Awardtool: Guide to Finding Flights and Hotels With Points

What is AwardTool?

AwardTool is an online platform designed to simplify the search for flights and accommodations that you plan on booking by using points programs. It enables people to quickly identify the best points options available. The interface may seem familiar when you first come across it, as the appearance and feel of AwardTool is very similar to Google Flights.

AwardTool Key Features

Real-Time Flight Search

AwardTool stands out for its fast and accurate real-time search for award flights. On average, results are generated in just fifteen seconds, which is a major advantage, especially when every second counts in booking award tickets or hotel stays. The platform ensures that the displayed data reflects the current availability, eliminating the risk of finding expired options. This real-time reliability is particularly useful for loyalty programs where popular rewards are quickly depleted. In fact, some programs release only one to four award tickets per flight (more in business class), and you need to act at the right moment to secure them.

Supported Programs

AwardTool supports the following loyalty programs:

• AeroMexico Club Premier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Azul TudoAzul
• British Airways Executive Club (Avios)
• Copa Airlines ConnectMiles
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• GOL Smiles
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• SAS EuroBonus
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Spirit Airlines Free Spirit
• TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
• Turkish Airlines Miles
• United Airlines MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Virgin Australia Velocity

And for hotels:

• Marriott Bonvoy
• Hilton Honors
• World of Hyatt
• IHG One Rewards

Research Flexibility

Another feature of AwardTool is its flexible search. People can perform multi-day flight searches to explore availability over several dates, which is particularly handy for those with flexible schedules.

Plus, it’s possible to integrate several departure or arrival airports into a single search, increasing the chances of finding options matching our specific needs. These features enable more efficient planning, avoiding the need for multiple manual queries.

• Multi-day: You can search for availability on several consecutive days, which is ideal for travellers who are flexible about their dates.
• Multicity: This feature lets you include several departure or arrival airports in a single search, increasing your chances of finding interesting options.

You can enter up to four origin and four destination airports in the free version, which is enough for a large number of people.

For example, here are some search results I found for flying to France (considering several airports):

Finally, I compared the results obtained with AwardTool with those of the official airline websites. Unfortunately, the points prices did not always match the Flying Blue level, and the tax and fee amounts also showed discrepancies. This underlines the importance of always checking directly with the programs to ensure the accuracy of the information.

For Aeroplan, the prices posted on AwardTool were fair compared with those on Air Canada. The slight disparity I found was due to the preferential rate to which I am entitled as an Aeroplan co-branded credit card holder. As for taxes and fees, AwardTool displays them in U.S. dollars, but the amount corresponds to reality once converted into Canadian dollars. This precision is reassuring, and allows you to better anticipate the real costs when booking.

Advanced Filtering Options

The first thing you’ll notice here is that AwardTool offers advanced filtering options, allowing you to restrict results to specific criteria. Whether searching for direct flights, limiting costs in points and taxes, or focusing on a particular airline or hotel chain, these filters ensure that the results displayed are exactly what people want. This precision considerably reduces the time spent examining irrelevant options. Here are some examples of filters:

• The loyalty program used,
• Number of stopovers,
• Specific airlines or hotel chains,
• Costs in points and money (including taxes and fees),
• Etc.

What really sets AwardTool apart from other tools I’ve tested, such as Roame or AwardFares, is the display of cancellation and modification fees. This is a very interesting point, especially as I often recommend booking flights well in advance to maximize the chances of finding good prices. However, sometimes better options are found later. With AwardTool, these fees are clearly displayed, helping you to make an informed decision quickly, whether to cancel free of charge after a schedule change, or to accept the fees and modify your booking.

Another interesting feature is the column that indicates points transfer partners. While this feature is useful, it’s currently limited to just U.S. credit card programs, making it less relevant to us Canadians. It’s a small downside, but not necessarily a dealbreaker depending on your needs.

By clicking on « Check Panorama Calendar View », you can display the results over a 90-day period. This is extremely useful for quickly pinpointing the dates offering the lowest prices when you’re flexible. This view also allows you to filter results by loyalty program, making the search even more targeted and efficient.

Unlike other tools, AwardTool is one of the few to support the Avios currency of the British Airways Executive Club program. This eliminates the need for intermediate searches via American Airlines AAdvantage or Alaska Mileage Plan to find availability to use our Avios, which is a real time-saver. For Canadian travellers, this is a significant advantage that greatly simplifies travel planning, as Avios are very easy to accumulate with credit cards.

Customized Alerts

For those who want to stay informed without having to carry out frequent searches, AwardTool offers a system of customizable alerts. Once configured, these alerts send immediate notifications as soon as an award matching the defined criteria becomes available. The advantage lies in the ability to customize these alerts according to precise parameters, such as cabin class, maximum cost in points, applicable taxes, loyalty programs and so on. This feature brings peace of mind by ensuring that people don’t miss out on any opportunities, even if they don’t constantly monitor the platform. Members without paid subscriptions have access to three alerts, and Pro members to 35.

Availability Overview

AwardTool‘s Panorama feature is a real revolution for those looking for an extensive overview. It allows you to consult pre-saved results covering vast geographical regions and several airports, facilitating searches when destinations and dates are flexible. Panorama results are generally derived from cached data, which can create a discrepancy between the results displayed and actual availability.

How it works:

• You can perform a search that includes a broad region, such as Montreal, as a starting point, and target destinations such as « Asia » and « Europe ».
• Panorama offers a search window of 30 to 90 days. For Pro members, it’s possible to search an even more impressive window of 90 to 365 days!

Here’s an example of where I searched to see what was available in points for the month of March. Destination flexibility is one of the best ways to save money and find the best deals! In fact, let availability dictate your next destination!

Among these results, we can see that the best prices in points for business class (I’ve sorted by the lowest cost for this cabin since it’s my personal preference) during the month of March are for Dublin, Venice or Milan.

• Destination flexibility: Panorama lets you search for flights to « anywhere » and refine the results according to your preferences, whether it’s a relaxing beach vacation or a mountain adventure.
• Wide range of options: ideal for comparing several itineraries without being limited to specific choices.
• Phantom results: Since Panorama relies on cached data, some information may be several days old. For example, a seat available four days ago may no longer be accessible.
• Necessary checks: To confirm actual availability, it is essential to carry out a real-time search after clicking on a result. This extra step can be frustrating, especially when the availability you’re looking for is limited.

Explore with Aeroplan, Avios, Flying Blue and More

AwardTool‘s Explore function is a tool that gives a nod to Google Flights once again. It focuses on flexibility and exploration, providing an overview of destinations and available options based on your points or miles.

Explore lets you search for destinations and itineraries based on a number of personalized parameters. Rather than starting with a specific destination, you define your preferences and let the tool suggest optimal options.

You can enter criteria such as:

• The number of points or miles you wish to use: the tool suggests destinations accessible with this amount.
• Departure airport: calculates possible routes from your city.
• Loyalty programs to use: Aeroplan Flying Blue or Avios, for example.

You can even filter by trip type such as beach, foodie, honeymoon, mountains, golf, etc!

The aim is to offer you suggestions tailored to your preferences, and discover possibilities you might not have thought of. For Canadians, this option is superb, as all three of the country’s major loyalty programs are supported.

Of all the AwardTool tools, this one is undoubtedly my favourite, because I like to plan my trips according to the best opportunities available (filtered by the loyalty programs I use) and my mood at the time. This approach often determines what my vacation will be like. For example, here’s a search for a destination with a beach, departing from Montreal, to escape February’s polar vortex.

This can be particularly useful for:

• Flexible travellers, who can find unexpected offers in points for destinations you hadn’t thought of.
• Points optimization, as the tool highlights routes where your points are most valuable, for example, long-haul business class itineraries.
• To help you discover destinations that are quickly accessible for last-minute travel.

Mega

Complementing the Panorama functionality, Mega offers a targeted, in-depth approach to exploring opportunities with greater precision. Designed for more experienced users wishing to maximize their search through the combination of several complex parameters, this feature is still in the improvement phase and has not yet fully met my expectations due to bugs when I try to use it.

• The classic search limits results to 4 entries for free members and 16 for Pro members. Mega, on the other hand, can generate up to 24 simultaneous entries, opening up significant perspectives for comparing a wide range of options.
• You can include up to 6 loyalty programs in a single query, giving you the flexibility to plan complex trips.
• Mega is particularly useful for those comparing multiple options or organizing trips involving several segments and stopovers.
• Free members are limited to three Mega searches per day, which requires strategic planning.
• Even when using the maximum number of 24 entries, the ceiling of six programs per search remains in force, requiring careful selection of the most relevant programs.
• Mega’s functionality still seems to be in beta phase: I encountered error pages several times, and couldn’t get any results for a simple search between Montreal and Paris.

By combining Panorama and Mega, AwardTool aims to offer powerful, complementary tools. Panorama provides an overview for identifying global opportunities, while Mega offers a detailed, targeted approach, ideal for meeting the specific needs of seasoned travellers. However, Mega still requires fine-tuning to ensure a more stable and reliable experience.

Hotel Search

The AwardTool hotel search function is designed to simplify the planning of stays using loyalty points. It allows you to explore the accommodation options available in several programs such as Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards or World of Hyatt. This eliminates the need to consult each platform separately, saving precious time.

By pooling information, AwardTool not only displays availability in points, but also prices in cash, so you can quickly assess the real value of your points. Some people will appreciate this, as it makes it easier to analyze whether it’s better to pay in cash or in points. It’s also possible to filter results according to criteria such as destination, dates or hotel chain.

Here’s an example of a search for an overnight stay in Paris; I’ve filtered the results to those of Marriott Bonvoy only, as this is a program that is easy to access in Canada.

As you can see, you can also filter further by specific brand, credit card transfer programs (again, only US cards are supported), point cost, ability to use a free night certificate, etc.

What Sets AwardTool Apart from Its Competitors

AwardTool clearly stands out from other award search tools thanks to its practical approach and functionality. With Panorama, Explore and Mega, you get both an overview of availability for large periods and regions, but also hyper-precise searches thanks to advanced parameters. These three tools are perfect for planning complicated trips or for those who like to keep their options open.

Another big advantage is the speed and reliability of the results. AwardTool searches in real time, so you don’t come across outdated data. Additionally, it supports some less common programs, such as British Airways Executive Club, so you don’t have to juggle several platforms. For Canadians, the support for Aeroplan, Flying Blue and Avios is super-convenient, even if taxes are displayed in USD – they convert easily to CAD without any surprises.

That said, the interface can seem intimidating to new users due to the multitude of options available, and some key features, such as Mega, still have frequent bugs. Despite this, the tool is packed with useful features, especially for points pros, and provides all the necessary info, such as taxes and fees, to avoid nasty surprises when paying. In short, if you’re looking for a free tool, AwardTool is a good choice. Another option that’s very similar to it is PointsYeah, while Roame would be a notch above it.

AwardTool Free and Pro Subscription Plans

• Free version: Allows searches with up to 4 simultaneous parameters, such as an airport of departure, an airport of arrival and up to four different dates. Free users can also set up to three alerts.
• Pro version: At a promotional price of US 84.99 per year (instead of US 131.88) or US 10.99 per month, this version offers extended functionality, including the ability to search with up to 16 simultaneous parameters, access to route data up to 365 days in advance, unlimited reward alerts, and full access to flight and hotel offers.

How to Use AwardTool Effectively?

• Create an account on the official AwardTool website.
• Define your preferred departure and arrival airports, as well as your desired travel dates.
• Refine your search by using the available filters to specify loyalty programs, cabin classes, maximum number of points, etc.
• Set up alerts to be informed when reward opportunities matching your criteria become available.
• Use the Panorama feature to get an overview of availability over extended periods, which is particularly useful if your travel dates are flexible.
• Use the Explore function if you want to be inspired by the best offers available.

Conclusion

AwardTool is a great choice for travellers who want to maximize the use of their points and miles. Its advanced features, such as Panorama, Explore and Mega, as well as its detailed filtering options, make it a powerful tool for planning trips with points. Although the interface takes a little time to master, the benefits offered more than make up for this, especially for the more experienced.

That said, my personal experience has been mixed due to frequent bugs and crashes during my research. These problems can be a deterrent for some people, myself included, and may lead them to consider more stable alternatives. In spite of this, AwardTool‘s free version remains an interesting option and is well worth a try, especially for those who are just starting out or who wish to explore its functionalities without obligation.

The future of AwardTool looks promising, with enhancements planned including greater stability for Mega functionality, extended support for other programs, and a more intuitive interface. These optimizations will also be aimed at enhanced integration for international users, including Canada. Before upgrading to the Pro version, try out the free version and combine it with complementary tools such as Roame or ExpertFlyer to get the most out of your searches.

Discover our guides and reviews on other award search tools:

• AwardFares
• ExpertFlyer
• Point.me
• Roame
• Seats.aero