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Booking a family trip on points should feel exciting, but if you’ve ever sat at your laptop clicking through airline and hotel sites with zero luck, you know it can feel more like a part-time job.
You know the seats or rooms are out there, but they’re hidden in a sea of “sold out” messages or only available at sky-high point prices. Meanwhile, your real-life is making it harder and harder to find time for this, and you’re wondering if it was all worth it.
I can promise you, it is worth it. You just need the right tools.
Award travel search apps work like a personal assistant for your points. They scan multiple programs for you, find the deals worth booking, and even send alerts when something opens up, so you can spend more time planning the fun parts of your trip (and less time refreshing airline websites).
If you’re new to points, my Beginner’s Guide will help you get started. Once you’re ready to book, these are the apps and websites I recommend, plus how to use them without feeling overwhelmed.
Why These Apps Matter for Family Travel
Award seats and hotel nights are released from each hotel or airline on a limited basis. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Airlines and hotels release a set number for booking with points, and the most desirable dates—school breaks, holidays, peak summer—disappear fast.
Searching manually means:
- Logging into multiple sites every day
- Repeating the same searches hoping something has changed
- Missing out because you couldn’t check at the exact right time
With the right award search tool, you can:
- Search multiple airlines or hotel chains at once
- Set alerts for specific dates, destinations, or room types
- Spot “sweet spot” redemptions you might never have found otherwise
Best Apps for Flights With Points
PointsYeah.com: Best All-Around for Families
PointsYeah covers both live and cached award data and searches multiple airlines at once. It also shows both cash and points prices so you can decide which is the better value.
Why we love it:
- Easily search for 4–6 seats together
- Set alerts to grab seats when they open
- Compare cash vs. points value in one screen
Roame.travel: Best for Flexible Travelers
Roame.travel is built for “what if” searches. It’s ideal if you’re open to different routes or travel dates to save points.
Why we love it:
- Great for finding unexpected routes or stopovers
- Can help spot better availability by shifting departure cities
- Perfect for families willing to leave a day early or late
Point.me: Best for Beginners
Point.me holds your hand through the process, showing exactly which program to transfer points to and how to book. It also filters out “phantom” seats that look bookable but aren’t. Note that this is a paid service, but it’s really worth it to get that booking.
Why we love it:
- Removes the guesswork from booking
- Perfect for first-time award bookings
- Step-by-step guidance saves time and mistakes
Seats.aero: Best for Premium Cabins
Seats.aero is the place to look for those aspirational trips in business class. The advanced filters make it easy to zero in on the exact routes you want.
Why we love it:
- Helpful for long-haul flights where sleep is important
- Can search across multiple airlines for premium awards
ExpertFlyer: Best for Advanced/Targeted Searches
ExpertFlyer is the industry workhorse. It’s not flashy, but it’s powerful, perfect for setting alerts for specific flights, tracking upgrades, and finding hidden partner award space. This is a paid service, but the power of the tool can make it really worth it.
Why we love it:
- Can request alerts for specific flight numbers
- Tracks both award and upgrade inventory
Best Apps for Hotels With Points
PointsYeah.com: Best Combo Tool
Yes, I’m talking about the same app again because it can also search hotels across multiple brands. If you want one place to check both flights and hotels, pointsyeah.com is your best friend.
StayWithPoints.com: Best for Comparing Brands
This site helps you compare award rates across hotel chains, which is perfect if you’re open to multiple destinations or brands.
Why we love it:
- See where your points will stretch the farthest
- Helpful for deciding between two vacation spots
MaxMyPoint.com: Best for Alerts on High-Demand Hotels
Max My Point tracks when award nights open at popular hotels, from Disney-area resorts to beachfront family suites, and sends you an alert so you can book immediately. Free to set up a small number of alerts, but a paid plan gives you more alerts, faster notifications, and broader search coverage.
Why we love it:
- Essential for spring break, summer, and holiday trips
- Lets you target specific room types, like suites or villas
How to Use These Apps Without Getting Overwhelmed
- Pick one flight tool and one hotel tool to start. Don’t try to learn them all at once.
- Search broadly at first to see what’s out there, then narrow down.
- Set alerts early, the earlier you set them, the more likely you’ll catch availability when it drops.
- Search for one seat first. Sometimes one pops up before the rest, and more may follow.
- Be flexible, changing dates or departure cities by a day or two can unlock better deals.
Extra Planning Tips
- Split bookings if needed: Book some on points and some on cash if there’s not enough award space.
- Mix programs: Use one program for your outbound and another for the return.
- Positioning flights: Fly from a different airport to access better award space.
- Travel off-peak: You’ll find better availability and often lower point costs.
Sweet Spot Redemptions for Inspiration
Even if you’re not ready to book these exact trips, knowing what’s possible can help you plan:
- Business class to Europe from ~60,000 miles
- First class to Japan via Virgin Atlantic for ~72,500 miles one-way
- Hawaii from the West Coast in economy for 13,500 miles
- Iberia off-peak to Europe for 17,000 Avios
- Budget hotels in Tokyo for ~10,000 points/night
For details on how to do this, see my guide to transferring points to partners.
Take That Trip
Booking with points doesn’t have to feel like a full-time job. The right award search app takes away the guesswork, helps you see what’s possible, and makes sure you don’t miss out when space opens.
If you’re just getting started, start with one flight tool and one hotel tool. Learn them well. Then, as you get more confident, add more to your toolkit. Stick with the free versions of PointsYeah, Roame, and MaxMyPoint first. Once you know you’ll use the tools often consider upgrading to Pro or paid tiers for the extra search flexibility and faster alerts. Before long, you’ll be booking trips you didn’t think your points could cover.
If you’re ready to start building a stash of flexible points for your next trip, here’s a list of cards I recommend for flexible travel rewards.
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