sites and apps you use, you’ll find that they take the guesswork out of award redemptions and put you on the fast track to becoming an expert in redeeming points and miles for your 2024 travels.
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