How to Quickly Find Award Flights

Earning points is pretty easy once you know which points to earn. But the real struggle lies within trying to find award flights with availability.

BEST AWARD SEARCH TOOLS FOR FLIGHTS

It is absolutely amazing how many great search tools there currently are for flights. Here are some of the most popular & my favorites…

POINTSYEAH

PointsYeah Pros:

Incredibly intuitive and easy to use
Free version is quite impressive
Ability to search a 4 day window
“Daydream Explorer” tool is so cool for getting ideas on the cheapest flights – this is where you go to find the deal, not the destination
Multi airport search functionality
Shows you exactly how to book that award flight option (which program/points)
Free version allows you to set up 4 alerts
Very fast results
Select # of passengers, cabin class, bank programs & airline programs
Point to point searches are real time, daydreamer searches are not but it has a button to quickly check real time availability

Cons:

Doesn’t search British Airways or Singapore Air options
Free version, point to point search, can’t search more than 1 airport

To find the best DEALS or get IDEAS, select “Daydream Explorer”
Then put your to/from – I did Denver – Europe
Then you have the option to search by date OR month! Brilliant!

When you click on the results of a search, then click the “i” (information icon), it will show you not only what points you can transfer, it tells you if there’s a transfer bonus and includes transfer guides for each option. Very thorough!

seats.aero

seats.aero Pros:

Search tool is super fun to play with, as you can search by regions and countries to get ideas on where to go
Delta One tool finder shows Delta One flights available to book on Virgin Atlantic (and shows the entire year, not just 2 months)
Ability to search multiple airports
Ability to search +/- 1 day, +/- 3 days, +/- 7 days, +/- 14 days, +/- 28 days – which is really helpful if your dates are flexible
Easy to sort by cabin class
Allows monthly subscription option so you can see if you like the full version before committing
Pro version allows you to see an entire of year of flights – I love the PRO version!

Cons:

Doesn’t search British Airways, Turkish Airlines or Singapore Air options
Searches are not real time and therefore are not always correct
Free version only searches 2 months of availability
Doesn’t search all routes, only common ones created by site developer
Less beginner friendly, as it doesn’t show you how/which points to book the award flight with

Search feature allows you to search multiple airports, regions, countries. Great for finding deals and ideas.
In this example I searched USA – Europe

AwardTool

* use code Fancy20 for $20 off pro version

AwardTool Pros:

Super intuitive/easy to use interface (looks/feels similar to Google Flights)
Lots of sort options
Allows you to quickly search real time availability for your selection
Shows you exactly how to book that award flight option (which program/points)
Allows monthly subscription so you can “test”it out
Allows you to search up to 4 airports at a time OR +/- 4 days at a time
Pro version allows you to search up to 16 airports combinations or +/- 16 days at a time
3 free award alerts with free version
Very fast results

Cons:

“Panorama” search tool is a good find the deal/ideas tool, but free version only shows flights within 90 days
Doesn’t search Singapore Air

You can search up to 4 airports at 1 time

Shows you change/cancelation policy
And exactly HOW to book (which points)

When I use “Panorama” I input Denver – Europe
It allows me to easily sort options. And see how many award seats are available – super helpful when you need more than 1 or 2!

roame.travel

roame.travel Pros:

At the very least, you should sign up for their free newsletter alerts for flight deals
Shows you exactly how to book that award flight option (which program/points)
Shows the # of seats left for that award price (SUPER helpful for families booking!)
“Discover” is a neat feature to find deals from your airport
Free version allows for an entire year of point to point searches

Cons:

Their explore tool “Skyview” is only available on paid version
Free version doesn’t allow multiple airport or multiple date search

The “Discover” tool is a cool way to find cheap flights from a specific airport over specific dates

FINDING AWARD SPACE HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER

When I first started using points/miles, there weren’t a ton of tools that helped you run searches like this. It seems like every few months there is another incredible tool popping up. And so many of them have fantastic free versions. It will require a little time getting to know them, but will be a great place to start. But still always important – Always double check accuracy before transferring points.

WHICH POINTS EARN BEST REDEMPTIONS?

All of the tools listed above will show you how to find award flights.
But it’s really important to have the right points to take advantage of flight deals you find.

There are 4 (5?) main banks that have cards that allow you to transfer points to partners:
Chase, American Express, Capital One, Citi, BILT

Of these 5, my family focuses on earning Chase, Capital One and American Express.
It is helpful to diversify your points a bit, because each bank has different transfer partners. And having a few different “transferable point currencies” gives you a better chance of using points for the flight you find/want.

More Resources:
What is a good award flight deal to Europe in economy?
What is a good award flight deal to Europe in business?
How do I transfer my credit card points?

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Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.