The first thing most points trackers ask for is the one thing I never wanted to hand over: my airline password.

I’m Jakke — Jakob Bourhil — and I built Gast. A couple of years ago I tried the best-known points tracker for about ten minutes and deleted it, because the way it worked was to log into my loyalty accounts as me, using credentials I had typed into someone else’s server. That model has since broken in exactly the way you would expect. Airlines added two-factor authentication; the tracker started tripping security codes on every sync; and collectors ended up with British Airways and Qatar accounts locked for their trouble. One collector on Head for Points spent months getting a BA account unlocked. That is a steep price to pay for a balance readout.

So I built Gast the other way around. It never asks for a login, because it never logs in. You add your balances; Gast reads them. Nothing is scraped, nothing is stored, and nothing can be locked. Here is exactly how you do it — and which methods are free and which need Gast Plus.

Before the step-by-step, here is the short version, written to stand on its own:

How Gast imports your points

Gast adds your loyalty balances without ever asking for a password or logging into your accounts. Free methods: manual entry, paste or CSV, and Google-Sheet import. Gast Plus adds screenshot OCR import and email-statement import. Gast never stores airline, hotel, or card login credentials, and never syncs by logging in as you.

Source: Gast product documentation. Last verified: [FOUNDER: verify date]

No login, by design

Every import method below has one thing in common: you are the one who reads your balance, and you hand Gast a number or a file. Gast never sees a password because there is nowhere to type one. There is no auto-sync running in the background, no credential sitting on a server to leak, and no login attempt for an airline to flag as suspicious.

That is the whole point. The trade is a small one — you update your balances when you choose to, rather than a background job doing it and breaking every time a programme tightens its security. In return you get something that simply cannot lock you out of your own accounts.

The three free ways to add your points

1. Manual entry (free)

The simplest method, and the one I use most for a quick top-up. Pick a programme, type the balance, done — about ten seconds. Best for the occasional checker, for a single programme you have just earned on, or for anyone who wants the fastest possible start. No import, no file, no fuss.

2. Paste or CSV import (free)

If you already keep your numbers somewhere — a note, an old export, a table — you can paste them in or drop a CSV file, and Gast reads the rows. Good for a one-off bulk load when you are moving off another tool and have your figures to hand.

3. Google-Sheet import (free)

This is the one for the spreadsheet crowd — and after AwardWallet’s price rises, that is a lot of people. If you already track your points in a Google Sheet, share the sheet’s URL with Gast and it imports the whole tab in one step. A programme column and a balance column are all it needs. Keep the spreadsheet as your backup, or retire it once Gast is doing the aggregation, the value estimate, and the expiry countdown for you.

Manual entry, paste/CSV, and Google-Sheet import are all in the free tier. There are sensible per-day import limits, but no cap on how many programmes you track. For most collectors, the free methods are the whole job.

See the 30 programmes you can track →

Two more ways with Gast Plus

Gast Plus (€2.99/mo or €29.99/yr) adds the two import methods that do the typing for you.

4. Screenshot OCR import (Plus)

Open your airline or hotel app, screenshot the screen showing your balance, and hand the image to Gast. OCR reads the number and adds it — you never type a digit. The only requirement is that the balance is visible in the screenshot. It works with most EU programme apps, and it is the closest thing to “sync” that exists without ever touching your login. [FOUNDER: add a real screenshot of the OCR import flow here.]

5. Email-statement import (Plus)

Most programmes email you a monthly or post-flight statement with your current balance in it. Email-statement import reads those statements and pulls the balance out, so your numbers stay current without you lifting a finger. Plus also includes an AI import cleanup — “Tidy up with Plus” — that catches duplicates and odd formatting when a bulk import comes in messy.

Which method should you use?

  • Occasional checker, one or two programmes: manual entry. Fastest, free, no setup.
  • Coming from a spreadsheet: Google-Sheet import. One step, everything at once, free.
  • Moving off another tool with an export: paste or CSV, free.
  • You want zero typing and no spreadsheet: screenshot OCR (Plus).
  • You live in your inbox and get statement emails: email-statement import (Plus).

Most people mix them — Sheet import to load everything at the start, manual entry for quick updates, OCR when they cannot be bothered to type. Whichever you pick, the balance lands in the same place, and none of it needs your password.

Once your balances are in, the Gast calculator turns them into a single estimated worth in your home currency, and the expiry engine starts counting down toward the first programme about to lapse — with a local notification alert before it does. The full feature list covers the rest.

Add every balance you have — no account, no password, no login.

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