Point.me is an excellent tool for searching award fares and helps save valuable time. Indeed, travel hacking is based on an “earn and burn” strategy, and the “burn” phase can be very complicated, time-consuming and overwhelming, especially for beginners.
Thanks to the generous welcome bonuses offered by travel credit cards, you can end up with a large number of points very quickly and without much effort, as they are awarded simply after reaching the required minimum spending amount. Optimizing points earned organically is also very straightforward if you use the right card for the right purchase category.
Please note that Air Canada and several Star Alliance airlines have recently restricted access to their inventory for various airline award search tools. For a comprehensive understanding and the latest updates on this matter, refer to the detailed article here.
Point.me is a search and booking engine that helps you maximize the value of your hard-earned points and miles. Point.me works with points in the same way as Google Flights does to book flights with money.
It will span a search across over 30 different loyalty programs and 100 airline programs to find the best possible value for your redemption.
Here are a few examples of what Point.me can cover in terms of programs:
As you can see in the Credit Card Rewards section, there are many programs based in the USA. In addition, there is limited support at this time for loyalty programs marked with an asterix.
For Canadians, the most interesting features are airline frequent flyer programs, so you know which is the best for your holiday or where you can transfer points to get the most for your points.
The process is very simple: you enter your information (origin, destination, dates, class of service, etc.) and Point.me will show you the results in real time.
On the result page, you can filter and sort them to see what applies to you; by adding and storing your card and loyalty programs details on the top bar, you can save time and browse only what you can book.
You can add your award programs manually or by syncing AwardWallet, a free point tracking tool, with one push of a button.
Indeed, some programs will be irrelevant since you either don’t have any points or miles with them or you don’t have access because you didn’t venture out with American credit card game yet.
For example, when searching for a flight from Montreal to Paris, we can see the following:
You can also see the retail price in cash for the same flight on Point.me,although it doesn’t appear every time. When available, you can use this information to calculate the value of your points and decide whether to buy with points or cash. If not, you can check the cash price on Google Flights.
I’ve sorted the flights according to the fewest points needed, as we generally try to find the option that will cost us the fewest points!
On this page, you can also see what you need from the airline’s frequent flyer program, as well as from the transfer partner. This is an efficient way to compare which is the best program (Aeroplan or Flying Blue in this case) to transfer your points to, depending on what you earn, like American Express Membership Rewards.
It is important to note that American Express Membership Rewards points listed on the Point.me is the American program. The transfer ratio is therefore different from that of the Canadian Amex loyalty program.
US Membership Rewards transfer at a 1:1 ratio (with occasional bonuses) to Flying Blue, while Canada’s Membership Rewards are set at 1:0,75. You must refer to this article to confirm the right ratio for your transaction.
Point.me search results can sometimes take up to 5 minutes to load (although it is advertised as 2 minutes), which can seem long, but it is much quicker than what you can do alone.
All taxes and fees are in U.S. dollars. You can therefore use Xe. com to obtain the exact exchange rate and evaluate the cheapest options.
Nonetheless, you can quickly compare the options with Point.me, and double-check with the airline’s search engine. The next two screenshots show the same flights and dates in their respective programs.
The disparity in the number of Aeroplan points shown for the flight on Point.me compared to Air Canada’s website can be explained by the preferential pricing I am entitled to by being an Aeroplan credit card holder.
In this situation, when we take into consideration Canada’s Membership Rewards transfer ratios, the cheapest way to travel from Montreal to Paris on my selected date is with Flying Blueas it would require a 20,000 MR transfer instead of 33,000 MR when going with Aeroplan.
We can see another search result here, from Montreal to London, where we can compare award fares and availability with British Airways Executive Club and Air Canada Aeroplan for the same date.
Transfer bonuses are also incorporated in real-time on the results page, but it only applies to US Rewards Program. Indeed, RBC Avion Rewards, a loyalty program that often has transfer bonuses, is missing from the Point.me search engine.
Point.me also has a mixed-class indicator that appears in the top-left corner of affected flights and shows the percentage of the journey spent in a premium cabin, which is what we want to know!
When you’ve selected your flight, click on “View Booking Options” where you will be taken to a new page where you can review your flight details. There will be a “point.me pick” option where an algorithm narrowed down to the best redemption for this flight, and underneath, you will see the other bookable choices.
After choosing your preferred redemption, it will bring you to a page that summarizes the three main steps you must follow to book that flight.
Point.me also makes it very easy for beginners as they will walk you through each of the booking steps, with screenshots and videos, showing you where you must click.
If you are uncomfortable doing it yourself, Point.me also offers a concierge service that can handle your booking with a personal and human touch. Their team is very experienced with award redemptions and can help build complex itineraries and find the best options for you.
The concierge service costs $200 US per passenger, but you only pay after you’re satisfied with the itinerary and flights the Point.me team has come up for you.
To use this service, you need to send in a request form with all the details necessary to make your dream redemption come true and pay a $25 US fee to get the process started (good faith search fee). This initial $25 US fee will be credited to your final bill should you complete a booking with them.
Point.me can also help you catapult yourself to an Elite Status of your choice by creating itineraries to reach your goals. This is especially useful when you are close to a tier and would like to maximize one or two trips to get there.
Like the Concierge service, the consultation fee is $200 US if you are happy with the result, and they require a $25 US good faith search fee (which can also be applied to your final bill).
Point.me can also offer its expertise in booking African safaris, cruises, excursions, hotels, etc., by consulting its Luxury Travel Advisor.
Here is a summary of the different service costs of Point.me. There’s also a free trial period during which you can carry out 3 premium searches within 24 hours of signing up.
As all prices are in U.S. dollars, be sure to use a credit card that doesn’t charge exchange fees! The transaction appears to be coded as “travel agencies and tour operators”. So I’d use the Scotiabank PassportMD Visa Infinite* Card to save on the conversion rate.
For a limited time, use promo code MILESOPEDIA20 through our affiliate link Point.me to save 20% on Standard or Premium annual packages.
Access to the Point.me search engine are as follows:
Here are Point.me various concierge services and pricing:
Did you know? Milesopedia also offers a consulting and mentoring service! You can take a look at what we have here.
Point.me has been designed for beginners and experienced travellers alike. Indeed, with one click, you can see and compare all the available redemption options, which saves lots of time.
When you spend hours searching each airline’s award inventory and are disappointed with the results, the cost of Point.me makes it all worth it even when you consider the areas where Point.me could improve to level up to Seats.aero on a few points, such as:
You can also use Point.me to get an idea of what programs you should focus on. However, you will quickly see that American Express Membership Rewards will come up often as a transfer partner. Therefore, it is considered one of the best for points earning as you will have great flexibility.
Here are all the American Express Membership Rewards credit cards available in Canada:
Savings are here:
