Project · Travel Rewards
pointd
A travel rewards optimizer that shows you where your points can take you — across all your programs, in one place. No math, no research, no account needed.
The problem
I kept getting burned on points redemptions. Not because I wasn't trying — I was researching, comparing programs, reading transfer partner guides. The problem was that none of the existing tools were built for discovery. They were built for booking. They assumed you already knew where you wanted to go and how many points it would cost. They put all the complexity of airline and hotel loyalty programs on the user and called it a feature.
After talking to other points holders, I found the same pattern every time:
curiosity → complexity → abandonment → cash fallback
— Pattern from user interviews
People sit on points for years. They know they're valuable. They just never use them because the first time they try to figure out redemption, the system overwhelms them and they give up. pointd is built around a different question: not "how do I book with points?" but "where can I actually go with what I have?"
Walkthrough — add your programs, then explore where your points can actually take you
Gate page — the value prop before users even sign up
The challenge
The core challenge was data. Loyalty program pricing and award availability aren't cleanly accessible: award space varies by date, program, and transfer chain, and most of it isn't exposed through reliable APIs. The current implementation combines scraping and multiple API integrations to surface live cash pricing, with award availability still an open problem. That constraint also shaped the product direction. A discovery-first model (show what's theoretically reachable with your points) made it possible to ship something useful while the harder availability data problem gets solved.
Key decisions
Decision 01
Discovery-first, not booking-firstEvery competitor starts with "where do you want to go?" pointd starts with "what do you have?" Enter your program balances, see destinations you can actually reach. The mental model shift — from searching to discovering — is the core product bet.
Decision 02
Cross-program balance aggregationMost tools are siloed to one loyalty program. Users with points spread across Chase UR, Amex MR, and Marriott Bonvoy have to check each separately. pointd aggregates everything so the view reflects your real total purchasing power, not just one account.
Decision 03
Surface transfer partner pathsTransfer partners are where the best redemption value lives — and where 90% of users either don't know to look, or look and give up. pointd explicitly shows "via transfer" options with the full transfer chain (e.g., Amex MR → Marriott Bonvoy) so users discover value they didn't know they had.
Hotel detail — map view with per-night pricing in points across properties
Where it stands
The core explore flow works — add your programs, see where your points can take you, and link directly to hotel booking pages to redeem. Live cash pricing is available, with integrated booking coming soon. Availability data is the next problem to solve.