Below is a concise, practical comparison of Seats.aero, ExpertFlyer, and Point.Me (formerly Juicy Miles) — strengths, weaknesses, typical users, and when to pick each. I cite recent reviews, the services’ docs, and industry write-ups for the most important claims.

Seats.aero

• Pros
  • Very powerful, fast multi-program award searches (can scan wide date ranges/regions and many programs at once). Great at finding premium-cabin space and multi-seat availability. (themilesmarket.com)
  • Useful advanced filters (aircraft type, alliances, layovers) and alerts; Pro tier adds live search refreshes and unlimited alerts. (AwardWallet.com)
  • Active user community and dedicated app; good for power users who want lots of customization. (themilesmarket.com)
• Cons
  • Steeper learning curve — interface and results assume familiarity with award travel (airline codes, partners, routing rules). (thepointsparty.com)
  • Some results are cached by default (free tier) and can lag vs. live availability; Pro required for most live/bookable searches. (AwardWallet.com)
  • Coverage gaps / “phantom” or stale results can occur for some programs — always verify on the airline’s site before transferring miles. (thepointsparty.com)
• Price / who it’s for
  • Competitive Pro pricing (often around $9.99/month or $99/yr historically) for frequent award searchers and people hunting premium seats. Best for intermediate→expert award travelers. (AwardWallet.com)

ExpertFlyer

• Pros
  • Longstanding tool for seat maps, seat alerts, flight schedules, and award/upgrade availability — very useful for granular seat-level info and specific flight alerts. (NerdWallet.com)
  • Offers flexible alerting (seat changes, aircraft changes, award availability) and a free/basic tier for light users. (NerdWallet.com)
  • Good for travelers who need seat-specific info (e.g., seat blocks, who has exit rows) and for monitoring specific flight inventory. (NerdWallet.com)
• Cons
  • In recent years support for some airlines/programs has been reduced or temporarily removed, which limits award search usefulness for certain carriers (e.g., parts of Star Alliance previously affected). Verify current airline coverage before relying on it. (AwardWallet.com)
  • Interface and terminology can feel dated; not as focused on cross-program award comparisons as newer tools. (NerdWallet.com)
• Price / who it’s for
  • Free tier available; Basic and Premium tiers (historically modest monthly/yearly fees). Best for people who want seat/upgrade alerts and to monitor specific flights rather than broad award-availability scouting. (NerdWallet.com)

Point.Me

• Pros
  • Beginner-friendly: maps award redemptions to transferable-point programs (shows which card points can be used and estimated transfer routes), and offers concierge/booking help for those who want hands-off service. Good at translating options for less-experienced users. (NerdWallet.com)
  • Can show many partner options and transfer guidance in one result set, which helps when you have mixed points and need booking instructions. (wsj.com)
• Cons
  • Searches are often slower and limited to single-date/single-origin searches; lacks multi-day or multi-airport scanning and robust alerting for newly opened award space. (NerdWallet.com)
  • Mixed user reviews: some users find results accurate and useful, others report slow UI, occasional inaccuracies, blocking for heavy search usage, and support/concierge responsiveness issues; experiences vary. (NerdWallet.com)
  • Pricier than some competitors for full access (historic tiers around $129–$260/year); free/limited access sometimes included via AmEx or card benefits. (NerdWallet.com)
• Price / who it’s for
  • Designed for beginners and people who want hand-holding and transfer guidance. If you prefer a simple “which program + how many points” answer and don’t need mass date/route scanning, Point.Me can be convenient. (NerdWallet.com)

Quick practical guidance — when to use each

• Use Seats.aero if you’re comfortable with award routing rules and want to scan many dates/programs quickly (especially for premium cabins and multi-seat availability). Upgrade to Pro if you need live/bookable results and frequent alerts. (themilesmarket.com)
• Use ExpertFlyer if you need seat maps, precise seat/upgrade alerts, or to monitor a specific flight’s inventory closely. Check current airline coverage before relying on it. (NerdWallet.com)
• Use Point.Me if you’re a beginner, want clear transfer-path guidance, or prefer concierge help — but be prepared for slower searches and a higher subscription cost for full features. Consider the free AmEx-linked access if you have it. (NerdWallet.com)

Caveats and best practices

• No tool is perfect: all can show stale/phantom/partial results. Always confirm availability and exact pricing directly on the airline or loyalty program site before transferring points. (thepointsparty.com)
• If you care about “live” bookable results, prefer tools/features that explicitly state they do live queries (Seats.aero Pro, some Point.Me results, or direct searches on airline sites). (AwardWallet.com)
• If you plan heavy searching, pay attention to rate limits or account blocks (some users report temporary blocks for very frequent searches on certain platforms). (reddit.com)

If you want, I can:

• recommend which of the three matches your exact travel style (give me a short profile: novice vs power user, number of trips/year, priority: premium cabin vs cheapest award), or
• pull the current pricing and airline-coverage pages for each service so you can compare side-by-side (I’ll fetch the latest pages).