BOSTON – A point redemption website is looking at where Bostonians are planning to travel this summer. The results from the Point.me show there is a great divide when people are paying with frequent flyer points versus cash.
The point.me search engine looks at a person’s credit card points and helps get the best redemption for travel.
Cashing in points
Looking at 7.4 million searches locally, the website found most Bostonians wanted to cash in points for summer 2024 to travel to London, Paris, and Rome.
Gilbert Ott with Point.me says, “London in the summer the city really comes alive. You’ve got all the sporting events. You’ve got, Wimbledon. There’s often some cricket, which is fun for lots of international crowds. The weather is briefly great.”
Paying with cash
Now the top destinations for summer 2024 changed when Point.me looked at what Bostonians searched for when they were paying for airline seats with cold hard cash. The top destinations were New York City, Las Vegas, and Dublin.
“I think New York is great,” Ott said. “I personally think if you’re going to go, end of summer is better than midsummer. Catch the US Open, Fashion Week and all the good things that happen in September.”
Point.me finds most of their users who are cashing in points are trying to use them for business class where they can sleep in lie-flat seats and drink champagne before takeoff.
“I think people really love that idea of this dream state of if money didn’t matter, and I could go somewhere special, and I didn’t have to think about how much the flight costs, where would I go? And so, I think there’s a lot of truth in where people want to go with their points tells us where people really want to go in general,” said Ott.
If you are looking to cash in those miles, the website recommends you either book them really early or last minute. Airlines looking to sell off excess inventory can have great mileage redemptions within 72 hours of departure.