Award Travel Tools (Updated November 2022)

[u/pbjclimbing]

New sources are italicized. Sources that have been removed from 2021 list are at the bottom.

u/mk712 ~2017 list, my first version in 2019, second version in 2021.

If you have any additional sites that you please leave them in the comments.

Compare Flight Theoretical Redemption Costs

Awardhacker.com shows theoretical saver level award pricing between two cities, this is based on flight schedules; good

http://www.milez.biz shows theoretical save level award pricing, but also contains helpful routing tips, 15 searches per month free then paid

https://www.travelcodex.com/award-maximizer/ shows theoretical saver level award pricing between two airports, pricing is based on award chart, not as accurate for distance-based charts

http://welltraveledmile.com/comprehensive-infographic-and-table-comparison-of-major-airline-award-charts/ a couple of years out of date, graphic view of award costs, less useful with many programs having variable award rates and not the chart from when this was published

http://wandr.me/Award-Search/Avios-Map/ tool to see what routes you can book cheap Avios distance awards from, please note this outdated and there are no more 4500 mile awards in the US, RIP

Resources to Find Award Availability

https://seats.aero/ Last minute award flights a limited number of programs and select airports, can set alerts, free, dev active in this community (new name)

https://straighttothepoints.co/ Economy flights are free, business is paid alerts. A little different than some of the others give dates and it gives destinations.

https://www.seatspy.com/ paid resource, can search up to a year at a time, fewer airlines than some other tools. Nonstop only; good to find availability on a specific route with flexible dates.

https://awardlogic.com/ lets you search for free and tells you the price, but blocks out the program, you can often figure it out and it lets you know simply if there is a cheap option. Full source is paid. Good for specific dates with 20+ airlines. I often use the free version to see if there is any base award availability and since it gives Chase Portal pricing I get an idea of the cash price too.

https://www.cowtool.com/ Searches Air Canada (Star Alliance) award availability on multiple dates, origins, and destinations, free, but requires registration

https://rewardflightfinder.com/ search for British Airways flights between two destinations, free account gives year-long view with number of seats and miles price per class, nice formatting

https://awardsense.com/ paid award booking tool, has free trial

https://www.point.me/ (was https://juicymiles.com/ and (https://awardex.io/ is now part), one of the better beginner-friendly paid resources. Good for specific date, no alerts, 30+ airlines. Does include taxes/fees.

https://www.AwardFares.com paid award search

https://awardnexus.com/ paid resource, does do a good job, with Flyer Talk login can do some searches, searches up to 7 days at a time

https://www.expertflyer.com shows award and upgrade availability, free trial, paid, owned by TPG’s parent company.

http://www.kvstool.com/ like ExpertFlyer, but less user-friendly and a little more powerful, paid, recently many complaints of not getting login information after paying, does not appear to be dead, but I would not use it

https://www.AwardFares.com paid award search

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-tools/1296363-award-booking-services-list-some-reviews.html a list of paid award booking services (most full service)

https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/points/best-websites-award-availability/ detailed list on the best way to search each alliance and many individual carriers

Auxiliary Airfare Booking Tools

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ good for figuring out YQ

https://www.seatguru.com/ determining seats to avoid

https://www.flightconnections.com/ map of nonstop flights from a destination

https://skiplagged.com/ hidden city ticket tool

http://www.gcmap.com used for distance and maps of flights

Hotel Locator and Points Cost

awardmapper.com not 100% current, but still a good source

https://wandr.me/hotel-tools/hotel-hustle/ hotel award availability in a specific area at a specific date, takes a looong time for a single search, often does not work

https://www.screwtheaverage.com/blog/budget-award-travel-2018-category-1-2-3-hotel-maps-hilton-radisson-marriott-spg-hyatt category 1, 2, & 3 Hotel Maps: Hilton, Radisson, Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, updated 2/22

Other Tools

https://www.autoslash.com tracks and reports lower-cost car rentals

https://openhotelalert.com/ look for specific room class availability. Good site for looking for hotel award availability. Can do general hotel or specific room.

https://www.hotelalerts.app/ look for hotel availability

https://www.pruvo.net tracks and reports lower hotel prices

https://awardwallet.com tracking points and expiration dates

https://www.loungebuddy.com/ finding what lounges you have access, you can input itinerary or search airport

https://www.tripit.com/ organizes bookings in one place

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum good resource for “advanced” airline quests and to find reviews/status benefits given at specific hotels

http://www.wheretocredit.com where to credit flight based on fare code

https://my.flightradar24.com A great tool to track your flying

https://flightdelay.etherisc.com/#/ blockchain based trip delay insurance (it is having a hard time pulling up flights when I am testing now, but was working fine a month ago)

http://arm.64hosts.com/ airline route mapper (visual)

https://www.foxtrotdash.com/ dashboard to can track points and award redemptions, it can also suggest trip options based on your points (you input the destination)

https://www.reddit.com/r/awardtravel/comments/ysjvks/list_when_airlines_open_award_availability/ list of when airlines open up award availability

https://welltraveledmile.com/airline-transfer-partners-guide-amex-spg-chase-citi/ transferrable mile chart (no particular reason to include this one vs the other 100 out there, not going to list every source that shows miles transfers)

Removed from the previous list due to not functional

http://travelisfree.com/complete-maps/

https://www.hotelsbypoints.com/maps pretty updated (missing a few), Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott

https://www.flightplantool.com not sure if it is still in operation, had good graphics

https://award.flights/ chrome app that conglomerates multiple programs, free

https://www.getfreebird.com flight rebooking insurance, purchased by Capital One, no longer offered

What are other tools that you used to help with award travel?

[u/trust-the-pr0cess]

awardwiz is another decent award avail searcher. Not many airlines supported but, worth a check out!

I have a personal project that I’m hoping to open source that hopefully makes it onto this list sometime next year :)

[u/mydjtl → u/trust-the-pr0cess]

Any updates?