How to find the best flight deals
The sites, apps, and browser extensions you need to know about before booking your next trip
Like most people, I'd assume, I'm my best version of myself on vacation. I'm carefree, spontaneous-adjacent, and I love nothing more than adding meals (in between the three established ones) in order to eat and drink my way through a city. But leading up to a trip, I'm my absolute worst. I'm anxiety-ridden, short-tempered, and stressed. A true delight, if you will. As someone who's pretty controlled in most areas of her life, it surprises people that the planning portion of a trip is not where I shine, as I find the whole process overwhelming and intimidating. So that's where my husband, Geoffrey (G, if you've been with me for a while) comes in.
G and I have been together for 17 years, and he's planned, to near perfection, every single trip. Not only is he tracking down all the must-visit spots and making the reservations, but he also finds the best travel deals. He's an obsessive researcher and utilizes specific newsletters, websites, and browser extensions, which he compiled into a list of his favorites below. So whether you're staying put for the 4th or en route somewhere fun, I hope you'll enjoy the first installment of G's section within my Substack called "I'm Looking For..." with his tips all about getting the best flight deals for your next vacation.
xEmily
Over the years, I’ve become pretty good at finding the most useful tools, apps, and groups that are efficient with utilizing the best awards programs and/or finding the lowest priced flights. I follow a bunch of niche subreddits, subscribe to way too many newsletters, and have joined several Discord servers, dedicated to travel hacks. If you don’t know what that is, you’re probably better off. Simply know that my insane collection of this info will save you a ton of time and will probably help you find a deal.
Before we get into the specialty apps, the first step is to always start with Google Flights, which is the gold standard for searching most airlines and routes. With the exception of a few carriers, you’re going to find the best options for both domestic and international flights.
As a general rule, the best time to book award flights is either 11 months out from your trip, or two months out. These windows typically have the best award availability and redemption rates. However, since airlines often run seasonal promotions, using search tools to cover all dates is crucial.
Now, here are my preferred freemium travel services, ranked from “best” to “ok.”
1. Seats.aero
Overview: Seats.aero is a service that specializes in finding and alerting users about premium cabin award availability. It helps frequent flyers and travel enthusiasts find the best business and first-class seats using their airline miles/points.
The Main Selling Point: Very fast (i.e. real-time) results across many airline and awards programs that allow you to find reliable availability and multi-region searches. Dynamic pricing updates that allow you to track fares and receive notifications on changes.
They offer two tiers:
Free:
No registration required
Search award availability and create alerts for flights within the next two months
Pro ($9.99/month):
Full year of search availability and tracking
Advanced filters
SMS notifications
The Good:
This is my go-to service for finding award availability. The data is reliable and constantly updated, and the advanced filtering and search options can’t be beat.
Covers the best network of airlines and credit card partners
Minimalist and clean design, makes searching easy and efficient
The Not So Good:
Not necessarily a “bad” detail, but the layout is less aesthetic and purely built for clean functionality. This service is about utility, not design.
Is it worth paying for:
If there’s one service that I feel provides a strong ROI, this is it. You’ll most likely find at least one great award flight each year, but if you travel more often, the time and money you’ll save easily cover the cost of an annual subscription.
2. Points Yeah
Overview: PointsYeah is a versatile and free award travel search tool that’s quickly gained popularity among points and miles enthusiasts. It offers a comprehensive suite of features to help users easily find and book award travel.
The Main Selling Point: Free, real-time award searches with many broad features, price tracking and alerts, and hotel award availability.
They offer two tiers:
Free
Real-time results
Unlimited four-day flexible calendar search
Four active flight tracking alerts
All filters
Access to Daydream Explorer
Premium ($89.99/year)
Everything in free
Unlimited eight-day flexible calendar search
Unlimited multi-airport real time results
32 active flight tracking alerts
The Good:
User-friendly interface, and lightning fast results
Flexible calendar search
Tons of advanced filtering options
The Not So Good:
The multi-day search function can be slow, and the free version has limitations compared to the premium plan.
Is it worth paying for:
I highly recommend the free version for its speed, ease of use, and extensive range of features. It pairs perfectly with a Seat.aero subscription, which I feel is better than the premium version of PointsYeah.
3. Points Path Browser Extension
Overview: The Points Path browser extension is a tool designed to help users find and book travel using their loyalty points and miles. The extension integrates with popular travel booking sites, providing users with real-time information on points availability and redemption options.
The Main Selling Point: If you’re always wondering whether you should use points or pay for a ticket, this extension makes it incredibly clear and simple.
The Good:
It’s free, it’s reliable, it works directly within your browser.
The Not So Good:
It doesn’t cover all award programs, yet.
Is it worth getting:
Yes, simply download it and use it today.
Overview: Thrifty Traveler is a travel deal site and newsletter that focuses on finding and sharing the best travel deals, including flight discounts, mistake fares, and travel hacks. The platform offers a premium subscription service that provides instant deal alerts and tips on how to save money while traveling. Thrifty Traveler is geared towards budget-conscious travelers looking for ways to explore the world.
The Main Selling Point: If you can’t be bothered with searching for award travel, let someone else do it. You can sign up to receive email notifications for a variety of departure cities, along with insights into credit card promotions and bonus offers.
They offer a few subscription tiers:
Free (daily newsletter with general guides and tips)
Free (Cheap Flights notifications) Email alerts with inexpensive international flights
Premium ($129/year): 10x more flight deals, mistake fare notifications, and award travel alerts, all filtered to your home airport
The Good:
Very reliable flight info and helpful tips on how to book inexpensive tickets
Daily emails based on your set preferences, so the information you receive is streamlined
Well-researched award travel deals that a normal search might miss
The Not So Good:
While it’s probably a major portion of their revenue, the constant articles and pushing of credit cards, which are obviously important for earning award travel, sometimes feel too persistent.
Is it worth paying for:
This was the first travel subscription I paid for, and I’ve consistently found great flights from their service, including an incredible deal last Thanksgiving that allowed to take our entire family to London (along with Em’s parents) for about 60% off business class seats.
5. Roame.travel
Overview: Roame.travel is designed to help people discover unique travel experiences and destinations. It focuses on curated itineraries, personalized travel recommendations, and insider tips from locals and travel experts.
The Main Selling Point: This search engine collects awards data from 16 different airline loyalty programs and allows you to search for the best redemptions across multiple cabins (i.e. main, business, first).
They offer two tiers:
Free:
Unlimited real-time search
Up to 365 days in advance
Any fare class: First, Business, or Economy
Results in 10 seconds
SkyView Lite (7 day search window)
SkyView flights departing within 60 days
Free premium deals emails
Non-commercial use
“Friends of Roame” ($155/year): but they are usually offering a 30% discount, so it ends up being $110/year:
All free services
SkyView (60 day search window)
SkyView flights departing within 60 days
Multi-region search (i.e. you can add a few cities/regions to your search)
Five multi-region alerts (you set these when you want to track flight options)
Email support
$20 credit to Klook
Free premium deals emails
The Good:
Clean interface, easy to follow
Nice curation of award redemptions based on your departure city and travel dates. For example, the screenshot shows the “best” 165 award point flights from Los Angeles between November 21-30. You can enter many major US and international cities (i.e. Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City) and get similar results.
The Not So Good:
Slow/outdated searches can often result in the flight no longer being available on the airlines website
Their current network of airlines and awards programs limits their overall reach, which also limits your ability to find every possible award deal
Is it worth paying for:
There are quite a few services in this space providing similar and better methods of finding award travel, some of which are totally free, so I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to their paid service.
6. Point.me
Overview: Point.me is a platform designed to help travelers maximize their loyalty points and miles. It offers tools and resources for finding the best redemption options across various loyalty programs. Users can search for flights, hotels, and other travel-related services that can be booked with points, helping them make the most of their awards and achieve significant savings.
The Main Selling Point: Centralize all of your award points, from both airlines and credit cards, into a single site. You can track nearly every airline and import data from all major credit cards, including some smaller ones like Brex and Bilt.
They offer three tiers:
Free:
General overview of award flights
Standard ($129/year):
Real-time flight info and instructions how to book award travel
One note, eligible Amex card members can access a version of the standard subscription for free through point.me/amex.
Premium ($260/year):
All the above, plus free points strategy consultation and limited concierge services and some discounts
The Good:
Easy to use, with clear instructions on how to correctly transfer points between credit cards and airlines. This is a great site for users who are new to award travel searches.
Provides searches for both one-way and round trips
The Bad:
No advanced search functionality (i.e. multi-city/region search, routing options, flight fees)
Slower search results without the ability to use a flexible calendar view
Is it worth paying for:
This service is meant for people that are either very new to planning award travel, or want someone to do it for them. In that case, the average traveler won’t find a lot of value with this subscription, but if your Amex account grants you access for free, it’s fine to use, it simply doesn’t work as well as other apps in this space.