A group of travelers from Arizona have launched the http://www.useyourairlinemiles.com Web site. For a fee, they will find an award seat for you. For example, there’s a $50 fee for one award seat for flights in the U.S. or Canada; $75 for two; $100 for one international seat and $150 for two. The cost entails finding a seat only–they also offer to book the seat with some airlines for an additional fee of $25 per booking. There is also a frequent flyer account review service charging $50 “for specific advice and recommendations as to how to obtain your needed miles as quickly and easily as possible.”

Bottom line: Not to knock these folks too much, but the cost per seat is high and then there’s a likelihood that the seat will be unavailable by the time you send in your award request, they get back to you, you send them the money and they get back to you again with the information about the award seat. Check out MileageManager.com; its AwardPlanner service alerts you when seats are available for any number of searches–all for $14.95 per year. There’s also a free 30-day trial.