Here’s a compact guide to the best tools (and how to use them) for searching award flight availability.

Top third‑party award search engines and tools

• Point.Me — Paid multisearch engine that finds saver and partner award space across many programs and shows routing/price options. Good for complex itineraries and comparing alternatives.
• ExpertFlyer — Paid (with a limited free tier). Powerful for searching specific fare classes, award seat inventory, and setting availability alerts. Widely used by frequent flyers and award bookers.
• SeatSpy — Focused on British Airways/Avios availability monitoring; useful if you want alerts for specific BA routes and dates.
• AwardHacker — Free tool for estimating how many points different programs require for a given route and showing common award options (good for planning and choosing which points to use).
• Juicy Miles — Paid award search/booking service (they also offer to search and book for you). Useful if you want someone to handle complicated itineraries or mixed-cabin bookings.
• AwardWallet — Not a search engine but very useful for tracking balances across programs and storing award reservation information; can help you know which points you have to spend.

Important airline/alliance search engines (free, often the most reliable)

• United.com (Star Alliance partner searches — very good calendar view and shows many partner seats).
• Air Canada Aeroplan — strong partner availability display for Star Alliance.
• ANA (All Nippon Airways) — excellent for searching many partner award opportunities (sometimes shows space others don’t).
• BritishAirways.com — good for Avios availability on BA and some partners (calendar view).
• Qantas.com — shows many Oneworld partner seats and has a useful calendar tool.
• AlaskaAir.com — great for searching many partner awards (esp. on Alaska’s partners like American, Cathay, and others).
• Note: Each airline site shows availability for its own program and partners; sometimes one program will display partner seats that others don’t, so check multiple sites.

Quick workflow I recommend

1. Use AwardHacker to estimate which programs/totals are likely for your route.
2. Check the most relevant airline award sites (United, Aeroplan, ANA, BA, Qantas, Alaska) for calendar view and concrete availability.
3. If availability is hard to find, run a multisearch tool (Point.Me or Juicy Miles) or set alerts in ExpertFlyer/SeatSpy for specific dates.
4. Once you find space, confirm the routing and price on the airline program you plan to book (sometimes partners display but you must call the program to ticket). Book quickly — saver space disappears fast.

Practical tips and caveats

• Always check the actual frequent‑flyer program you’ll use to book — award partner availability can appear on other sites but be bookable only via certain programs, or require a phone call.
• “Saver” (low‑level) awards are what most tools search for; if none exist you may see only expensive partner/corporate inventory.
• Some tools are paid but worth it for complex trips or for setting alerts. Free tools and airline calendars are often enough for simple roundtrips.
• Mixed-cabin and transits can complicate pricing and availability — be careful reading the fare class codes.
• Beware of fuel surcharges and taxes — what looks like a great award in points might have high cash fees.

If you want, tell me the route(s), dates (or date range), and which points you have; I can suggest which specific sites to check first and what search order will be fastest.