Factors and miles are simple to earn, however in case you’ve been struggling to redeem them, notably for premium-cabin flights, it is advisable to find out about this device that might prevent a whole bunch — if not 1000’s — of minutes, miles and {dollars}.
Over the previous few years, many third-party redemption availability platforms have sprung up, promising that will help you discover real-time award seats quicker with out visiting totally different airline loyalty web sites.
I’ve tried nearly all of them, and whereas none are excellent, I’ve discovered Seats.aero is by far essentially the most helpful. It is now my go-to useful resource when searching for award seats throughout greater than a dozen of my favourite airline loyalty applications, which is a large time-saver when deciding the place to switch my bank card factors.
Seats.aero gives each a free and a paid “Professional” model and isn’t affiliated with any airline. The free model exhibits seats for the following 60 days, whereas the Professional model exhibits a full 12 months of availability and superior filters and alerts for $9.99 month-to-month or $99.99 for a 12-month subscription. I’ve a Professional model that has paid for itself many occasions over.
Here is why Seats.aero has revolutionized how I redeem my factors and miles.
Associated: Finest frequent flyer applications for US vacationers
Search 19 airline loyalty applications on all dates and routes
Seats.aero at present helps outcomes from 19 totally different airline loyalty applications, and this quantity is steadily rising. On the time of publication, you should use this device to examine availability by means of the next applications:
- Aeromexico Rewards
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Alaska Airways Mileage Plan
- American Airways AAdvantage
- Azul Brazilian Airways Fidelidade
- Copa Airways ConnectMiles
- Delta Air Strains SkyMiles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Airways Visitor
- Gol Airways Smiles
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Lufthansa Miles & Extra
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airways KrisFlyer
- Turkish Airways Miles&Smiles
- United Airways MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership
- Virgin Australia Velocity
For instance of the facility of this device, Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is my favourite Star Alliance loyalty program because of its wonderful accomplice redemption charges and lengthy listing of airline companions each inside and out of doors of Star Alliance. It is also a switch accomplice of a number of bank card applications.
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So, say I wish to redeem Aeroplan factors to fly enterprise class to Europe this summer season. I choose Aeroplan from the “Discover” tab in my Professional account after which set the outcomes to indicate a full 12 months of flights from North America to Europe.
This returns a whopping 88,468 leads to seconds, far too many to comb by means of.
However utilizing the device’s helpful and highly effective filter choices, I can slim down the outcomes by solely displaying flights leaving in July 2025, getting into “2025-07” within the date column, and solely leaving from New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK), getting into the three-letter airport code within the “Departs” subject, and setting a value of 70,000 factors within the column for enterprise class.
This reduces the outcomes to a extra manageable 187 choices. Which means for the month of July 2025, there are 187 flights obtainable to guide in enterprise class to Europe from JFK for simply 70,000 Aeroplan factors.
That is probably as much as six totally different flights per day with at the least one seat obtainable within the peak summer season season, which is a really beneficiant quantity for anybody who has struggled to attain a lie-flat seat to Europe for such an inexpensive value.
Associated: One of the best methods to journey to Europe utilizing factors and miles
However for example you want 4 seats to take the entire household to Europe and nonetheless need lie-flat seats. Adjusting the “Seats” filter from one to 4 exhibits 60 totally different flights in July with at the least 4 seats.
Right here is only a choice.
Nonstop flights are proven in inexperienced whereas connecting choices are proven in blue. You’ll be able to click on the knowledge button on the proper to see particulars of the flight time, provider(s) and any connections. Let’s have a look at what the choice to Vienna Airport (VIE) on July 30 says.
Because the “Final Seen” column exhibits that this seat consequence was final seen 18 hours in the past, there’s an opportunity the seats have been already booked and are now not obtainable, as reside availability modifications continuously. To not concern: Once you click on on the knowledge button, Seats.aero will run a reside examine for Professional members of that route on that date to verify what remains to be obtainable.
There are a number of choices obtainable from New York to Vienna on that day which can be nonetheless obtainable — the primary three are a mixture of Lufthansa and Austrian Airways flights, whereas LOT Polish Airways operates the final two, and you may see the codes for the connecting airports.
The numbers in parentheses characterize the variety of seats obtainable. The primary two choices solely have one seat at that value, whereas the third choice, which conveniently solely has one connection, has a powerful six seats obtainable to guide with Aeroplan factors (plus the charges, taxes and surcharges listed).
For Aeroplan search outcomes, the money fee required is listed in Canadian {dollars} as it is a Canada-based loyalty program, however you should use Google for a fast foreign money conversion. Typically, this device isn’t 100% correct with the charges and taxes, so double-check on the airline’s web site to verify.
Associated: A assessment of Air Canada enterprise class on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Montreal to London
If you’d like extra particulars about connection occasions, distance flown and plane varieties, click on on the 2 downward blue arrows in your most popular itinerary.
The device additionally has a (beta) seat map operate, which exhibits the plane’s format for every flight. This operate is nice for securing an airline’s greatest product, like Qatar Airways’ Qsuite or British Airways’ Membership Suite.
You can too see what number of seats are occupied and determine which seat you would possibly like to pick earlier than you decide to redeeming your factors for the flight.
You will nonetheless want to pick your seats on the working airline’s web site earlier than or after you guide, however this can be a helpful device for checking the seat configuration and which seats are occupied earlier than reserving.
Search all 19 applications throughout a number of routes and dates without delay
Say you’ve got transferable bank card factors, like American Specific Membership Rewards factors, and also you wish to guide a business-class flight to Europe in July from New York.
Nonetheless, you are not tied to at least one switch accomplice, alliance or airline, however you wish to journey on a particular day (for example the primary Friday in July). You have got flexibility round which European airport you fly into, offered you may fly from New York on July 4 for an inexpensive variety of factors or miles.
Utilizing the “Search” tab reasonably than the “Discover” tab, you may search all 19 applications concurrently to your most popular date or date vary. You’ll be able to set a particular origin and vacation spot or seek for a spread of airports by getting into the three-letter codes individually or utilizing the helpful “EUR” airport code, which captures all main European airports.
The identical shortcut can be utilized to go looking to or from all U.S. airports: Use the airport code “USA.”
The search outcomes present all flights from JFK to European airports July 4. The flights are listed once more as nonstop in inexperienced and connecting in blue.
When you’ve got Amex factors to redeem, you may filter the outcomes by airline loyalty applications to which you’ll be able to switch Membership Rewards factors. You’ll be able to choose whichever applications you want to use if in case you have transferable rewards in a number of bank card applications, with Bilt Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Final Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards additionally supported.
The airline loyalty applications are additionally listed within the search outcomes. For instance, you might fly nonstop from JFK to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) on July 4 in enterprise class for 61,200 Qantas factors or 80,000 Etihad Visitor miles — each are American Specific Membership Rewards switch companions.
Whereas the Qantas choice looks like a greater worth as a result of fewer Amex factors are required, all the time click on the knowledge button to examine carriers, flight occasions and costs, taxes and surcharges.
On this case, the Etihad Visitor redemption choice flying JetBlue could be a greater deal than the American Airways AAdvantage choice flying British Airways as a result of JetBlue (and Etihad Visitor) don’t cost massive carrier-imposed surcharges.
The search operate can also be helpful if you wish to fly on a particular route however have versatile dates. Let us take a look at one other area.
Flying to Australia in enterprise class utilizing factors and miles is notoriously tough.
For those who reside close to San Francisco and wish to use your Chase Final Rewards factors to fly to Sydney Airport (SYD) subsequent winter, you might use the search operate to go looking a month on both facet of Jan. 1, 2026, solely on that route and solely in enterprise class, and set the “Switch Companions” filter to indicate solely Chase switch companions.
The search outcomes present that you might fly this route on many dates in December and January for 115,000 Air Canada Aeroplan factors.
You’ll be able to select which date works greatest for you, switch your Chase factors to Aeroplan and guide the flights.
Associated: Reader success story: How this reader visited 8 nations in 3 years utilizing factors and miles
Create alerts when your most popular flight turns into obtainable
If the flight you need is unavailable when looking, you may set alerts to be notified if it does turn out to be obtainable. And you are not restricted to at least one route or date while you set an alert — you may choose which factors and miles you wish to use, in addition to a number of departing and connecting airports, date ranges and lessons.
Associated: The holy grail of award tickets: Flying Lufthansa top notch on the Boeing 747-8
When you’ve got a Professional membership, you may set further filters to refine your journey decisions even additional, together with:
- What number of seats on the flight you wish to see obtainable
- The utmost variety of factors or miles you want to use
- The utmost quantity of charges, taxes and surcharges you want to pay
- What number of connections you’ll be prepared to take (or in case you solely wish to see nonstop flights)
- Particular flight numbers you wish to deal with
You can too disable dynamic pricing outcomes in case you solely wish to pay the bottom saver-level costs.
If the product I’m hoping for is not obtainable after I’m looking, I usually redeem my factors or miles for one thing “acceptable” that’s obtainable on the time. I then set alerts in case one thing higher comes up, and I might be notified by e-mail (at no cost accounts) or SMS (for Professional accounts) in order that I can improve my journey and guide a greater flight as rapidly as doable.
Useful instruments to your most popular program and product
Seats.aero has a rising variety of helpful instruments. Listed here are a number of the most helpful:
- ANA top notch finder: With one click on, each first-class award seat operated by Japanese provider All Nippon Airways obtainable to guide with accomplice program miles is proven. That is particularly helpful if you’re searching for seats to guide with Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors, as these don’t present on Virgin Atlantic’s personal web site. You need to use Seats.aero to search out the obtainable seats, then name Virgin Atlantic to guide them at a lot decrease charges than United MileagePlus or Velocity fees.
- Lufthansa top notch finder: Lufthansa releases some unsold first-class seats to accomplice loyalty applications as much as 14 days earlier than journey, although most seats are added just some days earlier than journey. This device exhibits all obtainable seats by route and date and the charges the supported applications cost. Aeroplan is often your only option to guide Lufthansa top notch following the Avianca LifeMiles devaluation.
- Qatar Qsuite finder: I charge Qatar Airways Qsuite as the perfect business-class product I’ve flown, but it surely’s not put in on all planes and routes. Moderately than combing by means of seat maps or searching for seat descriptions on Google Flights, this Seats.aero device will present you which of them flights function the product and have availability to guide along with your most popular mileage foreign money in addition to the costs and dates. You’ll be able to filter to solely present flights to and out of your most popular areas, corresponding to from the USA to Hamad Worldwide Airport (DOH).
- United improve/PlusPoints finder: For those who maintain Premier Platinum, Premier 1K or International Providers elite standing in United’s MileagePlus program and wish to use your PlusPoints to improve a United flight, this device will present you all flight routes and dates with PZ and PN house, which is vital for redeeming these PlusPoints. You’ll be able to then use the search operate to filter to your most popular airport, date or flight quantity.
How does Seats.aero evaluate to different third-party instruments?
A number of impartial instruments have been created to assist vacationers discover award seats extra simply, particularly once they have transferable factors and are overwhelmed by the switch choices obtainable.
I’ve tried out numerous different instruments and every has it personal strengths and weaknesses, particularly:
- ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s guardian firm, Pink Ventures): Many airways are now not supported, and you may solely search one route at a time and over seven days.
- Level.me: Whereas this platform searches way more applications than the 19 supported by Seats.aero, the search outcomes take a very long time to load, and you may solely search one route at a time and just one date (after which the day earlier than and after).
- Factors Path: Solely works throughout the limitations of Google Flights.
- Roame: The free model solely helps 11 airline loyalty applications and you may solely search one route at a time.
Backside line
Seats.aero isn’t excellent. I want it have been just a little higher about remembering my preferences, corresponding to all the time desirous to see the utmost variety of flights listed within the search outcomes (reasonably than solely 25 per web page). It is also lacking some high-profile airline loyalty applications, notably an Avios choice. Nonetheless, given the velocity at which the platform has added instruments and extra airline applications, I am hopeful it should proceed to evolve and add additional options and advantages.
It has revolutionized how I discover award availability day by day due to its unbelievable skill to go looking throughout a whole 12 months in seconds — no extra clicking daily, week by week, or month by month. In contrast with the opposite (additionally modern) third-party instruments created to help vacationers, I’ve discovered Seats.aero is by far essentially the most helpful and best to make use of.
When you’ve got transferable bank card factors and wish to get the perfect worth, whether or not your dates and routes are mounted or extensive open, Seats.aero can immediately present you find out how to greatest redeem your factors and miles and guide essentially the most comfy seat on the lowest value.
