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Point.me is the most comprehensive award searching tool currently on the market when it comes to programs included, live award space, and instructions given to book. Tons of my followers and readers have signed up, and have extracted value from it. The biggest downside is speed…it can take quite a long time, but it’s also live space.
I’ve also really enjoyed using PointsYeah albeit it uses cached space vs live and Seats.Aero for targeted cabins ( think Lufthansa First, QSuites, etc). Other notables AwardLogic, Roame, and Awayz for hotels
One aspect of search that I’ve always liked to investigate is checking out where award space is available regardless of a destination…principally to see if there is a great flight that is worth positioning to…like I need to get to Paris, but am fine actually flying somewhere else and buying a cheap flight there.
Enter….Point.me Explore
Explore allows you to search across the world, months at a time, to regions, anywhere, etc. It’s basically Google Flights, Scanscanner, etc for points and miles. The only downside…it’s not live space. It’s all compiled on recent searches that members have made so the award space MAY not actually be available, so you’ll need to double check.
Let’s check it out!
Searching via Calendar
Anywhere, Continent, Country…
Or specifcially to a Region…over a specific date range
Date ranges +/- 1,2,3,7 days
And then you’ll see options begin to populate
Click an Option for more info and quick link to live avail
Overall
This is a cool new function; however, on the first few attempts I made to search live availability ( like the one up above ) the space was no longer there. My understanding is that the Explore function is still be honed in, and CNN dropped the scoop before the tool was officially ready, and I’d guess that kinks like this will diminish over time. Regardless, I like seeing all the various options out there!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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