Travel Smarter review 2026: how to earn points and status faster
- Helena
- 10 minutes ago
- 8 min read
This guide is a paid partnership with Travel Smarter, who also gifted Helena and Sam a Premium membership. We may earn affiliate commission from the links in this guide, but all views remain our own.
Anyone who collects miles and points knows the real work isn't necessarily earning them, but rather in keeping track of them.
We’re all guilty of it, fighting to remember which tab is which, multiple open on your laptop.
We've all been there. Until now, the only real fix has been that spreadsheet and a lot of patience.
I am sure many of you have asked the question “What if the flights I’m already planning could get me airline status faster, and earn me more points towards free flights?”
Travel Smarter set out to change that. This is a loyalty optimisation tool for the travel you already have planned, and the travel you're planning next. The idea is to help you get to frequent flyer status a bit sooner, spot perks and benefits you might otherwise miss, and put the points you're already earning to better use.
"Book smarter. Earn more. Travel further."
That's certainly the aim. It's a young company, but one with clear ambitions for where it wants to go. For anyone who's ever opened three different airline apps just to work out where a booking should be credited, it’s a welcome shift.
What is Travel Smarter?
The easy way to describe Travel Smarter would be to say they are an AI-driven platform that helps frequent flyers earn airline status quicker and get the most value out of their points and miles. But they are so much more than that. Their aim is simple: to assist every traveller to maximise their travel loyalty value, and they are doing that in a number of ways.
The system itself assists everyday travellers to see where loyalty actually pays off, then puts that insight to work across status, upgrades and rewards, spanning airlines, alliances, hotels and credit cards.
Everything is sat within one system, to easily identify the next steps in their loyalty journey.
There are three levels to Travel Smarter membership, so let’s start there.
Feature | Free | Premium | Pro |
Loyalty tracking essentials | |||
Loyalty programmes | One | Up to three | Unlimited |
Wallet | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Card balances and expiry alerts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Real-time status tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Flight log and map | Full history | Full history | Full history |
Flight forecast | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Goals | One | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Flight calculator | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Smarter tools | |||
Smart Advisor | Loyalty and cards agents | Full agent suite | |
Deep strategy mode | ✓ | ||
Smart Search | 10 a month | 20 a month | |
Smarter Score | Score only | Full breakdown | Full breakdown |
Personalised advice | ✓ | ✓ | |
Smart Status | ✓ | ✓ | |
BA Holidays calculator | Unlimited searches | ||
Pro services | |||
Booking Concierge | Dedicated service | ||
Status Match | Full tier breakdowns | ||
Hotel loyalty tracking | ✓ | ||
Hotel loyalty optimisation | ✓ | ||
Active promotions tracking | Live airline promos | ||
Support | |||
Help centre and community | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Email support | Standard | Priority | |
Cost | Free | Annually: £99 | Annually: £169 |
How do I sign up for Travel Smarter?
Now, there are two flow paths here to follow.
You have one or more loyalty programmes that you want to link up to the system. Remember if you have the free account you can link one, if you have a Premium you can link up to three, and the Pro account lets you link an unlimited amount. If, like me, you are juggling Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, then the Premium would be a good fit. Equally, if you have your fingers in many pies, aka more than three programmes, then Pro will definitely be the way to go when it launches.
If you don’t have a frequent flyer account to use, and are just starting out, simply select that option and it will take you straight through to the dashboard.
Travel Smarter review 2026: earn points and status faster Travel Smarter review 2026: earn points and status faster Travel Smarter review 2026: earn points and status faster Travel Smarter review 2026: earn points and status faster
Let’s quickly go back to those different tiers. This is where you need to decide which one to go for. To find the option to upgrade to either of the paid subscriptions, simply scroll down to the bottom of the page, click subscription and choose what you would like to go for. Both paid tiers are billed either quarterly or annually, and you save 30% by paying yearly.
Points Well Made Exclusive
Exclusively for Points Well Made readers, sign up and become a paid Travel Smarter subscriber in September and get 30% off the Premium subscription, helping you reach frequent flyer status faster, earn more points towards free flights, and, from early September, get hotel commission back when you book hotels through Travel Smarter (applies to bookings made in 2026 but can be for 2027 travel). Simply use this link, and enter promo code "POINTS30"
Which airline programmes can you link up to Travel Smarter?
At present, the airline programmes you can link up on Travel Smarter are the following, with more due to be added over time:
Airline | Programme | Currency | Status Units | Alliance |
British Airways | Club | Avios | Tier Points | oneworld |
American Airlines | AAdvantage | Miles | Loyalty Points | oneworld |
Iberia | Iberia Plus | Avios | Elite Points | oneworld |
Qatar Airways | Privilege Club | Avios | Qpoints | oneworld |
Cathay Pacific | Asia Miles | Miles | Status Points | oneworld |
Finnair | Finnair Plus | Avios | Tier Points | oneworld |
Japan Airlines | JAL Mileage Bank | Miles | FLY ON Points | oneworld |
Qantas | Frequent Flyer | Points | Status Credits | oneworld |
Malaysia Airlines | Enrich | Points | Elite Points | oneworld |
Lufthansa | Miles & More | Miles | Points | Star Alliance |
United Airlines | MileagePlus | Miles | PQP / PQF | Star Alliance |
Singapore Airlines | KrisFlyer | Miles | Elite Miles | Star Alliance |
Air Canada | Aeroplan | Points | Status Qualifying Miles | Star Alliance |
ANA | Mileage Club | Miles | Premium Points | Star Alliance |
Turkish Airlines | Miles&Smiles | Miles | Status Miles | Star Alliance |
Delta Air Lines | SkyMiles | Miles | MQDs | SkyTeam |
Air France | Flying Blue | Miles | XP | SkyTeam |
KLM | Flying Blue | Miles | XP | SkyTeam |
Korean Air | SKYPASS | Miles | Elite Miles | SkyTeam |
Emirates | Skywards | Miles | Tier Miles | — |
Etihad Airways | Etihad Guest | Miles | Tier Miles | — |
Virgin Atlantic | Flying Club | Miles | Tier Points | — |
Which hotel programmes can you link up to Travel Smarter?
Currently you can link up the below hotel loyalty programmes within Travel Smarter:
Accor Live Limitless
Best Western Rewards
Choice Privileges
Hilton Honors
IHG One Rewards
Melia Rewards
Radisson Rewards
World of Hyatt
What are the next steps after signing up for Travel Smarter?
To really make the system sing to your tune, you are going to want to go into the following sections and add in some key information.
Status:
If you have status with any airlines, or have any tier points with any airlines, this is where you are going to want to add in this information. Mine is very boring, I am BA Blue and I have 82 tier points to my name currently!
Goals:
This is a great section as this helps the system really get to know you and your aims. With this, it will help suggest the best flights and strategies to help you fulfil these goals. There are four types of goals you can set: Reach Status, Maintain Status, Earn Trips, Maximise Points.
My Points:
This is the section which will show you all of your points across airlines and credit cards, all in one place. Goodbye spreadsheets, hello dashboards. You can put in all of your information regarding airline points and your hotel points, to keep track of everything in one place.
What are the Smarter Tools on Travel Smarter?
Let’s jump into the features. The ones currently live are:
Smart Search:
Smart Search surfaces the best flight options based on your traveller goals, helping you earn more tier points or Avios with every trip. Now, seeing as you have of course added all of your information as I told you to in the above section, this will pull a really tailored list for you to help you achieve your goals.
I have decided I want to fly to Auckland next July. As you can see, I have decided to credit the flights to my BA account, and it is only showing two options, both operated by Malaysia, but credited to BA.
But, let’s say I want to change the crediting of all those tier points and Avios to Qatar Airways instead. Suddenly there were eleven options to book. You can also opt to see “No Earning Flights” which basically means you wouldn’t earn anything for your airline programme, but does open up other availability.
BA Holidays:
Since the British Airways Club moved over to their spend based model regarding tier points, BA Holidays has turned into a great option to get tier points, and Avios, on a nice chunk of spend.
This handy tool will show you exactly how many tier points and the Avios you will get for the booking, making it perfect for a status run. It also shows you when the points will hit your account, which is useful if doing anything of this in March before your membership year re-sets.
Smart Status:
This one is my favourite feature, so indulge me here.
This is going to tell you how to get your desired status in the optimal way for you. Now, I’m not really one who chases status, despite having been Virgin Atlantic Gold and BA Silver for a few years … although my BA Blue status is really staring me in the face right now. This tool, however, has completely re-wired my brain on how to credit all of my flights going forward.
The mistake people often make is focusing on the airline itself. Travel Smarter focuses on the airline alliance. Let’s use an example to show you with BA.
British Airways Status: I have selected I want Emerald status with oneworld, aka BA Gold, and then put in some information on how I fly every year, so annual spend, usual routes and which cabin classes I use.
It then shows me three different routes for getting Emerald Status, which is the cheapest, plus all the benefits you get with that airlines. So as you can see below Finnair is the cheapest option for me. Plus, you get 12 one-way upgrades to use as you like.
What features are coming soon to Travel Smarter?
Travel Smarter is expanding fast over the next few months. Coming soon to the system will be Hotel Concierge, a bit more on that below, and Lounge Access, details to follow. The Pro subscription is not yet live, whilst they build the extra features.
Premium and Pro (when it launches) subscriptions also include access to Travel Smarter's hotel commission-back benefit when the hotel booking service goes live in early September. Once live, eligible Premium and Pro users will receive 100% of the applicable hotel booking commission back at the point of booking on qualifying bookings made through Travel Smarter.
Meaning you could book in September for a hotel in August 2026 and at the point of check out receive the net rate which should be between 11% to 30% cheaper than the public rate.
Note: Free commission is on sign ups in August and September 2026. Available to Premium and Pro members only. Premium membership provides access to 100% commission-back benefits and personalised travel optimisation features, including faster frequent flyer status, booster and point earning, and frequent flyer status optimisation. Terms and conditions apply.
Travel Smarter review 2026: earn points and status faster
I have now spent a good five months with the premium subscription, and am finding it infinitely useful and fascinating.
If you're still juggling loyalty programmes across spreadsheets, sticky notes and an evidence board with string linking up your programmes, Travel Smarter solves this problem effortlessly. It will tell you, before you book, exactly what a route is worth in tier points, Avios or miles, and which programme deserves your loyalty this year. How to use your points, miles and money to achieve your goals without you having to constantly be thinking or planning how to do it. In short, it takes the stress and uncertainty out of it, and what is left is a platform which seamlessly works in the background for you.
Free is a useful starting point if you're only tracking one airline. But the real value sits in Premium and Pro, where Smart Status and Smart Search stop guesswork and start giving you a proper strategy. For me, Smart Status alone has changed how I think about crediting flights.
If you've read this far, you're clearly the kind of traveller who wants their points working as hard as you do. And quite right too!
Sign up in September, convert to a paid Premium subscription using code "POINTS30", and you'll get 30% off with our exclusive Points Well Made link.
Helena
Points Well Made is a passion project from Sam and Helena. If you've enjoyed this and want to help us keep the lights on, please consider buying us a Ko-fi or subscribing monthly. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for more of the same. Thanks for reading.
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