Two new websites have popped up with the specific purpose of trying to make frequent flier mile redemption easier: PointHub and MileWise. That sounds like a good plan to me, but I thought I’d put them to the test. The verdict? Not a bad start, but neither is ready to seriously tackle this challenge.

The idea is a great one. You can enter all your reward program info into the systems, and they’ll take note of how many points you have. Then when you do a search, they will tell you what flights are available with the points you have and compare them to the prices you could pay with cash. The recommendation engines will tell you which way to go, and then theoretically, you’re all set. But they’re not as robust as they need to be by a longshot.

I decided to put them both through the paces. We had a concierge client heading to Asia, and for the flight out, I found a great option for 32,500 miles one way by doing my own research with a single stop that required using two different airlines within the same alliance. It’s a perfectly good itinerary and should be relatively easy to find as well.

Neither of these sites found it.

I left my rewards programs out of the system on purpose, so that I would get the full range of flight options, not just those which my balances could afford. MileWise showed the cheapest option was $674 and then promptly sent me to Orbitz where the fare was actually $681.29. PointHub showed me the same flight option but with the right price. This isn’t a surprise since the data seems to be coming from similar places.

According to MileWise, this particular flight got a 92 out of 100 ranking. What the heck does that mean? Well, it says that you pay $674 but earn 8,524 miles and that’s worth $121. I guess they’re using 1.4 cents per mile in their calculation. So you’re really, in their eyes, only paying $553, assuming you value miles the same way. What does the “92″ score mean? It means “you should consider it.”

PointHub doesn’t try to rank the options for you but instead gives them to you and then lets you know how much it would cost in points. It then tells if you’re better off using points or cash when you find the flight you like.

When it came to redemption options on PointHub, I got confused quickly. I sorted by Points Price and it showed me a delightful flight on Aeroflot using 74,184 WorldPoints, which is one of those credit card point programs. It said it was better to just buy it, however. Why? Because the points are worth more than the cash using the PointHub valuation.

Below that it showed 50,000 Aeroplan points (Air Canada) for some flights or 65,000 Mileage Plus points. None of those were good options, and PointHub knew it.

MileWise was also quite confusing.

It gave me a few more palatable options using miles but then it told me to buy a ticket. It offered 32,500 points using miles on Continental via Europe. Not too bad on the surface, and MileWise gives it a 100/100 score saying it should definitely be considered. Then you look at the details. Apparently MileWise looks solely at the price of miles compared with the price of paying cash and ignores that you’d have two overnight flights and an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt. That’s definitely not worthy of a 100/100 score. But if it’s 100/100, then why should I have paid cash for the 92/100 option instead? I don’t get it.

The flight I found on my own had a 2 hour layover in Tokyo with excellent times. This was nowhere to be found on either site. And that’s the problem with these kind of sites. There still isn’t good enough technology out there to truly search for all available options. It takes good ole’ fashioned know-how or something like that.

Does that mean I wouldn’t use these sites? Nah, it just means they might be a first stop along the way. They can still be good for giving a lay of the land, I suppose, but the search engines need to get a lot better at finding more creative options before they become serious options. They also need to give more personalization so that you can say what’s important to you and what isn’t.

Keep an eye on these kinds of sites, because eventually someone will be able to get it right.

It’s a rare Sunday post here on Cranky, but of course, it’s no ordinary Sunday. It’s been 10 years since four aircraft were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, and this is the fifth year that I’ll be following Holly Hegeman’s lead in honoring those flight crews that died while they were just doing their jobs.

There’s a heightened awareness of the event this year since it’s the 10th anniversary, but that’s really just a number. It’s not any easier or harder for those families who lost someone than it was last year on this day. So let’s forget about the pomp and circumstance and just honor those we lost in our airline family.

American 11 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant

United 175 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant; Robert J Fangman, flight attendant

American 77 (Washington/Dulles to Los Angeles)
Crashed into the Pentagon
Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant

United 93 (Newark to San Francisco)
Crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant

What ‘trusted traveler’ means to you – CNN Out of the Office
Talking a little bit about the TSA’s proposed new “known” or “trusted” traveler program.

Tales of 9/11: The Cranky Flier remembers the day – Dallas Morning News Airline Biz Blog
Terry Maxon was asking for tales of 9/11 experiences, so I sent mine over and he published it.

The Cranky Flier at 5: Q&A with Brett Snyder – Sparksheet
I’ll be at the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) show in Seattle next week, and I get warmed up by answering 5 questions for Sparksheet. This was a fun one.

In the Trenches: Touting Success – Intuit Small Business Blog
We’ve had plenty of good success helping people at Cranky Concierge, but how should we talk about it?

I’ll be in Seattle next week for the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) 2011 Expo, and I’m excited. But while I’m up there, I’m going to take some time to go meet with the good folks at Alaska Airlines. Anything in particular you’d like me to ask about?

I know I’ve touched on this many times before, but reader Morgan would like to know more about why I don’t consider frequent flier programs when traveling. Seems like a good time for the latest installment of Ask Cranky . . .

I’d be interested in hearing more about why you don’t consider frequent flyer benefits when making your personal travel reservations. I believe you’ve mentioned this as your policy several times, but never (that I have seen) with elaboration.

With all the turmoil going on with the SkyMiles program and speculation about major changes to Mileage Plus, I’m starting to wonder if all the effort I put into obtaining and maintaining status is worth it. You travel plenty and yet seem to feel that no carrier will compensate you adequately for your loyalty. I’d love to hear why — I’m willing to be convinced.

Morgan

There are actually a lot of things that go into my decision to not care about frequent flier programs, so let’s get started. First of all, I should stress that I’m more than happy to take advantage of frequent flier programs. I belong to many programs and always make sure to earn miles when I fly. I just don’t let those programs impact my decisions.

Part of this is probably because of where I live. From the Los Angeles area, there is no dominant airline. American, Delta, Southwest, and United can get you to most places you want to go from LAX. As a Long Beach resident, however, I often skew toward JetBlue because it’s more convenient. The point is – I have a lot of choices here in Southern California.

For most people, price and schedule end up being the most important decision factors, but for me, it’s more about schedule and product. Yes, I will pay more to fly out of Long Beach than LAX. I will also pay more for an airline that has in-seat video. Legroom might not matter a ton to me since I’m pretty short, but I’d even pay a small premium for that.

For most people, nonstop is a hugely important factor, and that’s true for me as well, but I also look for variety. If I have the chance to fly a new airline, connect in a new city, or ride on a new aircraft type, then I’ll usually jump at the chance as long as there isn’t too big of an inconvenience factor.

That’s why frequent flier programs rarely make sense for me as a decision-driver. If I want new experiences, then sticking with a single frequent flier program will prevent that from happening. It might also make me shy away from more convenient options, since the best option from LA can often be on a different airline for every itinerary.

The flip side is, of course, what I’m giving up. There are a lot of supposed benefits to being elite, so let’s look at them and I’ll show you why I don’t care.

• Upgrades – This is always the big sell, but honestly I don’t care. People think I travel a lot, but I really don’t. I haven’t taken a real vacation in over 3 years. I either travel for events with friends and family or I travel for work. When I travel for work, it’s usually on the airline’s dime so I won’t earn miles anyway.

  Last year, I traveled 34,202 miles. Had I focused on one airline, I might have reached silver status, but even then, what’s the chance I’d get an upgrade? There are so many silver elites at every airline that it’s almost impossible to get an upgrade at that level. Last time I was elite on anyone was 2005/2006 with US Airways. I got an upgrade once from Vegas to LA and another time from Phoenix to LA. That was it. Who cares?

• Priority Check-In/Security/Boarding – I almost never check a bag, so I’m always checked in before I get to the airport. I’m sure there are times I could have saved a little time with priority security, but when I fly out of Long Beach, that doesn’t matter. And when I travel, I use a duffel that can, if needed, squeeze under the seat in front of me. I’d prefer to find bin space, and I usually can, but there’s always a back up so I don’t care if I’m on the airplane that early.
• Free Checked Bags – This has never been an issue for me since I rarely check bags, though that’s about to change with a mini-Cranky on the way. (That’s right, I just dropped that casually into the post.) But it’s still not that much to check a bag.
• Priority Seating – I’ll admit that I do like having priority seating – if there are only middles left on the airplane, then it would be nice to grab that window up front that’s being held back for elites. But with most airlines these days, you can pay for a better seat if you want it. It’s a nominal fee, and I would only bother with it if I couldn’t get a window in the back anyway. As I said, I like more legroom so having Economy Plus on United is nice, but it’s hardly worth concentrating my business just to get that for free. Besides, if I fly JetBlue from Long Beach, I get more legroom automatically.

In short, the benefits of elite status aren’t enough to make me consider warping my decision-making process when it comes to buying a ticket. It’s far more freeing to just fly who I want and then pay for the extra little benefits if I ever feel that I need them.