How To Use AwardTool To Find Award Space for Your Next Trip

Searching for award availability is easier than ever. Award search tools like point.me, seats.aero, and Points Path automate the award search process by simultaneously searching multiple airline loyalty programs. Finding award flights is almost as easy as using Expedia.

Each of these award search tools has unique quirks and features that might make you prefer one over the other. Points Path is the most user-friendly option, as it resides within Google Flights, while seats.aero makes it easy to see large swaths of award space at once. However, my favorite is a relatively new entrant to the market — AwardTool.

This program lets you search across broad date ranges and multiple airports simultaneously. Its interface is similar to Google Flights, and I’ve found that it provides accurate search results thanks to real-time data from numerous loyalty programs.

Let’s explore how AwardTool works and determine whether it’s a valuable addition to your travel toolbox.

What Is AwardTool?

AwardTool is an award search tool that you can use to search for award tickets across multiple airline loyalty programs. The tool saves time compared to manually searching airline websites, as it displays all available award tickets and their respective pricing in one place.

AwardTool allows you to search multiple airports and dates simultaneously, which is helpful if you’re flexible and willing to travel on alternate dates or book positioning flights. It also features a Panorama mode that allows you to search for flights by region, as well as a hotel search feature for finding award nights.

What’s Included With AwardTool Pro?

AwardTool Pro is the premium version of AwardTool, priced at $9.99 per month or $119.98 per year.

You can get a 20% discount on an AwardTool Pro subscription when you use the code UPGRADED20 at checkout. This deal is exclusive to Upgraded Points readers.

This plan has several interesting features, but AwardTool Pro’s standout feature is the ability to perform a 32-entry search. This is significantly higher than the 4-day search included with the free plan.

These entries can be dates or airports. For example, searching for flights from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG) or London (LHR) across a 16-day window would use all 32 entries. This is because the search for New York to Paris uses 16 entries, and New York to London uses another 16 entries.

Other perks of AwardTool Pro include the following benefits:

• Unlimited Panorama flight search results and alerts
• Create and manage up to 70 award alerts with SMS notifications
• Unlimited hotel award searches with full data visibility
• 2 priority search and refresh requests per day for faster results
• Live seat maps for flights on most major airlines
• Advanced filtering options (e.g., exclude airlines, set max taxes or points)
• No ads when using any AwardTool feature

What Airline Loyalty Programs Does AwardTool Support for Flight Searches?

AwardTool supports the following airline loyalty programs for award searches:

You can filter search results by different types of transferable points. For example, if you filter your search by American Express Membership Rewards, only those transfer partners will appear in the search results. You can filter results by all major transferable points programs.

How To Use AwardTool to Search for Award Tickets

Using AwardTool to search for an award ticket is just as easy as using Google Flights or an online travel agency like Expedia or Orbitz. Just head to AwardTool.com, sign in to your account, and enter your search criteria in the middle of the page.

Remember, if you have AwardTool Pro, you can use 32 search entries to search for flights across multiple airports and dates. For this example search, I’m looking for flights from Singapore (SIN) or Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Boston (BOS), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), or Philadelphia (PHL) across 3 dates next January.

Click the blue Search button to initiate your award search. You’ll be redirected to the search results page, where you can view up-to-date award space for flights that match your criteria. Since AwardTool searches all loyalty programs, use the filtering options at the top of the screen to narrow your search results.

These options allow you to filter by airline, loyalty program, transferable points program, time, and more. For this search, I’ll narrow results to 1-stop flight itineraries that are bookable with Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

You can also sort your search results using the Sort by button right above the search results at the center of the page. Additionally, you can sort by the highest or lowest price per cabin by clicking the cabin type (e.g., economy, premium economy) listed above the search results.

Look through the search results until you find something you’d like to book. Then, click the information button to view more details about your itinerary, including the type of plane. You will also find booking instructions on the right-hand side of the pop-up window.

Note that you can choose between 3 search views at the top of the search results, to the left of the sorting options. Each displays flight information in varying formats — try each one and see which best meets your needs.

In my experience using AwardTool for the better part of a year, I’ve found that it has very accurate search results with little (if any) phantom award space. That said, you should still verify that your desired award ticket is available on the airline’s website before transferring points to book an award you find on AwardTool.

How To Use Panorama and Deals Modes for Broader Searches

AwardTool monitors airline loyalty programs for award space on popular routes and displays this data on the Panorama page. You can run broad searches through this data, such as region-to-region searches that span multiple months. For example, you can search for all flights from the U.S. East Coast to Asia and Europe.

You can filter Panorama searches in the same way you can filter normal AwardTool flight search results. For this search, I filtered for flights bookable with Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points that have at least 2 business class seats available. I also sorted the search by the cheapest business class fares.

Not all Panorama data is updated in real time. You can view when the flight was last seen by AwardTool under the Last Seen column above your search results. If it’s older than a couple of hours, you should verify that the award space is still bookable.

Image Credit: AwardTool

If you see an itinerary you like, click the price for your desired cabin, and AwardTool will run a live search. Here, you can verify that award space is available and view alternative routing options.

There’s also a Deals tab at the top of the screen. Deals works similarly to Panorama, but it shows you the best deals by airline loyalty program. Like Panorama, you search broadly and filter search results to match your needs.

These features are most helpful when you have flexibility in where and when you travel. With its broad region search functionality, the Deals tab can be a great place to find inspiration for your next trip. It can also be handy if you’re looking for hard-to-find premium cabin awards, such as Qatar Airways Qsuites or Lufthansa first class.

Creating Award Alerts in AwardTool

One of my favorite AwardTool features is award alerts. This allows you to set a continuous search for a specific route or flight, even if award space isn’t available when you first search for a flight. Award alerts can also be helpful if 1 leg of your itinerary is available in a premium cabin but another isn’t. Just set an alert for the other leg, and you’ll be notified when it’s available.

AwardTool members without a Pro account can have 4 alerts running at any given time. But Pro members can have up to 70 active alerts and access more powerful filtering options. Pro members also get more frequent award space checks and can opt to receive text message alerts if an award is found. Standard members only receive email alerts.

To create an alert in AwardTool, head to the Alerts tab and click the blue Create Your Award Alert button at the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Enter your alert criteria in the center of the screen and click the Create button to initiate your search.

You can also create Panorama, United Airlines upgrade, and hotel availability alerts from this page. Panorama alerts can notify you anytime a flight opens up between 2 regions. United upgrade alerts inform you when you can use PlusPoints for a confirmed upgrade. Hotel alerts enable you to monitor award space at eligible hotels.

These alerts can be extremely useful if you’re searching for a specific flight, especially if you have an AwardTool Pro subscription. Just set up your alert, and you’ll receive a text message whenever award space becomes available. This can save you hours compared to manually searching for flights.

Searching for Award Nights at Hotels in AwardTool

Finally, AwardTool features a hotel search tool that helps you find award nights using your Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt points. It works similarly to AwardTool’s flight search tool, but you search by where you’d like to stay. For example, let’s run a search in Chicago.

You can look through search results using the list view on the left side of the screen or a map view on the right side of the screen. AwardTool will show you points and cash prices during your stay. Filtering options are also available at the top of the screen. You can use these to filter by loyalty program, brand, and more.

This feature isn’t as robust as AwardTool’s flight search features. It only supports 4 loyalty programs, and I’ve noticed that it isn’t always up-to-date with pricing and availability. That said, it can be a good place to start when booking a trip, as you can view award prices for Hilton, IHG, Marriott, and Hyatt simultaneously.

Other AwardTool Features

AwardTool offers a range of additional features accessible through the Tools tab. Some of the most useful are dedicated tools for finding first class awards with All Nippon Airways (ANA), Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Japan Airlines (JAL), Lufthansa, and Qatar Airways.

Just click on one of these tools, and you’ll see available award space in these cabins.

There’s also a live seat map tool that lets you view seat maps for flights on most major airlines. Just input your search criteria and click the blue Search button, and you can view available seats on the plane. You can view more information about a seat by clicking on it.

There’s also a Mega Search option, which is essentially an expanded version of AwardTool’s standard award search, but with a couple of limitations. This tool allows you to search for flights across a 35-day window. Free members can only search 2 airline loyalty programs at once, while Pro members can search 6 at once.

This feature is helpful if you have points or miles with a specific airline loyalty program and have the utmost flexibility to redeem them. Mega Search provides the broadest results, thanks to its expanded search window. However, this feature is less useful when using transferable points since you can only search select airline loyalty programs.

Pros and Cons of AwardTool

Should you use AwardTool when looking for your next flight? Here are some pros and cons to consider.

Pros

• User-friendly flight searches: AwardTool’s interface is similar to Google Flights. Just enter your search criteria, click Search, and you’ll be shown award space across all supported loyalty programs.
• Very little phantom award space: I’ve found AwardTool’s search results to be highly accurate, thanks to its real-time search capabilities with many airline loyalty programs.
• Saves time: Using AwardTool to search for award flights can save you hours when compared to manually searching countless airline websites for award tickets.
• Comprehensive filtering: You can filter flight searches by the types of points you’d like to redeem, how many points you’d like to redeem, and more. This makes AwardTool’s broad search results much easier to process.
• Helpful tools: AwardTool is packed with extra features like seat maps, hotel search, and Panorama.
• Free account: You can use most AwardTool features without paying for a Pro account.

Cons

• No direct booking links: Once you find an award you like, you must book it manually on the airline’s website.
• The free version is limited: AwardTool members without AwardTool Pro have limited functionality, including fewer search entries. In turn, you need a Pro account to run broad searches.

Final Thoughts

AwardTool has made booking award travel a whole lot easier for me. Instead of juggling multiple airline websites, I can run a single search on AwardTool and find all the flights bookable on the routes and dates I’d like to travel. Thanks to its 32-entry search for Pro members, it’s the perfect tool if you have a flexible schedule and can travel on alternate dates or to alternate airports.

I also appreciate AwardTool’s auxiliary features, including seat maps, dedicated tools for finding first class awards, Panorama, and Mega Search. Each of these gives you a different way to maximize your points and miles in the best format for you. And despite its limited functionality, AwardTool’s hotel search is a good starting point when redeeming hotel points for a future stay.

Give AwardTool a try the next time you search for an award ticket. If you upgrade to AwardTool Pro, use code UPGRADED20 for a 20% discount on your subscription.