Show HN: Travel Hacking Toolkit – Points search and trip planning with AI
Travel Hacking Toolkit is an open-source project that enables AI models like Claude Code to search for award flights, compare cash prices, and manage travel loyalty programs using MCP servers.
AI-powered travel hacking with points, miles, and award flights. Drop-in skills and MCP servers for OpenCode and Claude Code.
Ask your AI to find you a 60,000-mile business class flight to Tokyo. It'll search award availability across 25+ programs, compare against cash prices, check your loyalty balances, and tell you the best play.
git clone https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git
cd travel-hacking-toolkit
./scripts/setup.sh
The setup script walks you through everything: picks your tool (OpenCode, Claude Code, or both), creates your API key config files, installs dependencies, and optionally installs skills system-wide.
The 5 free MCP servers (Skiplagged, Kiwi, Trivago, Ferryhopper, Airbnb) work immediately with zero API keys. For the full experience, add at minimum:
| Key | Why | Free Tier |
|---|---|---|
SEATS_AERO_API_KEY | Award flight search. The main event. | No (Pro ~$8/mo) |
SERPAPI_API_KEY | Cash price comparison for "points or cash?" decisions | Yes (100 searches/mo) |
Then launch your tool:
# OpenCode
opencode
# Claude Code
claude --strict-mcp-config --mcp-config .mcp.json
The --strict-mcp-config flag tells Claude Code to load MCP servers from the config file directly. This is more reliable than auto-discovery (known issue).
| Server | What It Does | API Key | |---|---|---| | Skiplagged | Flight search with hidden city fares | None (free) | | Kiwi.com | Flights with virtual interlining (creative cross-airline routing) | None (free) | | Trivago | Hotel metasearch across booking sites | None (free) | | Ferryhopper | Ferry routes across 33 countries, 190+ operators | None (free) | | Airbnb | Search Airbnb listings, property details, pricing. Patched with geocoding fix and property type filter. | None (free) | | LiteAPI | Hotel search with live rates and booking | LiteAPI |
| Skill | What It Does | API Key | |---|---|---| | duffel | Real-time flight search across airlines via Duffel API | Duffel | | seats-aero | Award flight availability across 25+ mileage programs | Seats.aero Pro/Partner | | awardwallet | Loyalty program balances, elite status, history | AwardWallet Business | | serpapi | Google Flights cash prices, hotels, destination discovery | SerpAPI | | rapidapi | Secondary prices via Google Flights Live + Booking.com | RapidAPI | | atlas-obscura | Hidden gems near any destination | None (free) | | scandinavia-transit | Trains, buses, ferries in Norway/Sweden/Denmark | Entur + Trafiklab | | wheretocredit | Mileage earning rates by airline and booking class across 50+ FF programs | None (free) |
Skills are markdown files that teach your AI how to call travel APIs. They contain endpoint documentation, curl examples, useful jq filters, and workflow guidance. Both OpenCode and Claude Code support skills natively.
The skills/ directory is the canonical source. The setup script either copies them to your tool's global skills directory or creates project-level symlinks.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers give your AI real-time tools it can call directly. The configs are in opencode.json for OpenCode and .mcp.json for Claude Code.
The core question: "Should I burn points or pay cash?"
- Search award availability— Seats.aero across 25+ programs
- Search cash prices— SerpAPI (Google Flights) or Skiplagged
- Estimate portal value— Portal rates are dynamic now. Chase "Points Boost" (June 2025) offers 1.5 to 2.0cpp on select bookings. Amex/Capital One ~1.0cpp.
- Compare— Lower number wins
- Check balances— AwardWallet confirms you have enough
- Book it— Use booking links from Seats.aero or Duffel
Source: Hacker News
