This Free Online Tool Helps You Decide Whether You Should Book a Flight With Cash or Miles

Travelers looking for cheap flights often start their search on Google Flights — and this new money-saving tool is taking it a step further to make the best decision while booking.

Points Path is a free browser extension — available for download on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge — that compares airline miles vs. cash prices on American, Delta, and United flights, with many more airlines and frequent flier programs to come.

“Points Path is designed for travelers who don't have the time to become experts at using frequent flyer miles but who want to quickly find the best flights available with their travel rewards and know whether they're getting a good deal when using them,” Points Path founder, Julian Kheel, shared in a statement to T+L. “Points Path gives you the answers in just a few seconds every time you search, without having to use a separate website or app, since our results appear directly within Google Flights.”

Since its launch three months ago, the tool has emerged from beta with the ability to see rates with “true round-trip pricing,” a major differentiator from other cheap flight services.

For instance, airlines will often discount fares when searching for round-trip tickets rather than one-way tickets, so travelers will truly know when (or when not to) redeem their hard-earned miles for flights when using the browser extension.

"It’s important for us to have round-trip award prices to get a real apples-to-apples comparison, especially on international itineraries where one-way cash fares can be drastically more expensive,” Kheel added. “Whereas if you search two one-way flights at a time, you may not see that pricing. It’s our way of providing a more accurate view to redeem your points and miles.”

Once they compare the two rates, travelers can continue booking directly with the airline’s website — whether that be in cash or miles.

So far, more than 9,000 travelers have downloaded Points Path as it has become one of the most useful tools to find cheap airfares. Besides adding more programs to the roster, Points Path is working on expanding this capability to Safari and even via a mobile app.

Credit: T&L