5 Best Free Flight Award Search Tools

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Over the past year, there’s been a significant uptick in award flight search engines—some free—allowing you to search for award flights as easily as using Google Flights for paid fares.

In this article, I’ll review my favorite free versions of these tools. While all offer paid upgrades, some free versions offer surprisingly great functionality.

• Best Overall: PointsYeah. The free version performs well against paid tools. It allows you to search a 4-day window, 365 days out, across 25+ loyalty programs and offers free award search alerts. See our full PointsYeah review.
• Best for Flexible Travelers: Roame.Travel. The free plan allows you to search for award flights within a 7-day window, up to 60 days in advance. Alternatively, you can search for awards one day at a time, up to 365 days in advance. See our full Roame.Travel review.
• Best for Finding Last-Minute International Premium Awards: Seats.Aero. The free plan allows you to search for premium international flights from one region to another, such as anywhere in the U.S. to Asia. However, you can only look up flights up to 60 days out on the free plan. You can also set unlimited alerts to keep track of seat availability on the routes you want.
• Best for Redeeming Bilt Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards: Point.me. Searches in real-time for the most accurate results. Free with a Bilt Rewards account (not the credit card, just a loyalty account) or an American Express credit card that earns Membership Rewards.
• Best for Upgrades: ExpertFlyer. Tailored for travelers focused on upgrading and monitoring seat availability on specific flights.

#1. PointsYeah

PointsYeah searches across 25+ loyalty programs. The standout features are the ability to search four days at a time (8 days on the paid plan) and a unique alert system, available on both the free and paid plans.

Best for: For basic award searches, PointsYeah shines. It’s fast and free and works with over 25 programs.

In addition to searching for available award flights, PointsYeah has a helpful feature called Points Price Alerts. This lets you set your preferences for a specific award route, such as the maximum miles needed, taxes, fees, and flight duration. Once you set an alert, PointsYeah will email you as soon as an award flight matching your criteria becomes available.

This is particularly useful if you constantly check for award availability on a specific route. Instead of manually searching daily, you can let PointsYeah do the work for you by setting an alert and waiting for an email notification when the flight is available.

PointsYeah’s Daydream Explorer is another free feature that shows you all the destinations you can reach with your current points or miles balance. You can start with a broad search, like “United States” to “Asia,” and then use filters to narrow down your options based on criteria such as travel class, fees, number of stops, and maximum points required.

How I use this tool: I use PointsYeah to start my award searches and for its alert features. After upgrading to the paid plan, I set up alerts for all my trips. This helps me get better deals or flights whenever they become available, as I often tend to book 300+ days out.

Final verdict: While its user interface isn’t as polished as Point.me’s, it compensates with quicker search speeds and the highly valuable multi-date search feature. It’s also beneficial in the early stages of trip planning, showing you how many points you’ll need for your dream destination (which can inform your strategy on the best ways to earn points and miles).

#2. Roame.Travel

Roame.Travel covers 15 airline loyalty programs and over 122 airlines. While the free plan is limited to searching one day at a time for flights more than 60 days out, the searches are fast.

Best for: Roame.Travel is best suited for travelers who have flexible schedules and itineraries. For example, if I wanted to get to the Caribbean in the next 60 days, I could use Roame.Travel to search potential options with a 7-day window on the free plan (and 60 days on the paid plan).

Seats.aero, #3 on our list below, also helps you find last-minute deals, but it only searches for flights departing from and arriving at larger airports. In contrast, Roame.Travel provides results for a wider range of domestic and international airports.

How I use this tool: I appreciate Roame.Travel for its speed. Because it produces results quickly, it’s a great tool for brainstorming potential trips. Their free newsletter is also valuable, as It highlights great redemption opportunities. 

Final verdict: Its speed and user-friendly interface make it a strong contender in the award flight search space. The SkyView feature, available only to paying members, allows for region-to-region searches, adding unique value.

#3. Seats.aero

Seats.aero offers a unique approach to award flight searches by allowing you to search across entire regions with instant results—e.g., search from North America to all of Africa. The free version allows you to search up to 60 days in advance.

Best for: Seats.aero is ideal for travelers who aren’t tied to specific destinations and are looking for premium international awards in the next two months. The free version allows you to create unlimited alerts as well.

How I use this tool: As a paying user, I find Seats.aero is ideal for searching for potential destinations on specific dates, especially given that I have to consider my kids’ school calendars. For example, it allows me to see to what destinations my points can buy five international business class seats during Spring Break.

The free version is a good starting point for planning or those who like taking last-minute trips. Being a premium user allows you to see up to a year of availability on all routes. 

Final verdict: Seats.aero is a powerful tool for those who enjoy exploring award flight options across regions. However, its interface could be more intuitive, as it resembles a database more than a user-friendly search engine like Google Flights.

#4. Point.me

Point.me allows you to search for award availability with Bilt or American Express transfer partners for free. However, it only allows you to search for one day at a time, and results can take up to two minutes.

Best for: Point.me free version is useful for those with a stash of American Express or Bilt Points, as:

• If you sign up with Bilt Rewards (which is also free), you can access Point.me for free through their partnership. 
• Or, you can get free access to Point.me if you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards.

You only search for the given loyalty program transfer partners in both cases. For example, if you sign up through American Express, it only searches loyalty programs where you can transfer your Membership Rewards.

Yet, even if you don’t have many points with these programs, it’s still worth signing up for a free Bilt Rewards account (not the credit card, but just an account) to access Point.me.

Let’s say you have a lot of Capital One Miles and want to fly business class on a Oneworld airline, such as Cathay Pacific. You use Point.me and see that Alaska Airlines, another Oneworld alliance partner and Bilt transfer partner, has business class award seats available on a specific route.

Even though you don’t plan to fly with Alaska Airlines, seeing this availability is a good sign. It suggests that other Oneworld airlines might also have award seats, and depending on each loyalty program transfer partners and where your point balances are, you can transfer the points to these other programs.

How I use this tool: Point.me was one of the first award flight tools I used. And while I love its accuracy and ability to uncover some awards that others don’t have, I didn’t renew my annual subscription because I prefer PointsYeah’s near instant results to waiting for results to populate with Point.me.

Final verdict: If you’re looking for a free tool and want to maximize the value of your American Express Membership Rewards or Bilt Rewards, Point.me is a solid choice.

Learn more about Bilt Rewards:

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#5. ExpertFlyer

ExpertFlyer offers seat alerts, tailored for travelers looking to upgrade on specific flights. It offers two pricing tiers: basic and premium, but does provide one free alert. 

Best for: ExpertFlyer is most useful for travelers who have a ticket and are eyeing upgrade opportunities on that specific flight. The seat alert feature is its standout offering, allowing you to monitor availability for upgrades.

How I use this tool: I’ve used ExpertFlyer’s free seat alerts in the past. While I haven’t personally had success with upgrades, I know others who have. The tool is not as user-friendly as some other platforms; its interface is somewhat outdated and not very intuitive.

Final verdict: ExpertFlyer excels in its unique seat alert feature, making it a valuable tool for those focused on upgrading specific flights. However, its user interface could use an update to improve usability. The pricing tiers and the availability of free alerts make it a flexible option, especially for those who frequently seek upgrades but are on a budget.

Final Thoughts

When I started in the points and miles world, these tools weren’t available. 

Whether you’re new and considering the best first credit card for earning points and miles or an experienced award traveler, these search engines can help cut hours off the process of finding award availability.

A few tips I’ve found helpful when using any award search engine:

1. Double-check with the airline. Never transfer your hard-earned points until you’ve confirmed that the seats are actually available directly with the airline or loyalty program. Award search engines are great, but they’re not infallible.
2. Compare with the big three. Before transferring your points, check Delta, American Airlines, and United. I mention these three specifically as they’ll allow you to search across each of the major alliance networks. 
3. Always check British Airways. I always struggle to find available awards on British Airways, so I check this separately as well.
4. Set up alerts. Award availability is volatile. What’s available today might not be there tomorrow, and vice versa. While it’s true that the best seats often open up far in advance, airlines also release award seats at random intervals. So, set up alerts and keep your options open.

Don’t overlook these steps; they could be the difference between a smooth booking experience and a frustrating one. And once you’ve secured your flights, don’t forget to look into how to book hotels with points.

Not sure where to start or what’s available? Check out my travel hacking case studies guide for examples of free trips I’ve booked over the years.

R.J. Weiss

R.J. Weiss, founder of The Ways To Wealth, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ since 2010. Holding a B.A. in finance and having completed the CFP® certification curriculum at The American College, R.J. combines formal education with a deep commitment to providing unbiased financial insights. Recognized as a trusted authority in the financial realm, his expertise is highlighted in major publications like Business Insider, New York Times, and Forbes.