How to Book Lodging with Points
Video Tutorial: Rooms.Aero (my favorite hotel search tool)
Find available award nights and get alerted when rooms open up
Hotel Website or Search Tool?
Over time, hotel websites have made it a little easier to search directly for award nights, and I almost always start my search on the hotel's own website. But there are times a search tool is the better place to go.
Start on the hotel website if…
- You have a specific hotel or area in mind
- You know which hotel points you'll use
Use a search tool if…
- You aren't sure which points you want to use
- You're not finding your dates available
- You're very flexible
My Favorite Tool
Rooms.aero
Right now, my favorite hotel points search tool is Rooms.aero. They say it will be free forever, and you can search availability for an entire year.
There are other tools I have recommended — and paid for — in the past, but Rooms.aero seems to offer all the functionality of those as well. The website is pretty intuitive to use.
