Using Point.Me to Get Amazing Flight Redemptions
Intro
For the bums that have been with us since the beginning of 2023, you’ve likely already earned $10K+ in credit card rewards, or will hit that soon. You followed the quarterly guide for each quarter and you should be flush with points, mainly Chase, Amex, and Citi.
Earning the points is the easy part. You simply follow the step-by-step guide each quarter. Redeeming the points for maximum value can be a little more nuanced, depending on how you’d like to redeem them. As we all know, we often times get significantly better redemptions when we transfer to airline or hotel partners rather than cash.
If you’re redeeming points for anything other than cash, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, and it’ll require some research. Luckily, point.me is a great tool that makes our lives much easier.
Point.Me
When you have a lot of points and travel dates in mind, the last thing you want to do is spend hours trying to manually optimize the best redemption. Point.me takes the guesswork out and lets you easily find the best redemptions available.
Here’s how it works.
You can sign up for a $5 24 hour pass, which is what I usually do once I know my travel dates. From there, the interface is quite simple.
You simply add any card programs that you have, and you also have the option to add your point total for each program.
You add any loyalty programs you have as well. If you have AwardWallet you can sync it to your point.me account and integrate all of your info.
From there, it looks like most flight search engines. You simply select the airports, dates, and preferred class.
It searches though 33 programs, so it often takes several minute to spit out results.
Let’s take a look at an example booking.
Example Booking
Imagine you always dreamed of visiting Tokyo. Even from Los Angeles, that’s over a 10 hour flight! If you’re like me, a 10 hour flight seems daunting, and I’d certainly want to make that journey as comfortable as possible.
I went on point.me, entered my dates and did a search that only included business and first class flights.
I found a nonstop business class flight that was only 60,000 AA points, offering insane value! Note that while it only lists BILT as a transfer partner, you can earn AA points with the Citi Business AA card as well.
Below, you can click on “select deal” and it guides you through the process of transferring points and booking the flight.
On the way home, I found another 60,000 pt deal. This one has a layover in San Francisco, but offers a business class flight from Tokyo to SFO for only 60,000 points.
From there, the site walks you through the process so you can book yourself.
Conclusion
Point.Me is a great tool and absolutely worth the $5 24 hour pass. It’s where I usually begin my search once I have my dates and destination settled. A few years ago, you’d either have to pay a concierge to do the search for you or potentially spend hours hunting for the best redemption. Now, you no longer have to.
Disclaimer: None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind.