Here’s a concise, practical list of platforms and tools you can use to search for and book flights with points — grouped by type, with a short note on how each works and when to use it.

Airline award sites (book direct with the program that issues the miles)

• American Airlines AAdvantage (aa.com) — search and book award seats on American and many partners (has tools like Award Map). Good if you hold AAdvantage miles. (aa.com)
• Delta SkyMiles (delta.com) — lets you “Shop with Miles” for Delta and partner-award travel; no blackout dates but availability varies. Good if you have SkyMiles. (delta.com)
• United MileagePlus (united.com) — book award travel on United and Star Alliance partners; useful for wide partner access. (See your MileagePlus account’s award search.) (awardwallet.com)
• Alaska Mileage Plan, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club (Avios), etc. — each airline’s site is often the best place to redeem that carrier’s miles or its partners (e.g., Aeroplan’s Points+Cash and Avios reward tools). Use the airline portal for partner-award routing rules and availability. (aircanada.com)

Credit‑card travel portals and “pay with points” (book cash fares with flexible points)

• Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal — lets you book flights/hotels with points (or transfer to airline partners); often compare portal vs transfer to see which gives better value. Portal bookings may still earn airline miles. (chase.com)
• American Express Travel / “Pay with Points” — lets you apply Membership Rewards points to flights (or transfer to airline partners); sometimes offers “Insider Fares” or better value on select bookings. (americanexpress.com)
• Capital One Travel, Citi ThankYou Travel Center — similar portal options (book with points at a fixed cash-value rate) and also offer transfer to partner airlines in many cases — compare portal price vs transferring points to partners. (point.me)

Award-search engines & tools (help find award availability across programs)

• Point.me, AwardHacker/Points tools, Seats.aero, ExpertFlyer, etc. — paid or freemium tools that aggregate/scrape availability and show which program to use for a given routing. Very useful if you don’t want to check every airline site manually. (These tools usually point you to the airline site to book.) (wsj.com)

Tracking & management tools

• AwardWallet, Points.com, etc. — track balances, transfers, and redemptions across programs; Points.com also supports some exchanges and transactions between programs. These help you keep tabs on balances and expirations. (awardwallet.com)

Quick how-to tips (practical)

• Compare portal vs transfer: if you have transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One), compare booking via the issuer’s portal (straight cash price converted to points) versus transferring to an airline partner and booking an award — one often gives much better value than the other. (chase.com)
• Check partner availability: some airlines release award seats through partners only (or charge less when booked through a partner), so search alliance/partner sites (oneworld/Star Alliance/SkyTeam carriers) as well as the airline that issued your miles. (delta.com)
• Watch taxes and carrier-imposed fees: award bookings often still require taxes/fees; some carriers add high surcharges on award tickets — always check the cash component before you commit. (britishairways.com)
• Use paid award-search tools if you’re searching complex itineraries or premium cabins — they can save a lot of time and show which program gives the best price. (wsj.com)

If you want, I can:

• Suggest the best places to search given which points/miles you hold (tell me which programs/cards you have), or
• Run a quick comparison strategy for a sample route (e.g., NYC → London in business) showing portal vs transfer options and likely programs to check.

Which would you prefer?