Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of AwardWallet.
Keeping track of changes to miles and points balances across multiple programs, not to mention remembering the numerous account numbers and passwords is extremely time-consuming. So I use AwardWallet.
Award Wallet supports 600+ loyalty programs. Those of particular relevance to UK readers include BA Avios, Virgin Flying Club miles, Heathrow Rewards and Hilton points as well as points from schemes like Tesco Clubcard, Nectar, Boots Advantage and Marks and Spencer Sparks.
You can read my full review of AwardWallet here.
Tricks of the Trade readers signing up to AwardWallet for the first time can get six months of free AwardWallet Plus membership by using code xexectricksofthetrade on the registration page.
AwardWallet’s new Balance Watch tool
Last Thursday, I noticed an interesting update available on the AwardWallet iPhone app, with a new feature called Balance Watch.
Balance Watch is designed to monitor a loyalty account for a specific change and notify you as soon as your miles or points post to your account.
It sounded interesting and I put it to the test right away. My wife had referred someone from her Amex Platinum card a few days previously and the person hadn’t received an instant decision from Amex. Referral points arriving in the referrer’s account is often the first indication that an application has been approved. Instead of manually refreshing AwardWallet or the Amex app to see whether her 18,000 Amex Membership Rewards referral points had landed, I decided to give Balance Watch a try.
How to set up Balance Watch on AwardWallet
Here’s how to set up a Balance Watch alert.
- Sign-up to AwardWallet if you haven’t done so already and add your various loyalty accounts
- Then select the account that you want to monitor. I chose Amex (Membership Rewards)
- Click ‘Edit’ and then scroll down to tick the Balance Watch checkbox, where you’ll need to fill out the following info about the points you’re expecting.
- And that’s it. Once you’ve confirmed the alert, a countdown will show within that account. It seems AwardWallet will only track a particular account using Balance Watch for four days (which will be a frustrating restriction if applicable to other accounts as well as Membership Rewards).
A number of hours later I received a notification on my phone as well as an email:
But there’s a catch…
I went to enable Balance Watch on my Hilton Honors account as I was waiting on some points to come through there too. When I ticked the Balance Watch checkbox, this message appeared:
Clicking on the ‘Buy’ button brought up the following options
Tip: The desktop version of AwardWallet offered me pricing in US dollars, with three credits for $10 for example. If you’re UK-based, that’s likely to work out considerably cheaper, so avoid in-app purchases where possible.
Verdict
I went from being excited to slightly underwhelmed. Balance Watch is undoubtedly a clever feature but is it worth paying for? I suppose there are circumstances where it would be worth it. If I was booking a flight that I knew had limited reward availability and was waiting on a points transfer to be able to book, then yes I’d be willing to pay a couple of pounds for the reassurance of being alerted the moment the points hit my account.
I do think they could do more for AwardWallet Plus members who are already paying to use the service. I’d love to see them look at offering a fixed number of free credits per month for Plus members for example.
Nevertheless, it’s good to see AwardWallet adding new features to what is already a highly useful service.
You can sign up to AwardWallet here – remember code xexectricksofthetrade will give you six months of free AwardWallet Plus membership.