A new kind of search engine for flights and travel itineraries, Point.me, has been launched by industry veterans Tiffany Funk and Adam Morvitz. The co-founders, who both come from decades of experience booking awards flights for clients, have landed on a formula that easily changes the game when it comes to booking flights with points, emulating much of what makes Google Flights so user-friendly but with a skew towards reward seats and maximising both airline loyalty programs and credit card rewards.
“We’re devoted to bringing simplicity and clarity to a system that is intentionally opaque,” reads the new search engine’s mission statement, echoing just how inaccessible it can be for the average traveller to get the most value for their points. Typically, many travellers with considerable points budgets would be too busy to connect the dots themselves, offloading their planning to dedicated points concierge or points award booking services usually run as part of a blog. Point.me seems to express that idea as an easy-to-use online tool, following on from Morvitz former business – a similar points concierge service called Juicy Miles.
It ain’t free though. The points search engine works on a tiered system with a number of reasonably priced plans that either let you use the service all you want, or also adds amenities like a personal points concierge to help you identify the best redemption values for every step of your trip, and credit card consulting.
The New York-based company raised US$2 million (~AU$2.7 million) in seed funding earlier this month and launched out of beta this week, unveiling a user-friendly search engine that can access more than 30 loyalty programs, including several credit card reward programs such as American Express Membership Rewards.
The way it works is rather simple. You tell the search engine what kind of trip you’re looking for and then filter results by program, airline or route. The results that show up, based on live availability, will be tailored to your preferences and points balances, showing you exactly how you can maximise your airline miles and points to save good money on your trip without sacrificing comfort or convenience.
The only information you need to start a search is where you’d like to go, and how many points you have to play with.
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Why Point.me is such a game-changer lies in its potential. No doubt this search engine will grow in scale over time, since booking with rewards is often intimidating (and frustrating) for a large majority of travellers. This could mean that legacy airlines might even adjust their pricing in order to appear at the top of search results. Not only that, but Point.me essentially builds a bridge to other airlines with great loyalty programs that may be overlooked in traditional search results.
The standard annual plan to use Point.me is priced at US$129 (~AU$177) per year, netting you unlimited searches, bespoke results, tips for using points, and access to other rewards deals. Bump that up to US$260 (~$AU358) per year and you’ll also get a 10% discount on all concierge services, personalised miles and points checkup feature, and a few other handy services.
Although the most popular option for the average user will likely be the US$5 (~AU$6) day pass, offering 24-hour access to the search engine so users can do all their planning in one go (and save far more than $6 while they’re at it).
Financial backers for the company include former Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dropbox founder Sujay Jaswa, and both Carl de Marcken and David Baggett, who are the co-founders of the ITA Matrix system that Google Flights is built upon. That alone should tell you how significant the new service is, and what kind of potential it could have in changing the way we travel after years of restrictions.
Airline Loyalty Programs compatible with the Point.me search engine are as follows.
- Aegean Miles+Bonus
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Delta SkyMiles
- Etihad Guest
- Flying Blue
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue True Blue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines Krisflyer
- TAP Miles&GO
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Turkish Miles&Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
