Award Flight Tips – Where to Start

Don’t let the idea that it is “too hard” to search for flights with points stop you before you begin.

Here’s my basic formula for finding award flights:

Step 1: Figure out which airline flies the route you want to fly

You can find out which airlines fly where you want to fly by going to Google Flights and doing a search for the flight.

Or you can use the free version of FlightConnections by either inputting the From or To airport to see what the direct/non stop options are.

Step 2: Check those airlines for award flight options

Once you know which airline flies where you want to go, then you can go to that airline’s website and search award options. With International airlines you’ll almost always need to create a free loyalty account, then login to search.

After you check directly with the airline that flies that route, check availability with some of their alliance partners…

Step 3: Use tools to help you search

My 3 favorite tools that help me find award flights are:
seats.aero – my fav paid tool
PointsYeah – great free version
AwardTool – great free version

Not sure how to use these tools? I’ve got you covered.

Step 4: Practice!

Grow your confidence now by running dummy searches. I’ve seen time and time again where someone doesn’t book a great fare because they didn’t know it was great and by the time they realize it, it’s gone. Or the opposite – someone uses a ton of unnecessary points because they were panicked and wanted to grab something.

Bonus tips:

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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.