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AwardWallet

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AwardWallet, LLC
Company typePrivate
AwardWallet
Industrytravel management, information technology, loyalty programs
Founded2004
FoundersAlexi Vereschaga
HeadquartersBethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Websiteawardwallet.com

AwardWallet is frequent flyer miles and points tracking site.[1][2][3][4] It is considered to be the first in the genre, founded in 2004, and tracked more than 400 sites as of 2011.[5] AwardWallet is based out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. As of 2021, it has 700,000 users, despite some airlines blocking access to the app citing privacy concerns.[6][7]

In 2012, AwardWallet was involved in a series of disputes with several airlines companies which denied access to AwardWallet's tracking software on their websites.[8][9][10]

History

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AwardWallet was established in 2004 by Alexi Vereschaga and Todd Mera, two former employees and software engineers from the Aelita Software Corporation.[11][12] The company began with reward programs by tracking transactions of frequent flyer users and later expanded its services by adding a variety of customer loyalty programs[13][4][14][15] AwardWallet added a companion mobile application for iOS and Android devices circa 2010/2011.[16][2][17]

As of 2021, AwardWallet had over 700,000 members.[18] AwardWallet software has been discussed and cited in travel and technology sections of the media outlets such as The New York Times, BBC,[19] CNN,[20] Bloomberg,[21] Forbes,[4] Entrepreneur,[22] Vox[23] Los Angeles Times[24][25] CNBC[26] and The Wall Street Journal, among others.[5]

As of 2022, Uber began collaborating with AwardWallet to introduce Uber Travel, a function that allows users to book rides covering their entire trip, including transportation from the airport to the hotel and restaurants. The feature aggregates flight, hotel, and restaurant reservations within the Uber app.[27]

As of 2024, AwardWallet was available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The service tracks loyalty programs and rewards systems from over 700 travel and retail companies, providing travel alerts, email notifications for flight disruptions, and spending analysis to help users optimize point accumulation.[28]

Technology

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AwardWallet's software is equipped with several APIs related to the travel space including an AwardWallet Email Parsing API, AwardWallet Web Parsing API, and AwardWallet Account Access API. For example, Email Parsing API retrieves travel reservations from confirmation emails. Travel reservations are then parsed by the API to return the reservation data in a structured JSON format[29] The AwardWallet Account Access API operates via OAuth protocol.[30] The AwardWallet Web Parsing API retrieves account balance, membership tier, expiration date and more from online accounts. It also provides access to travel itineraries and historical account activity.[31] A number of sources[17][32][33] indicate that the AwardWallet software is a part of an emerging API economy.[34][35]

Airline companies tracking controversy

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AwardWallet was a part of controversy related to the denial of the airline companies to have tracking software programs in their API systems. In late 2012, AwardWallet (along with TripIt and MileWise) received a number of cease and desist letters from American Airlines, Delta,[10][36] United Airlines[8] and Southwest Airlines, demanding that AwardWallet discontinue accessing their websites for tracking clients' miles rewards programs.[9][3] In August 2013, American Airlines resumed its use of the AwardWallet by integrating its software in the company's API.[17][37][3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Noonan, Laura (2020-01-02). "JPMorgan to ban fintech apps from using customer passwords". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  2. ^ a b "Five Best Air Travel Apps". BBC.
  3. ^ a b c "American Airlines corrects course, makes nice with AwardWallet and other loyalty tracking startups". PhocusWire.
  4. ^ a b c "The 4 Best Apps To Track Credit Card Rewards". Forbes.
  5. ^ a b McCartney, Scott (2011-10-13). "Two Airlines Battle Mileage-Tracking Websites". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  6. ^ Paul, Trina (2021-09-14). "These are the best apps for tracking your credit card, airline and hotel rewards". Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  7. ^ Perez, Sarah (2012-09-15). "Delta Sends C&Ds To Startups Tracking Airline Rewards; MileWise, AwardWallet & Others Affected". Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  8. ^ a b "United Is Latest Airline to Block Rewards Web Site". The New York Times. 18 December 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Delta Sends C&Ds To Startups Tracking Airline Rewards; MileWise, AwardWallet & Others Affected". TechCrunch. 16 September 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Delta forces loyalty point tracker AwardWallet to drop support for SkyMiles". Skrift. 11 September 2012.
  11. ^ "New Options in Choosing an ID Printer". Security Magazine.
  12. ^ US News: 5 Online Tools for Managing Airline Miles
  13. ^ "A TOOL TO TRACK YOUR POINTS – AWARD WALLET". Las Vegas Advisor. 19 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Track Frequent Flyer Miles, Avoid Expired Rewards". CBSNews.
  15. ^ "CreditCards.com: How to keep track of all those rewards points". Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  16. ^ AppStore: AwardWallet Track Rewards
  17. ^ a b c American Airlines News: American Airlines and AwardWallet Offer New Reward Tracking Technology for AAdvantage Members. news.aa.com, Retrieved May 31, 2024
  18. ^ Social Report: Facebook Groups Spotlight: Award Travel 101® Builds Community
  19. ^ "Tracking Travel Rewards: New travel tools help monitor your airline miles, credit card points and other loyalty programs, making free flights and hotels upgrades less elusive". BBC Travel.
  20. ^ CNN Travel: 10 most useful travel websites
  21. ^ Bloomberg: A Travel Hacker's Guide to Elite Status in 2017 and Beyond
  22. ^ Entrepreneur: World Leaders Weigh in on the State of Business Travel
  23. ^ Vox: 4 frequent flier mile pro tips that anyone can use
  24. ^ "First Person". Los Angeles Times. 20 September 2009.
  25. ^ "Resolutions for 2019: Go ahead — be stingy, grouchy or lazy. But it could cost you". Los Angeles Times. 31 December 2018.
  26. ^ CNBC: How this 30-year-old manages 35 credit cards and earns free flights
  27. ^ "Uber Takes Further Steps Into Travel Through Itinerary Aggregator, and More". Yahoo Finance. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  28. ^ Fan, Katherine. "Track your credit card rewards and book the best award flights with the best apps and tools in 2024". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  29. ^ ProgrammableWeb: AwardWallet Email Parsing API
  30. ^ Official Website: AwardWallet Account Access API
  31. ^ AwardWallet Web Parsing API
  32. ^ Capital One: Award Wallet + Rewards API
  33. ^ E-week: Capital One Launches DevExchange Developer Portal
  34. ^ Gartner: Welcome to the API Economy
  35. ^ SearchAppArchitecture: API economy
  36. ^ Carrns, Ann (September 19, 2012). "Delta Cracks Down on Mileage Tracking Sites". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  37. ^ Leff, Garry (August 6, 2013). "AwardWallet Can Track American AAdvantage Accounts Again". View From The Wings. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
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