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For savvy travelers, award search tools are indispensable. Not only are they good for helping you find flights bookable with points, but they also simplify the booking process itself while saving you time. One of the most useful tools that accomplishes both things is Seats.aero, and it's long been one of our favorites. And today, it rolled out a new feature for Pro subscribers: live award search.
Here's what you need to know about Seats.aero's new live award search feature.
Seats.aero Adds New Live Award Search Results for Pro Users
Seats.aero reflects bookable award space through several airline frequent flyer programs. It does this by scraping airline websites and displaying award prices on its website. As a result, users can see mostly up-to-date prices and, even better, click through a hyperlink to book directly with an airline.
Until today, the results that Pro users (and free users) saw were all cached. In other words, the availability wasn't “live” — you saw what had been found recently, but the seats may have disappeared between the time (indicated on Seats.aero with how long ago the results were retrieved) and now. That changed today with the introduction of Seats.aero's new live search feature. Now, Pro users can view live results between airport pairings — even if it's not in Seats.aero's cached database.
To showcase how this tool works, let's look at an example. After typing in an airport pair, say Denver (DEN) to Kona (KOA), clicking “Search,” you'll immediately see results that might be up to a couple of days old. But while Seats.aero pulls those cached results, it also searches for live results.
That's why the United option from DEN to KOA is joined by two just-now-seen itineraries bookable through American Airlines and Delta. Pro users get real-time information on bookable seats, which is a big deal.
Pro users can view a total of 1,125 live search results per hour. Unless you run several queries, this cap should be more than sufficient.
Seats.aero Pro perks
Outside of having access to the new live search feature, there are plenty of reasons to sign up for a Pro account. Some perks include:
- Search flight results up to one year in advance.
- Create unlimited alerts for flight availability.
- Use advanced filters.
- SMS alerts.
- Request new routes to be tracked.
If you're searching for award tickets frequently or just trying to get a bead on a highly aspirational seat, it's easy to justify the Pro price tag of $9.99 per month or $99 per year. To register, visit this webpage.
Final Thoughts
Seats.aero's new feature makes searching for award availability even easier. Now, as a Pro user, you can see real-time award prices for routes — even if the city pairing isn't in Seats.aero's cached data. This is a value add, especially for those looking for seats in premium cabins for which award space is traditionally harder to find.
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