Good questions, straight answers.

No, and plenty of our clients never use them. We're a full travel advisory first: we build the itinerary, book the hotels, cruises, activities and transfers, and handle the logistics. Award travel is what we're best known for, not a condition of working together. Whether or not points are part of it, our hotel-group relationships get you benefits you can't book on your own. If you do have points, we'll work out whether using them beats paying outright, and blend the two when that gives you the best total value.

As much or as little as you want. At the full end: a day-by-day itinerary built around your pace, hotels booked for you with advisor perks attached where the property offers them, cruises, guided tours, tastings and tickets reserved before they sell out, and the trains, transfers and rental cars that tie it all together. At the light end, people come to us for just a hotel, or just a second opinion on an itinerary they've already drafted. One flat fee covers the trip either way, and if all you need is a hotel priced on dates you've already fixed, there's no fee at all.

No. We'll ask about points once if we think they'd save you real money on the trip in front of us, and if you say no, that's the end of it.

It's never necessary, but a little flexibility can go a long way toward finding the best value.

School breaks, weddings, events, and holidays are all great reasons to travel, and we want to help you experience them to the fullest. If your dates and destination are completely fixed, we will help you find the perfect trip. If you are able to move the trip even a day or two on either end, sometimes that will lead to much better value. We will help you understand the options while respecting your schedule.

It depends on the trip, but for most trips the best values are available 2-6 months in advance, or earlier. Whenever you are planning, we can help you to find what works best for your dates and preferences.

For the best points availability, we suggest being ready to book a year in advance, but often great values are found closer in.

You book the award flights yourself, in your own accounts, with us coaching you through every click: transferring points, finding the seats, and confirming the booking. Anything that isn't on points, such as hotels, cruises, and activities, we book for you directly.

Never. You keep full control of your accounts at all times. We never ask for logins and we never touch your points. We tell you exactly which transfers to make, and you make them yourself.

All the major transferable currencies (American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou points, Bilt Rewards, and more), plus any airline miles and hotel points you hold. Not sure what you have? Listing your cards is enough to get started.

Three flat fees, and one of them is nothing. If you already know your dates and your destinations and simply want hotels priced and booked, there's no charge at all, one city or several: the hotel pays us, not you. Trip planning and booking is $99 for the whole trip, however many of you are going and however many hotels, tours and transfers it takes, and if you hold points that same fee covers your hotel award nights and economy round-trip award flights. Complex award trips are $299 for the trip, again however many of you are going, meaning business or first class, several destinations, or the hard-to-reach places where award space is thin, with planning and booking included rather than charged on top. The initial consult is free, and the fee is paid after it, before the work begins.

We talk through the trip you have in mind, where you're starting from, and what it realistically takes, then agree together on what a good outcome looks like. All of that happens before you pay anything. If you have points, we'll set expectations about what they can unlock. You leave the consult knowing exactly what you're getting.

In the rare case we can't deliver on what we agreed at the consult, we refund the fee in full. We only take on trips we're confident we can help with. That's what the free consult is for.

No. Smaller balances often cover more than people expect, especially domestic and short international economy trips. Tell us what you have and we'll map what it unlocks. And if the honest answer is "keep earning," we'll tell you that at the free consult.

For most of our clients, yes: many times the fee in value on a single trip. The gap is biggest in business and first class, where a seat that sells for thousands of dollars can often be booked with points for a small fraction of that.

Our relationships with hotel groups often get you rates you can't book yourself, and the extras are attached to your reservation before you arrive: free breakfast, a property or resort credit, a welcome amenity, and a room upgrade when one's available. The rate is usually the same as or close to the public price, so the benefits come on top of a good deal rather than instead of one. You can normally still attach your own loyalty number and earn points and nights on the stay. Which properties participate varies, and we'll tell you when a hotel you're considering isn't in a program at all.