Has anyone used the site point.me?

[travelguy83]

Has anyone used the tool points.me which tells you the best (cheapest) flights options for your chosen travel destination/travel class using points? I entered a sample flight into their home page calculator and it's given me an unbelievably low points cost (Sydney to Sapporo Japan biz class for 30k points). I just wonder if it's too good to be true or if it actually can scrape the web and find much cheaper ways to fly using points than everywhere else. Note this software charges $130/year.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I suppose it depends how well you know the frequent flyer environment and the various airlines and programs.

Looking at the FAQs on the site they will analyse all the airlines flying a particular route find the programs with the lowest points cost.

If you already have points in that airline program, all good. But if you don’t, you may want to transfer points you have accrued with a credit card program over to that airline’s FF program, and then book.

This may be useful if:

• you have points somewhere like AMEX, or a bank’s loyalty program
• you don’t already know the range of options available to you.

If you don’t have points to transfer you would be limited to existing programs you have, so this might not be a useful tool.

I note it talks about having programs such as AMEX, capital one and choice. This may mean it is US-centric.

30,000 points business class is a good deal, I can’t think of the airline FF program off the top of my head that offers prices that low, but someone else might have an idea.

 

[BriarFlyer]

I note it talks about having programs such as AMEX, capital one and choice. This may mean it is US-centric.

30,000 points business class is a good deal, I can’t think of the airline FF program off the top of my head that offers prices that low, but someone else might have an idea.

It is def. US-centric and a useful tool for holders of US cards, as it includes transfer bonuses in the points calculation ... which is misleading if you're not eligible for the bonus (e.g. not holding the US card.) I'm wondering if that's what's bringing up the staggeringly low 30,000 pts J seat to Japan because that sounds too good to be true.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It is def. US-centric and a useful tool for holders of US cards, as it includes transfer bonuses in the points calculation ... which is misleading if you're not eligible for the bonus (e.g. not holding the US card.) I'm wondering if that's what's bringing up the staggeringly low 30,000 pts J seat to Japan because that sounds too good to be true.

AA’s award chart would be 30K in coach and 40k in business. I wonder if the 30k price on the site is some sort of credit card transfer of 30k CC points with some sort of bonus or something.

Or it could be another obscure star alliance program?

 

[BriarFlyer]

AA’s award chart would be 30K in coach and 40k in business. I wonder if the 30k price on the site is some sort of credit card transfer of 30k CC points with some sort of bonus or something.

That was my thought.

 

[Mattg]

I have a subscription to Point.me and have found it somewhat useful for situations where you have points with lots of different airlines (or transferrable to different airlines) and want to travel on a specific route/date.

E.g. a few months ago, a friend with a US credit card wanted to fly from Guatemala to Lisbon on a certain day. We hadn't found any award flights but Point.me picked up a Premium Economy award on Iberia, which she could book by transferring her Chase points to BA Executive Club. Quite niche, but Point.me was helpful in that example.

 

[ANstar]

I use award hacker to find out the pricing for different FF programs.

AwardHacker

www.awardhacker.com

Warning.. it does really highlight how high QF redemptions are compared to peers!

 

[SeaWolf]

I use award hacker to find out the pricing for different FF programs.

Very useful, shame it doesn't include VA as well.

 

[aaa99]

I sometimes listen to an American podcast called Miles To Go and they had a promo code to try out point.me for 24 hours. I think it still works
Code: MILESTOGO

If you want to try it before you buy.
Found the website quite useful for getting ideas. However most of the good value options tend to involve using American credit card transfer partners which can be limiting.