Award travel is loaded with free and paid tools. Whether its search engines or detailed blog posts, there’s no shortage of information on award travel. In this post, we’ll compare Award Hacker vs ExpertFlyer, two common platforms points and miles travelers leverage.
What is Award Hacker?
It can be a challenge, if not impossible to be an expert in every airline program. That’s where AwardHacker comes in. It’s a free platform that helps you to find the best award flights. The website’s goal is to make the award booking process as easy as booking a flight.
Award Hacker has a number of unique features. These include showing you some of the valuable most valuable airline programs, route information,
and required number of miles by route. High value Award Hacker airline programs include Aeroplan, Flying Blue, Alaska Airlines, ANA, Avianca, United Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.
There are a number of short comings when using Award Hacker. Most notably, not all frequent flyer programs are listed. For example, you will not find Etihad Guest on Award Hacker. In addition, taxes and fees, and routing rules are also not listed. Award Hacker plans to address these issues in the future.
What is Expert Flyer?
ExpertFlyer is a robust airline and flight search tool. The website states it’s focused on the both the frequent and infrequent traveler. In practice, ExpertFlyer is geared towards the frequent traveler. It’s an incredibly value search engine providing every piece of information a traveler would need to book an award flight.
When you sign up for ExpertFlyer, you are receiving real time travel information from one of the most robust search enginers out there. There are a number of different subscription options available, depending on how many flights and what type of flights you want to book.
Subscribers can’t books flights directly on ExpertFlyer, however, you’re only a click or phone call away from booking your next flight. The website really shines if you are looking for hard-to-find award flights or detailed flight information. For example, ExpertFlyer shows you the type of fare buckets available on specific flights.
Award Hacker vs ExpertFlyer
Now that we’ve laid out the two, you may be asking yourself, what’s the difference between Award Hacker vs ExpertFlyer? Award Hacker is great if you’re just starting out. The website helps show you what award program is the best to use for your upcoming travel.
In contrast, ExpertFlyer is ideal for the frequent traveler. If you’re after detailed flight and/or seat information, ExpertFlyer is what you want. ExpertFlyer has a free subscription but the frequent traveler will likely opt for one of the paid subscription options.
Conclusion: Award Hacker vs ExpertFlyer
The world of points and miles is an ever-changing landscape. With that said, you need all the tools at your disposal. When comparing Award Hacker vs ExpertFlyer, it comes down to personal preference. As we’ve laid out, Award Hacker is for the beginner traveler while Expert Flyer is for the experienced traveler.
What do you think about Award Hacker vs ExpertFlyer? Do you prefer one over the other? Please let me know in the comments or by sending me an email on my contact page.
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