Look– For a $29 non-refundable research fee, we’ll perform a custom search for award availability based on your personal situation. Our search is much deeper and more detailed than searches you can conduct yourself for free online, because we use technology developed for this purpose and have expert knowledge in the area. We will usually find award availability that you can’t find on your own. If there is availability, we’ll offer you one or more routings that are available to book. Our service includes searching for award availability for the number of travelers you have on your preferred dates of travel, and which is bookable with the points that you have. If you’re flexible (and we do recommend that you are flexible), we’ll also look for alternatives if there is no availability for your preferred itinerary. These could include flights on slightly different dates or to nearby cities. The $29 fee is all you will pay if you don’t like the routings we found, or if we aren’t able to find you a routing. If you chose to book with us, we’ll apply this fee toward your booking.

Book – We found a flight you like, and now you want to book it. Great! Our service fee is $169 per person (complex round-the-world itineraries cost $299). We’ll be right there with you every step of the way until your tickets are issued. We know all the ins and outs of the award programs so we will help you avoid common pitfalls. Our fee includes the following services:

• Assisting with setup of new frequent flier accounts as needed (fairly often, we’ll find availability in an award program you don’t already use).
• Help with points transfers, as applicable, to the program used for booking.
• Assistance in securing your award tickets, either online or via telephone.
• If availability changes while an award is being secured, we’ll help you find alternatives at no additional charge.

Keys to success:

• Know what is important to you. Is it a lie flat seat? Nonstop flights? Minimal out-of-pocket cost? Fewest number of miles used? Specific dates? Most award travel involves trade-offs so think through what is most important to you (and remember, as much as certain bloggers love Krug, it’s probably not the champagne that is catered by the airline).
• Remember that airlines give away the seats they don’t think they will sell. It’s important to be flexible, and to have realistic expectations about availability.
• Award availability changes very quickly and can disappear really fast! Be ready to book right away if there is an award itinerary that works for you.
• Most airlines allow you to cancel within 24 hours without penalty, so it’s often better to book first and verify vacation dates, confer with spouses, etc. afterward.

Larry wanted to surprise his fiancée Denise with a trip to The Maldives for their honeymoon in order to stay in an over-water bungalow like he saw reviewed on a famous blog. After discussing the proposed itinerary with an AwardCat travel booker, Larry was shocked to learn that airport to hotel transfers can cost over $500 per person for this destination, and each meal can cost $50 or more per person. He was also disappointed to learn that over-water bungalows are not bookable with points but require a cash upgrade fee. Given all of this, Larry opted (at our suggestion) to travel to Bali instead, where the newlyweds could enjoy a holiday in a beautiful but far more affordable destination. We helped them book two tickets roundtrip in a good quality Asian business class from Houston with no fuel surcharges using their credit card points and a foreign airline’s loyalty program. While these tickets would have cost around $10,000, our business class booking fee was just $298.

Mike, a small business owner, needed to travel from the Los Angeles to Bentonville, Arkansas for a last-minute business meeting. However, flights cost over $800, even in economy class. We helped Mike transfer his credit card points to a foreign airline’s loyalty program with no last-minute booking fees, and secured last-minute tickets from Burbank to Tulsa (a two hour drive away) roundtrip for just 25,000 points and $11.20 in taxes. Mike paid our $99 economy class booking fee.

After the passing of her late husband, Susan decided to plan the round-the-world trip they had always talked about taking together. She wasn’t entirely sure where she wanted to go, but had a lifetime’s worth of credit card and frequent flier miles to travel in style. We talked to Susan about what was really special to her, and helped her choose destinations based on award availability and her personal interests. Ultimately, we were able to send her on the ultimate round-the-world adventure, departing from San Francisco to Tokyo, onward to Hong Kong, continuing to Johannesburg (with a side trip to Cape Town she arranged on her own), enough time for high tea in London, an island adventure in Greece, and finally back to San Francisco via Switzerland. We were honored that Susan chose to work with us, and she paid our round-the-world booking fee of just $299.

Jim and Susan, a married couple, wanted to travel from Chicago to Rome. We found Jim a good itinerary close to his travel dates. When we shared it, he informed us that he needed to check with his wife, and then stopped responding to our calls and emails. One week later, we closed out his request. Jim paid our $29 search fee, which we earned: we did the work, followed up appropriately, and delivered an award search.

Arjun wanted to travel from New York to Mumbai roundtrip in business class. When we analyzed his points balances and performed an award search, we determined that he didn’t have enough points to travel roundtrip in business class. Also, there was only availability to Delhi. Arjun opted to travel in economy class instead, but he decided to book a ticket himself and pay cash instead of using his miles. This was understandable because there was a very good sale fare for his travel dates and using miles in economy class was not good value in this case. We closed out his booking request, and Arjun only paid our $29 award search fee with no further obligation.

Saul planned travel between San Francisco and Manchester, UK in business class. We found award availability, but the itinerary wasn’t perfect because the only available UK airport was London. Saul decided not to book and unsuccessfully attempted over the next several days to find something better on his own. A week later, he contacted us again, and wanted to book the original itinerary we found. However, it was no longer available. We asked Saul to pay another $29 search fee because this was now a new award search (award inventory changes constantly so we have to repeat the work when searches are stale). Fortunately, award inventory changed for the better and we were able to find a great roundtrip itinerary out of an alternate Bay Area airport directly into Manchester via New York in first and business class. Saul paid $169 for the award booking, and was also charged $29 for the previous award search. However, he clearly understood our fees and was pleased with the outcome.