Quick Verdict: Roame Travel is hands-down our favorite award flight search tool at The Points Party. It searches across 25+ airline loyalty programs in seconds, making award travel planning dramatically easier for both beginners and seasoned points collectors. While the free version has limitations, the paid subscription unlocks powerful features that can save you hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars.

What Is Roame Travel?

Roame Travel is essentially Google Flights for credit card points and miles. Instead of manually searching individual airline websites for award availability—a process that can take hours—Roame searches across 25+ airline loyalty programs simultaneously, returning results in under 15 seconds.

Founded as a "passion project" by co-founder Tim Qin, who got frustrated spending dozens of hours searching for first-class award space to Asia, Roame has quickly become the go-to tool for award travel enthusiasts. The platform searches over 200 airlines through their partner loyalty programs, making it one of the most comprehensive award search engines available.

How Roame Works

The concept is brilliantly simple: enter your departure city, destination, travel date, and cabin preference, then let Roame do the heavy lifting. The platform conducts live searches across all supported airlines without requiring you to log into individual loyalty accounts.

Even better, Roame doesn't just show you award availability—it recommends which credit card points to transfer and factors in current transfer bonuses to show you the true cost in your transferable currency.

Key Features That Make Roame Essential

Lightning-Fast Search Speed

Roame searches return results in an average of 12 seconds, compared to the hours it would take to manually check each airline. This speed advantage alone justifies using the platform, especially when you're comparing multiple date ranges or destinations.

Comprehensive Program Coverage

Roame currently searches these major loyalty programs:

• Major US Carriers: American AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus, Alaska Mileage Plan
• International Powerhouses: Singapore KrisFlyer, Lufthansa Miles & More, Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Middle Eastern Giants: Emirates Skywards, Qatar Privilege Club, Etihad Guest
• Star Alliance Partners: Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Airlines, SAS EuroBonus
• Oneworld Members: British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Qantas Frequent Flyer

SkyView: The Game-Changing Calendar Search

SkyView is where Roame truly shines. Instead of searching day-by-day, SkyView shows award availability across entire months, making it easy to spot sweet spots and availability patterns. The free version includes SkyView Lite (7-day windows), while paid subscribers get access to 60-day search windows.

This feature is particularly valuable for flexible travelers who can adjust their dates to snag better redemptions.

Smart Transfer Recommendations

Roame automatically calculates the most efficient way to book each award by factoring in:

• Current transfer bonuses from credit card programs
• Partner airline availability
• Optimal redemption values

For example, if you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points and there's a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic, Roame will show you exactly how many Chase points you need to transfer to book that Air France flight to Paris.

Price Alerts and Monitoring

Paid subscribers can set up alerts for specific routes, getting notified when award space opens up or prices drop. This is especially valuable for popular routes where award availability is scarce.

Roame Travel Pricing: Free vs. Paid

Free Version

The free tier includes:

• Basic one-way award searches
• Limited SkyView access (7-day windows)
• Standard filtering options
• Transfer partner recommendations

Friends of Roame ($9.16/month or $109.99/year)

The paid subscription unlocks:

• Expanded SkyView (60-day search windows)
• Multi-region searches
• 5 flight alerts
• 7-day window searches
• Discover feature for finding deals
• Email support

Enterprise ($291.66/month or $3,499.99/year)

Designed for travel agencies and heavy users:

• Up to 20 team members
• 180-day SkyView searches
• 20 alerts
• Dedicated support

Our Take: The Friends of Roame subscription pays for itself if you book even one award ticket per year. The time savings and expanded search capabilities easily justify the $110 annual cost.

Pros and Cons: The Complete Picture

What We Love

Speed and Efficiency: Searches complete in seconds rather than hours, dramatically reducing the friction in award travel planning.

Comprehensive Coverage: 25+ loyalty programs means you're seeing virtually all available award space in one search.

Transfer Optimization: Automatic calculation of the most efficient transfer path saves mental math and maximizes your points value.

User-Friendly Interface: Clean, intuitive design that works well for both beginners and experts.

Real-Time Data: Live searches mean you're seeing current availability, not cached results.

Areas for Improvement

One-Way Searches Only: You'll need to run separate searches for round-trip itineraries, which can be tedious for complex trips.

Limited Alert Capacity: Even paid users are limited to 5 alerts unless they upgrade to Enterprise.

No Direct Booking: You'll need to book awards on the airline's website after finding them on Roame.

Missing Filter Options: Can't filter by specific departure times or arrival windows.

Incomplete Fee Information: The platform doesn't show taxes and fees upfront, so you might be surprised by high surcharges on some carriers.

Who Should Use Roame Travel?

Perfect For:

• Points and miles enthusiasts looking to maximize redemption value
• Flexible travelers who can adjust dates for better availability
• Business and first-class seekers hunting for premium cabin awards
• Time-conscious planners who want to avoid hours of manual searching

Less Ideal For:

• Casual travelers who only fly economy on major routes
• Last-minute bookers seeking same-day availability
• Budget-focused travelers primarily using cash fares

How Roame Compares to Alternatives

vs. Seats.aero

For a detailed comparison between these two powerful award search platforms, check out our comprehensive Roame Travel vs. Seats.aero comparison. Both tools have their strengths, but Roame tends to excel in speed and transfer optimization while Seats.aero offers more granular search filters.

vs. Point.me

Point.me offers similar functionality but with a different interface approach. Roame tends to be faster and covers more programs, while Point.me has stronger integration with some credit card programs.

vs. PointsYeah

PointsYeah provides another solid option for award searching with its own unique features. While PointsYeah offers good search capabilities, Roame generally delivers faster results and more comprehensive transfer partner recommendations.

vs. ExpertFlyer

ExpertFlyer excels at detailed seat maps and upgrade availability but lacks Roame's comprehensive award search capabilities and transfer optimization.

vs. Manual Searching

There's simply no comparison—Roame can accomplish in 15 seconds what would take hours of manual searching across individual airline websites.

Real-World Success Stories

Example 1: Finding First-Class to TokyoA Points Party reader used Roame to find first-class availability from New York to Tokyo that wasn't showing up on individual airline searches. By seeing all programs simultaneously, they discovered availability through Virgin Atlantic's partnership with ANA, booking 85,000 Virgin points (transferred from Chase) instead of paying 150,000+ through other programs.

Example 2: Last-Minute European Business ClassAnother reader needed business class to London with just 3 weeks notice. Roame's SkyView feature revealed a pattern of availability on certain days of the week, allowing them to adjust their travel dates and snag a 50,000-point redemption through Flying Blue.

Expert Tips for Maximizing Roame

1. Use Flexible Date Searches: Even if you have specific dates in mind, search a week before and after to see if better options exist.
2. Check Multiple Cabin Classes: Sometimes premium economy offers better value than business class on the same route.
3. Monitor Transfer Bonuses: Roame factors in current bonuses, but these change frequently. Time your transfers strategically.
4. Set Strategic Alerts: Use your alert allocation for routes where availability is historically scarce, not for easy-to-find domestic flights.
5. Cross-Reference High-Fee Carriers: Always check the actual booking page for taxes and fees, especially with carriers like British Airways.
6. Leverage Multi-Region Searches: If you're flexible on destination, use the multi-region feature to discover unexpected deals to places you hadn't considered.

Getting Started: Your First Roame Search

Ready to try Roame Travel? Here's how to run your first search:

1. Create a free account at Roame.travel
2. Enter your search criteria: Origin, destination, travel dates, and cabin preference
3. Wait for results: Most searches complete in under 15 seconds
4. Filter and sort: Use the sidebar filters to narrow results by airline program or transfer partner
5. Analyze transfer options: Pay attention to the transfer recommendations and any active bonuses
6. Book on the airline's website: Click through to the recommended loyalty program to complete your booking

Essential Tools to Use Alongside Roame

While Roame excels at finding award availability, consider pairing it with these complementary tools:

• Priority Pass for airport lounge access during your award travels
• NordVPN to protect your data while traveling abroad
• Quality luggage from brands like Samsonite for your premium cabin journeys
• Travel gear from Osprey for backpacking adventures funded by points

Maximizing Your Points Earning Potential

To get the most out of Roame, you'll need a solid foundation of transferable points. Our guides on understanding miles and points and maximizing travel rewards can help you build the point balances needed for the incredible redemptions you'll discover on Roame.

Consider also learning about Capital One transfer partners and how to use retention offers to get more points to fuel your award travel ambitions.

The Bottom Line: Why Roame Is Essential

Roame Travel has revolutionized how we search for award flights at The Points Party. The combination of speed, comprehensive coverage, and smart transfer recommendations makes it an indispensable tool for anyone serious about maximizing their points and miles.

While the platform isn't perfect—the one-way search limitation and lack of fee transparency are genuine drawbacks—the time savings and expanded opportunities far outweigh these limitations.

Our Recommendation: Start with the free version to get familiar with the platform, then upgrade to Friends of Roame if you're planning more than one award trip per year. The $110 annual cost pays for itself in time savings alone, not to mention the better redemptions you'll discover.

Whether you're a travel hacking veteran or just getting started with points and miles, Roame Travel belongs in your toolkit. It's the closest thing we have to a magic wand for award travel planning.

Ready to transform your award travel search? Try Roame Travel for free and see why it's become our go-to tool for finding incredible redemptions.

Want to maximize your points earning potential? Check out our guide to getting free travel and learn how to earn the points you'll search for on Roame.