This Flight-Finding Site Simplifies the Complex Miles-and-Points Game

pcmag.com:

Yet another travel site is now vying for your attention, and this one wants you to spend a little of your money now to avoid spending a lot later. 

Point.Me, created by the people behind the travel blog One Mile at a Time, starts with the same origin-destination-date details as any travel-search site but prices flights in the virtual currencies that are airline frequent-flier miles. 

Results take a couple of minutes to stream in, because this site must run individual queries at more than 30 airline sites instead of funneling them through one of the “global distribution system” backends that streamline most flight shopping. Its output may reveal surprising bargains, and not just for those willing to connect instead of flying nonstop: Better values may come from booking a flight on one airline using a partner airline's miles. 

For example, looking for flights from Washington, D.C., to Belize revealed that the best deal for a first-class ticket involved booking a one-stop United Airlines itinerary using 25,000 miles from Air Canada's Aeroplan program—a transfer partner of American Express, Capital One and Chase’s rewards cards, as the results page helpfully noted—plus $36 in taxes and fees.

Point.Me doesn’t handle actual bookings but instead provides illustrated walkthroughs of the process, which in this case (assuming you’re an Aeroplan newbie but have enough Amex, Capital One, or Chase points) involves opening an Aeroplan account, logging into your credit card account to transfer the points, then returning to Air Canada’s site to book the flight.

That kind of booking bank shot may be familiar to regular readers of One Mile at a Time and other travel blogs that refer to optimizing miles and points as "the hobby," but