We received a tip from a reader/podcast listener about a website called Pointsevents.com. While not quite perfect, this is an incredibly cool tool that collates experiences bookable with points (such as through auctions or direct) through a whole bunch of programs. I’ve only briefly played with it, but I’ve already found some really cool-looking experiences that I hadn’t even realized were bookable with points.
The Pointsevents website features a really simple interface that collates auction information into a single, sortable and filterable list. If, like me, you have a points spread across different programs and you want to see everything available, scroll past the map tool and find the button that says “Browse all events”.
Oddly, by default, past events (which are no longer available) are not filtered out. I therefore recommend using the “Status” drop-down menu to filter out “Past events”. I also found it useful to filter out “coming soon”.
That left me with a wide range of different experiences. If you read the box for each event, you can see key details like the points program and event date.
I also sorted by “End date – Soonest” so I could see auctions ending over the next few days. That still ended up leaving a few options for events that were scheduled to have already ended earlier today, but it filtered out the old “sold out” options.
When you click on a particular event, the next page shows the event details/inclusions as well as a handy button to go directly to the auction page.
Note that the tool may be missing some details in some cases. For instance, there are a ton of FIFA World Cup ticket packages that show as being available via Qatar Avios. While I believe that all of these are available, many of them are only available to Qatar Privilege Club elite members (though some of them are publicly available).
Stephen also noted that he checked a couple of events the other day that weren’t available with miles, but rather only cash. I’m not sure whether he simply checked auctions that were already over (since the tool doesn’t automatically filter those out) or it was a glitch or if there may be some other false positives. So far, every event I’ve checked seems to be available, but with tons of things out there, it is possible that there could be some glitches. It is also worth noting that I’m not sure how often the “current bid” prices are updated in this tool.
However, at first glance, this looks really awesome. I found a ton of experiences that I never would have known were available with points, like tickets to the Chicago Bears draft party, the chance to play tennis on a clay court at Rolland Garros and see the Men’s tennis final there, and a lot more.
I do see an ability to sign up for a “pro” version by entering an email address. That sent a magic email link to “sign in”, but the link came from some sort of database management URL that I didn’t immediately recognize. I could see the value in being emailed when new experiences are added, but without knowing more about the tool, I didn’t complete sign up. For now, I’m happy to be able to check out what’s available across multiple programs. I have recently been looking at events across different programs – this will save me a TON of time over checking each platform separately.
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Any way to screen by event location (I.e. by state in the U.S.)?
Yes it does appear so. If you click either “View with filters” or “Browse all events” it will list all the different filters you can use. The top line you can just enter in your location. Works well for me entering in either the state and/or the specific city.
https://PointAuctions.com does the same thing, has more programs (19) and auction listings, along with better filtering.
Comparing the two websites, I still like Pointsevents.com better. While PA has “more programs” and “Auction listings” it seems like a lot of it is bloated to pad their stats. For example on Virgin red some of the experiences listed are for “Delta flights, Save on flights with points plus money”, Southwest literally was one listing lol.
Now to the real crux for why I think PE is better/more useful. You mentioned the filtering and I think it’s much better on PE than PA. PE has way more filters, better/easier sorting and scrolling, and more customizable options. Not to mention PE has a map which is really handy, thank you to them for implementing that. While PA does appear to have more listings I’m not sure how much of that is accurate due to the bloat. Maybe the dev will make some changes from here I don’t know, it looks like PA is a much newer website than PE in my opinion although there is fair criticism for both to always enhance and improve.
One thing I find super annoying while I was using PA is the pop-up asking me to sign up for an account, like sheesh just show me the events if I want to make an account I will, no need to remind me. The other website didn’t ask for that and just lets me jump right in to browse. That map is so helpful to, because I would totally plan a trip around certain destinations if I had a specific reason to go there like an event/concert/etc.
Pretty cool website! As programs keep devaluing and availability dries up, this is a great way to use some points for a good value and unique experiences.
Thank you! Heads up for fans of the US team with a healthy balance of Avios — June 13 game between US & Paraguay is publicly available and, for now, it does not have any bids. Good luck