rewrite this title Roame Award Search Tool Review – NerdWallet

Roame is an award search tool that helps you find ways to redeem your points and miles. Instead of searching multiple programs’ websites individually, it allows you to search several at once, making it a major time saver.

For me, Roame really shines with its alerts, which are available on the paid version and notify you when award availability on your desired route opens up. The tool also comes with a variety of filters, which can be helpful if you’re looking for something specific, like business class seats on an Airbus A380. As far as award search tools go, it’s also aesthetically pleasing and fairly easy to use.

To access Roame, you’ll need to create an account. Here’s an overview of some of the differences between the free plan and the Friends of Roame version:

Both Roame Community and Friends of Roame members have access to the same airline and hotel loyalty programs. However, only paid users can search for award availability using cached data up to a year in advance, while free users are limited to 60 days.

Roame Community does not include alerts, while the $109.99-per-year Friends of Roame plan includes 10 alerts. You can also opt for a $12.99 monthly subscription, but that only includes five alerts.

For live searches, both tiers can search up to a year in advance, but search windows differ. The paid plan also comes with access to Roame’s award alerts, which are typically the most useful feature of an award search tool.

Searching for award flights on Roame is fairly straightforward, with an interface that resembles Google Flights.

To start your search, you’ll need to input an origin, a destination, a date (or date range), desired cabin class and number of passengers. You can also select whether to use live search or cached search; Roame calls cached search “SkyView.” Live search results are more accurate than cached search results, which can be hours or days old.

There’s also an option to view the results as a list, a table or on a calendar. I’m personally a fan of the table view, since it lets you quickly scan through the results to find what you’re looking for. However, it’s worth trying all three to figure out what works best for you.

All users have access to Roame’s result filters, which can help you narrow down the most relevant options. You can filter by which transferable currencies you have, the maximum amount of fees or points you want to spend, the premium cabin percentage for mixed itineraries, and aircraft types.

Roame’s user interface is intuitive, with a design akin to most travel booking portals. When you find a redemption you want to book, Roame even provides detailed step-by-step instructions for transferring your points (if needed) and booking your award flight. I found that to be extremely helpful, especially for beginners navigating the process.

However, I did run into broken links when trying to access the instructions in table view, so you may want to try list or calendar view instead if you need the instructions. If you’re on the free version, you’ll also get frequent prompts to upgrade, with several ads for the paid version on the site.

A key feature of award search tools is the ability to set up alerts, especially if you plan to travel to a popular destination or during peak travel times. When everyone else is searching for the same awards, availability can be limited and setting up alerts can give you a leg up in finding the perfect redemption. Roame says it runs award searches daily on the top 6,500 routes, as well as individual airport-to-airport searches set up as alerts. Typically, you’ll get the fastest results for more specific alerts, but you can also set up alerts between regions such as between the U.S. and Europe.

Roame alerts are continuous, meaning you will keep getting results for your alert until you delete it. That can be helpful if the first result you get isn’t what you’re looking for. (Some tools offer one-off alerts, where the alert expires after the first match.) For the best experience and to avoid too many notifications, set your alert parameters to be as specific as possible.

One thing that impresses me about Roame is the community that the award search tool has built, especially in the tool’s Facebook group. While it’s mostly filled with posts about people trying to redeem their points for premium cabin travel to Japan, there are also many helpful tips being shared. When you’re navigating the ever-changing points-and-miles world, it’s always helpful to ask questions and hear about others’ experiences. Roame also sends out emails with deals for business and first class, highlighting the value users can get from their points.

Friends of Roame users can only search a seven-day window on live search, and free users can only search a three-day window. That can be frustrating if you don’t have specific travel dates locked in. Plus, live search doesn’t support region-based origins and destinations, meaning you’d have to toggle between SkyView (cached) and live search for those results. You’re also limited to searching for “Economy / Premium Economy” and “Business / First” for live search, while SkyView lets you select between the four options. I found the process of navigating from SkyView to live search cumbersome when trying to confirm whether results were still accurate. I would’ve appreciated the option to refresh that specific result in real time.

Like all award search tools, Roame suffers from phantom award availability, which is when a program shows seats available for redemption, but they don’t actually exist. If you do find a desirable redemption, you should always confirm with the loyalty program that the seat is available before transferring your points, since point transfers are generally irreversible.

Since it’s still in beta, the tool is fairly rudimentary (no alerts) compared to other programs like PointsYeah. It took me a while to figure out how to adjust the dates of my search, since it kept changing the end of my date range and not the beginning. (You have to click twice on a date to do that.) It also showed about 50 results when I searched for properties in the U.S., so you’ll need to search for a more specific destination to see the full list.

Roame can be a helpful tool for maximizing the value of your transferable points. It’s a well-designed, easy-to-use tool, with step-by-step instructions for beginners on how to actually book an award.

However, its best feature — the ability to set up multiregion alerts — is reserved for paid Friends of Roame users, making the tool far less valuable if you don’t want to pay. Free users are likely better off using another award search tool that offers free alerts.

About the author

Benjamin Din is a lead travel writer at NerdWallet. He previously was a technology reporter at Politico, where he authored a daily newsletter covering tech and telecom policy.

Benjamin loves to travel — both for work and for fun. He’s reported from three continents and visited more than 45 countries. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle and The (Johannesburg) Star, as well as covered two Olympics with NBC Sports.

His goal is to visit a new country and a new state each year.