Earning points and miles has never been easier. Credit card bonuses are generous, everyday spending adds up quickly, and many travelers now sit on six figures of points without trying too hard. The real challenge starts after the points are earned. Finding flights you can actually book with those points is where most people get stuck.

Award availability is the single biggest pain point in award travel.

Airline websites often show limited calendars, confusing prices, or no seats at all. You search one date at a time, switch between programs, and still come up empty. This process becomes even more frustrating when you are trying to book Business Class or First Class, where award seats are limited and disappear quickly.

This is exactly why tools like Seats.aero exist.

This guide is designed to show you how to use Seats.aero step by step, even if you are brand new to booking flights with points. You will learn how award availability actually works, how to search smarter instead of harder, and how to turn search results into real bookings.

What Is Seats.aero

Seats.aero is a search engine built specifically for award travel. Instead of searching for cash fares, it searches for flights that can be booked using airline miles or points. You enter where you want to go, where you want to start, and how flexible your dates are. Seats.aero then shows award availability across more than 20 airline loyalty programs in one place.

This is an important distinction. Seats.aero does not belong to an airline, and it does not sell tickets. Its only job is to surface award seats that airlines have already made available through their loyalty programs. Once you find a flight that works, you complete the booking directly on the airline website.

Why Seats.aero Was Created

Award travel has always been harder than booking flights with cash. Airlines release award seats in limited numbers, often without clear patterns. Most airline websites force you to search one route and one date at a time. If you are flexible, that process becomes painfully slow.

Seats.aero was created to solve three major problems:

• Time. Manually checking award space across multiple airlines can take hours. Seats.aero pre-scans award inventory so you can see results almost instantly.
• Visibility. Airline sites rarely show a full picture of availability. Seats.aero shows award seats across many programs at once, which helps you spot options you might never think to check.
• Flexibility. Award travelers often need flexible dates, routes, or programs to find good value. Seats.aero is designed to handle broad searches, not just exact dates.

Instead of forcing you to adapt to airline websites, Seats.aero adapts to how award travelers actually search.

What Seats.aero Does Well

Seats.aero excels at showing you what is possible. It helps answer questions like:

• Where can I fly using a specific type of miles
• When Business Class or First Class seats are available
• Which programs offer the lowest prices for the same flight
• How availability changes across days or weeks

This makes it especially powerful for travelers who want to maximize value or book premium cabins.

What Seats.aero Does Not Do

It is just as important to understand what Seats.aero does not do.

• It does not book flights for you
• It does not guarantee availability will still be there when you click through
• It does not show every airline or every loyalty program
• It does not replace the airline website for final booking

Think of Seats.aero as a discovery and planning tool. It helps you find opportunities quickly, but you still need to act fast and book through the airline itself.

How Award Availability Really Works

Before you can use Seats.aero effectively, it helps to understand what award availability actually is. Many frustrations with booking flights using points come from not knowing how airlines release award seats in the first place. Once this clicks, the search results on Seats.aero will make far more sense.

What Award Availability Means

Award availability refers to seats that an airline allows you to book using miles or points instead of cash. These seats come from specific fare buckets that airlines control separately from paid tickets. Even if a flight has many empty seats, that does not mean award seats are available.

Airlines decide:

• How many award seats to release
• Which cabins get award space
• Which loyalty programs can access those seats
• When those seats become bookable

This is why two flights on the same route can look completely different when searching with points.

Saver Awards vs Higher-Priced Awards

Most airlines have at least two types of award pricing.

• Saver Awards are the lowest priced options and the ones travelers want most. These seats are limited and often released far in advance or close to departure.
• Standard or Dynamically Priced Awards cost far more points and are usually available when saver space is gone. These are often poor value, especially in premium cabins.

Seats.aero is especially useful because it helps you spot saver-style availability across many programs quickly, without guessing which dates might work.

Why Partner Airlines Matter So Much

One of the biggest secrets in award travel is that you rarely need to book through the airline you are flying. Airline loyalty programs partner with other airlines through alliances like Star Alliance, oneworld alliance, and SkyTeam alliance. When award space is released, partner programs often have access to it.

For example:

• A flight operated by SWISS can be booked using Air Canada Aeroplan points
• A Qatar Airways flight can be booked using American Airlines AAdvantage or British Airways Executive Club miles
• An Air France flight can appear in multiple programs at once – Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Delta SkyMiles, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Seats.aero tracks availability by program, not just by airline. This is why you might see the same flight listed multiple times at different prices. Understanding this opens up far more booking options.

Why Premium Cabin Awards Are Harder to Find

Business and First Class seats are the most valuable redemptions, but they are also the most limited. Airlines protect premium cabins for paying passengers, then release award seats based on demand. 

Many airlines follow patterns like:

• Releasing seats far in advance, often close to one year out
• Holding seats until the last few weeks before departure
• Releasing seats unpredictably, sometimes one at a time

This is why searching a single date rarely works. Flexible searches, alerts, and wide date ranges are critical. Seats.aero is built around this reality.

Why Flexibility Beats a Large Points Balance

Many travelers think they need more points to book great trips. In reality, flexibility matters more.

Being flexible with:

• Departure Dates
• Departure Airports
• Arrival Airports
• Airline Programs
• Cabin Expectations

often unlocks far better value. Seats.aero rewards flexibility by showing patterns across days, weeks, or even months, rather than forcing you into a single search box.

Seats.aero Free vs Pro

One of the most common questions travelers ask is simple. Is Seats.aero worth paying for, or is the free version enough. The short answer is that both versions are useful, but they serve different types of travelers. Understanding the differences will help you decide quickly and avoid paying for features you do not need.

What You Get With Seats.aero Free

Seats.aero is fully usable at no cost. This alone makes it stand out among award search tools.

With the free version, you can:

• Search award availability up to about 60 days out
• Use both the Explore and Search tools
• View results across more than 20 airline loyalty programs
• Set unlimited award alerts within the 60 day window
• Access most finder tools and basic filters
• Use the platform without time limits or trial pressure

For many travelers, this is enough. If you are booking trips close to departure, traveling in Economy Class, or just learning how award travel works, the free version delivers real value. The biggest limitation is the time horizon. Premium cabin awards are often released far in advance, and that is where the free version starts to feel restrictive.

What Seats.aero Pro Unlocks

Seats.aero Pro is designed for travelers who want more control, more flexibility, and more advance planning. The cost is $9.99 per month or $99 per year, which is modest compared to the value of even one good award redemption.

With a Pro subscription, you gain:

• Award searches up to 365 days in advance
• Advanced filters for cabins, fees, seat counts, and operating carriers
• SMS alerts in addition to email alerts
• Alerts for broader date ranges or any date
• The ability to request new routes
• Access to the Seats.aero Discord community

The ability to search a full year ahead is the single biggest reason most people upgrade. Many of the best Business and First Class awards are bookable the moment schedules open. Without Pro, you may never even see those seats.

If you are unsure, start with the free version. Learn how the searches work. Get comfortable reading results. Once you feel limited by the date range or filters, upgrading to Pro will feel like a natural next step instead of a gamble.

Understanding Airline Programs and Partners

One of the most confusing parts of award travel is the difference between the airline you fly and the program you book through. Seats.aero is built around this distinction, and once you understand it, the tool becomes far more powerful.

Airlines vs Loyalty Programs

An airline operates flights. A loyalty program controls how those flights can be booked with points.

These are not always the same thing.

For example:

• SWISS operates flights, but it does not need to be the program you book with
• United Airlines operates flights, but its partners can often book those same seats
• Qatar Airways operates flights, but several programs can access that award space

Seats.aero searches by program, not just by airline. This is why you may see the same flight listed multiple times at different prices.

Why Partner Airlines Matter So Much

Airline loyalty programs form partnerships through alliances and bilateral agreements. These partnerships allow one program to book seats on another airline.

The three major alliances are:

• Star Alliance
• oneworld
• SkyTeam

When an airline releases award space, that space often becomes available to partner programs at fixed prices. These partner prices are frequently lower than booking through the airline’s own program. This is one of the biggest opportunities in award travel.

Seats.aero Airline Loyalty Programs

One of the first things you will notice when using Seats.aero is that searches are built around airline loyalty programs, not just airlines. This is intentional, and it is one of the most important concepts to understand early on.

Seats.aero currently searches award availability across more than 20 major airline loyalty programs, spanning all three global alliances, Star Alliance, oneworld alliance, and SkyTeam alliance.

Seats.aero tracks award availability through the following programs:

• Aeromexico Rewards
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Azul TudoAzul
• Copa ConnectMiles
• Delta SkyMiles
• Emirates Skywards
• Ethiopian ShebaMiles
• Etihad Guest
• Finnair Plus
• GOL Smiles
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Lufthansa Miles & More
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• SAS EuroBonus
• Saudia AlFursan
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Turkish Miles&Smiles
• United Airlines MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Virgin Australia Velocity

TPA Pro Tip: Before assuming award availability is gone, take a moment to check the System Status page on Seats.aero. Seats.aero pulls data from many airline programs, and occasionally a program may be temporarily down or not updating in real time.

A Simple Example That Shows The Power of Partners

Imagine you want to fly from New York City (JFK) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) in Business Class on SWISS.

You might assume you need SWISS Miles & More miles. In reality, you could book that same flight using:

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• ANA Mileage Club
• Avianca lifemiles
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• United Airlines MileagePlus

Each program may charge a different number of points and different fees, even though the flight is identical. Seats.aero makes this visible instantly. Instead of guessing which program to search, you can see all available options at once.

Why Transferable Points Work So Well With Seats.aero

Many credit card points are transferable to multiple airline programs. These include currencies like:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Bilt Rewards
• Capital One Miles
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Points
• Rove Miles
• Wells Fargo Rewards

Seats.aero pairs perfectly with transferable points because it shows you which programs have availability before you move any points. This helps you avoid one of the biggest mistakes in award travel, transferring points too early to the wrong program.

You search first, confirm availability, then transfer points only when you are ready to book.

Explore vs Search: The Two Core Ways To Use Seats.aero

Once you understand programs and partners, the next step is learning how to actually search. Seats.aero offers two primary search methods, Explore and Search. They look similar at first glance, but they are designed for very different situations.

Knowing when to use each one will save time and reduce frustration. Think of it this way:

• Explore is best when you are flexible and curious
• Search is best when you are specific and goal driven

Both tools pull from the same award availability data. The difference is how you interact with that data.

When Explore Works Best

Explore is designed for discovery. It works best when at least one part of your trip is flexible.

Use Explore when:

• You know which points you want to use, but not where or when to go
• You want to see what is possible before locking in dates
• You are hunting for the lowest priced awards
• You want to prioritize business or first class availability
• You enjoy letting the data guide your trip planning

With Explore, you start by choosing a loyalty program (i.e. American Airlines AAdvantage). From there, you filter by regions, airports, cabin class, and dates. The results show you all award seats that match your criteria, often across many routes and dates at once.

This makes Explore incredibly powerful for travelers who value flexibility. You can quickly spot patterns like:

• Certain cities that consistently have award space
• Dates where business class seats are widely available
• Programs that price specific routes better than others

The downside is that Explore can feel overwhelming at first. It shows a lot of information, and without a clear goal, it is easy to scroll endlessly. That is not a flaw, it is the nature of discovery based searching.

When Search Works Best

Search is built for precision. It works best when you already know what you want.

Use Search when:

• You have a specific origin and destination
• Your travel dates are mostly fixed
• You want to compare programs for the same route
• You need to avoid certain airlines or fees
• You want to narrow in on a small set of options quickly

With Search, you enter your origin, destination, and a date or date range. Seats.aero then shows award availability across all supported programs for that route.

This is ideal for:

• Planning a known trip like a wedding or conference
• Checking award options before transferring points
• Comparing multiple programs for the same flight
• Finding the least expensive award for a specific journey

Search also includes powerful filters that help you control results, such as alliance, transfer partners, maximum points, number of stops, and duration.

How To Use The Explore Tool

The Explore tool is where many travelers unlock their best redemptions. It is also where beginners sometimes feel stuck because there is so much data on the screen. This section will walk through Explore in a simple, repeatable way so you can use it with confidence.

Seats.aero built Explore for flexible travelers. If you approach it with a clear plan, it becomes one of the most powerful features on the platform.

Step 1: Start With The Program You Want to Use

Explore always begins with a loyalty program. This is intentional.

Before clicking anything else, ask yourself one question. Which points do I realistically have access to?

Good starting points include:

• Programs that are transfer partners of your credit cards
• Airline miles you already hold
• Programs known for good partner pricing

Selecting the program first keeps the results relevant. It also prevents decision fatigue later.

Step 2: Set Broad Regions, Not Specific Cities

Next, choose where you want to fly from and where you want to go. This is where many people get too narrow.

Instead of entering one airport, start with:

• A region like USA, Europe, or Asia
• Multiple departure airports near you
• A wide arrival region if you are open to options

Broader inputs reveal patterns. You might notice that one city has far better availability than another, even within the same region.

Step 3: Let The Results Load Before Touching Filters

Once you run the search, pause.

The Explore results show a table of flights with details like:

• Date of travel
• Departure and arrival airports
• Cabin class
• Points required
• Last seen availability
• Direct or connecting flights

Scroll first. Look for trends. Do not filter immediately.

Ask yourself:

• Are there clusters of dates with good availability
• Are certain destinations repeating
• Are Business or First Class seats showing up at all

This quick scan helps you understand what the data is telling you before you narrow it down.

Step 4: Use Filters With Intention

Filters are powerful, but using too many at once can hide good options. Start with just one or two.

The most useful filters for beginners are:

• Cabin Class to focus on Economy Class, Premium Economy, Business Class, or First Class
• Maximum Points to stay within your comfort zone
• Direct Flights only if you want simplicity

Avoid filtering by too many airlines or airports at first. Let the results guide you instead of forcing a specific outcome.

Step 5: Sort To Surface The Best Options

Sorting is just as important as filtering.

Helpful ways to sort Explore results include:

• By date, to see availability patterns
• By cabin class, to surface premium seats
• By points cost, to find the best value first

Sorting often reveals opportunities you would miss by scrolling randomly.

Step 6: Click Into Individual Results

When something looks promising, click the information icon.

This reveals:

• The operating airline
• Flight numbers
• Routing details
• Confirmation that the seat is bookable with that program

This step is critical before moving forward. It helps you avoid transferring points for flights that do not actually fit your needs.

Step 7: Use Explore As A Planning Tool, Not A Booking Tool

Explore works best earlier in the planning process.

Use it to:

• Decide where to go based on availability
• Identify which programs offer the best pricing
• Learn which dates are most realistic
• Narrow your trip to a few strong options

Once you have a clear route and date range, you will often switch to the Search tool for final confirmation.

How To Use The Search Tool

If Explore is about discovery, the Search tool is about execution. This is the feature you will use when you already know where you want to go and roughly when you want to travel. It is also the tool most people expect when they think of an award search engine.

Seats.aero built Search to replace the slow process of checking airline sites one by one. Instead of repeating the same search across multiple programs, you can see everything at once.

Step 1: Enter Your Route, Then Think Bigger

Start by entering your origin and destination. You can use:

• A single airport code like JFK or LAX
• Multiple airports separated by commas
• Regions like USA, EUR, or ASIA

If your dates are not completely fixed, use regions or nearby airports. This often reveals availability you would miss by searching too narrowly.

Step 2: Use Date Ranges Instead Of Single Dates

One of the biggest advantages of the Search tool is date flexibility.

Instead of searching one exact day, expand your window:

• Search a few days before and after
• Use wide ranges when planning far in advance
• Look for patterns instead of perfect dates

Award availability often clusters around certain days. Seeing multiple dates at once helps you spot those patterns immediately.

Step 3: Read The Results Table The Right Way

The Search results table includes several important columns:

• Date of travel
• Origin and destination
• Cabin class
• Points required
• Program you must book through
• Last seen availability

The program column is critical. It tells you which miles you need, not just which airline you will fly. This is where you compare prices across programs for the same flight.

Do not rush past this step. A slightly different program can save tens of thousands of points.

Step 4: Use Filters To Remove Bad Options First

Filters are most effective when used to eliminate deals you do not want, rather than to force a perfect result.

Start with these high impact filters:

• Maximum Points to stay within your budget
• Cabin Class to focus on Economy Class, Premium Economy, Business Class, or First Class
• Stops to avoid long or messy itineraries
• Alliance or Program if you want to use specific points

Paid users gain access to even more useful filters like fee limits, minimum seats available, and operating carrier restrictions.

Apply filters gradually. If results disappear, remove the last filter you added.

Step 5: Avoid High Fees With Smart Filtering

Some award programs pass on large taxes and surcharges. Search makes it easier to avoid these.

If you see multiple options for the same route:

• Compare fees before transferring points
• Favor programs known for lower surcharges
• Use fee related filters if you have Pro access

This step alone can save hundreds of dollars on international awards.

Step 6: Click Into Promising Results Before Acting

Before transferring points or celebrating a find, click into the details.

Confirm:

• The flight number and routing
• The operating airline
• That the cabin is what you expect
• That the result still shows availability

Seats.aero updates frequently, but award space can disappear quickly. 

Verification matters.

Step 7: Know When To Switch Tools

Search works best once your plan is mostly set. If you keep hitting dead ends, that is a signal to switch back to Explore.

A common workflow looks like this:

• Use Explore to find realistic routes and dates
• Narrow your plan to a few options
• Use Search to confirm and compare programs
• Book quickly once availability appears

Advanced Filters That Actually Save Time And Points

Once you are comfortable with Explore and Search, filters become the difference between average results and excellent ones. Seats.aero includes many filters, but not all of them matter equally. The goal is not to use every option, but to use the few that remove bad options fast.

Cabin Class Filter

Cabin class is the most important filter for most travelers.

Use it to:

• Focus only on Business or First Class when chasing premium seats
• Avoid wasting time scrolling Economy Class results
• Compare pricing within the same cabin across programs

If you are flexible, try running separate searches for Business Class and First Class. Mixing cabins can hide excellent options further down the list.

Stops and Duration Filters

Not all award flights are created equal.

Use stops and duration filters to:

• Avoid excessive layovers
• Eliminate ultra long routings
• Focus on nonstop or one stop itineraries

For premium cabins, nonstop flights often provide the best experience. For Economy Class, one stop may be fine if it saves points. These filters help you align results with your priorities.

Operating Carrier Filter

This filter lets you choose which airline actually operates the flight.

It is useful when:

• You want a specific onboard product
• You want to avoid certain airlines
• You are targeting well known Business or First Class cabins

Remember, the booking program and operating airline are not the same. This filter helps you focus on the flight experience, not just the miles used.

Fee And Surcharge Filters

Some award programs add high taxes and fuel surcharges. These can turn a good redemption into a bad one.

If you have Pro access, fee related filters let you:

• Exclude awards with high cash costs
• Compare true out of pocket expenses
• Favor programs with lower fees

This is especially important on transatlantic and long haul routes.

Minimum Seats Filter

If you are traveling with a partner or family, seat count matters.

Use the minimum seats filter to:

• Avoid finding one seat you cannot actually use
• Focus on flights with enough award space
• Save time when booking multiple tickets

Premium cabin awards often release seats one at a time. This filter helps set realistic expectations.

Filters are not about control for its own sake. They are about speed and clarity. The right filters turn a wall of data into a short list of realistic options you can actually book.

How To Use Seats.aero To Find Business And First Class Award Availability

Finding Economy Class award seats is usually manageable. Finding Business Class and First Class award seats is where most travelers struggle. These seats offer the highest value, the best experience, and the lowest availability. This is also where Seats.aero truly shines.

Why Premium Cabin Awards Are So Limited

Airlines make most of their profit from Business and First Class seats. Because of this, they are cautious about releasing award space in these cabins.

Most airlines follow a few common patterns:

• Releasing a small number of seats far in advance, often close to schedule opening
• Releasing additional seats close to departure if demand is low
• Releasing seats inconsistently based on route and season

This unpredictability is why searching one date at a time almost never works for premium cabins.

Why Seats.aero Is Built For Premium Cabin Searches

Seats.aero is designed to handle exactly this type of complexity.

Instead of guessing which dates might work, you can:

• Search wide date ranges
• See availability across multiple programs at once
• Spot patterns in release behavior
• Set alerts so you do not need to monitor daily

This approach dramatically improves your odds of success.

Start With Programs Known For Premium Value

Not all programs price premium cabins equally. Some consistently offer better value and lower fees.

When searching for Business or First Class awards, prioritize programs that:

• Have strong partner access (i.e. Air Canada Aeroplan)
• Use predictable award charts or caps (i.e. Japan Airlines Mileage Bank)
• Are transfer partners of major credit cards (i.e. Air France-KLM Flying Blue)

Seats.aero helps by showing you multiple programs side by side so you can compare pricing instantly.

Use Wide Date Ranges First

Premium awards reward patience and flexibility.

When using the Search tool:

• Start with a wide date range instead of exact dates
• Look for clusters of availability
• Identify which days have seats, not just one perfect option

Once you see where availability exists, you can narrow your search.

Focus On One Cabin At A Time

Mixing cabins often hides great options.

Run separate searches for:

• Business Class only
• First Class only

This keeps results clean and makes it easier to compare pricing and routing.

Combine Filters Carefully

For premium searches, these filters matter most:

• Cabin class
• Maximum points
• Stops, ideally nonstop or one stop
• Fees, especially on long haul routes
• Minimum seats if traveling with others

Avoid over filtering at the start. Let availability appear first, then refine.

Watch For Last Seen Availability

The last seen column is especially important for premium cabins.

If a seat was seen recently:

• It may still be bookable
• It is worth clicking through immediately

If it was last seen days ago:

• Availability may be gone
• Setting an alert may be smarter than acting

Premium seats disappear quickly, so speed matters.

Use Alerts As A Premium Cabin Strategy

Many successful premium bookings happen through alerts, not live searches.

Alerts work best when:

• You know the route you want
• You are flexible on dates
• You are searching far in advance or close to departure

Instead of checking daily, let Seats.aero notify you the moment space opens.

Be Ready To Book Quickly

When premium availability appears, hesitation can cost you the seat.

Before searching, make sure:

• You know which program you will book through
• You know which points you will transfer
• You understand the fees involved

Seats.aero helps you find the seat. Preparation helps you keep it.

A Realistic Mindset For Premium Awards

Even with the best tools, premium awards are not guaranteed. Some routes are harder than others. Some seasons are tighter than others.

What Seats.aero does is tilt the odds heavily in your favor by:

• Showing you more options
• Saving time
• Reducing guesswork

For travelers chasing Business and First Class flights, this tool is often the difference between success and giving up.

Specialized Award Finder Tools

One of the reasons Seats.aero stands out from other award search tools is its collection of specialized finder tools. These tools are designed to solve very specific problems, mainly finding premium cabin awards and upgrade space that are difficult or nearly impossible to track manually.

Instead of searching route by route, finder tools scan all tracked routes at once for a particular airline product or upgrade type. This makes them especially useful for travelers who care more about flying a specific premium cabin than about a specific destination.

What Makes Finder Tools Different From Regular Search

The standard Search tool asks where you want to go. Finder tools ask what you want to fly.

This difference matters because many premium cabins release award seats unpredictably and often across multiple routes at once. Running individual searches for each city pair is slow and easy to miss. Finder tools remove that friction by showing every instance of availability in one view.

These tools are not meant for everyday economy bookings. They exist for high value, low availability scenarios where speed and visibility matter most.

First Class Finder Tools

Several finder tools focus specifically on First Class award availability. These are some of the hardest seats to book with points, and they often appear without warning.

• ANA First Class Finder. ANA First Class is one of the most sought after premium products in the world. Award seats are released inconsistently and usually in very small numbers. This finder scans all ANA routes at once, making it far easier to spot availability before it disappears.
• JAL First Class Finder. Japan Airlines First Class awards are similarly rare and highly competitive. This tool is especially useful for long haul routes between Japan and North America or Europe, where manual searching can be extremely time consuming.
• Lufthansa First Class Finder. Lufthansa is known for releasing First Class award seats close to departure, sometimes just days before the flight. This finder is ideal for travelers with flexible schedules who are willing to book last minute premium experiences.

Business Class Finder Tools

Some Business Class products are valuable enough to warrant their own finder tools. These cabins are often just as hard to secure as first class awards.

• Qatar Qsuites Finder. Qatar Qsuites is widely regarded as one of the best Business Class products in the sky. Qatar Airways operates an enormous global network, and availability varies by route and season. This finder allows you to see where Qsuites space exists without guessing which routes to search.
• Delta One Finder. Delta One awards can be frustrating to find due to dynamic pricing and limited saver space. This tool highlights where Delta One award availability exists, making it easier to identify realistic redemption opportunities.

Upgrade Finder Tools

Seats.aero also includes finder tools focused on upgrade availability. These are especially useful if you already have a paid ticket and want to improve your experience.

• Air Canada eUpgrade Finder. This tool helps identify flights with available eUpgrade space, which can turn an Economy Class or Premium Economy ticket into Business Class for Air Canada Aeroplan elites.
• United PlusPoints Finder. United Airlines PlusPoints upgrades rely on specific fare classes and limited availability. This finder saves significant time by showing where PlusPoints upgrades are realistically possible.
• Emirates Upgrade Finder. Emirates upgrades to Business Class or First Class are highly route dependent. This tool scans for upgrade inventory so you can decide whether upgrading a paid ticket is worth pursuing.
• JetBlue Move to Mint Finder. JetBlue Mint upgrades are only available on certain routes and flights. This finder makes it easy to identify where Move to Mint inventory exists, which is otherwise tedious to search manually.

Specialized finder tools are one of the most underrated features of Seats.aero. They dramatically reduce search time, remove guesswork, and surface opportunities that many travelers would never think to look for.

If you are serious about booking premium cabins or upgrading paid tickets with points, learning how to use these finder tools can be a major unlock.

Seats.aero Award Alerts

Many of the best award bookings never come from a live search. They happen because someone set the right alert and acted quickly when availability appeared. This is one of the most powerful features inside Seats.aero, especially for premium cabins and popular routes.

Award alerts allow you to stop checking availability manually and instead get notified when seats open up that match your criteria. Used correctly, alerts turn award searching from a daily chore into a background process.

Why Award Alerts Matter So Much

Award availability changes constantly. Airlines add and remove seats based on demand, seasonality, and internal forecasting. This happens at all hours and often without warning.

Manually checking availability every day is time consuming and easy to forget. Alerts solve this by monitoring availability for you and notifying you the moment something changes.

This is especially important for:

• Business Class and First Class awards
• Highly competitive routes
• Last minute premium releases
• Far in advance bookings when schedules first open

How Award Alerts Work On Seats.aero

An alert monitors award availability for a specific set of criteria. When Seats.aero detects matching availability, you receive a notification and the alert is automatically removed.

At a basic level, alerts track:

• A specific loyalty program
• A departure and arrival airport or region
• A date or date range
• A cabin class

Free users can set unlimited alerts, but they are limited to availability within about 60 days. Pro users gain significantly more flexibility.

What Pro Alerts Unlock

With a Pro subscription, alerts become much more powerful.

Pro alerts allow you to:

• Monitor availability up to 365 days in advance
• Set alerts for a range of dates instead of a single day
• Create alerts for any date on a route
• Receive SMS notifications in addition to email
• Apply advanced filters like seat count, fees, stops, and operating carrier

These features dramatically improve success rates, especially for premium cabins.

How To Set A Smart Award Alert

The most effective alerts are flexible but focused.

Start by choosing the program you expect to book through. Then select your origin and destination. If you are flexible, use regions instead of specific airports.

When setting dates, avoid locking yourself into a single day unless absolutely necessary. Date range alerts perform far better and catch more opportunities.

For cabin class, be realistic. If you want Business Class, set Business Class only. Mixing cabins often creates noise.

Alerts As Part Of A Larger Strategy

The most successful award travelers combine alerts with live searching and finder tools. They use Explore and Search to understand patterns, then deploy alerts to monitor opportunities without constant effort. Used this way, alerts are not just a convenience. They are often the difference between missing out and booking the exact flight you want.

What To Do After You Find Award Availability

Finding award space is only half the battle. The next steps are where many bookings fail, even after the perfect seat appears. This section walks through exactly what to do after you find availability on Seats.aero so you can turn a search result into a confirmed ticket.

Seats.aero is a discovery tool, not a booking engine. That means everything that happens next requires speed, accuracy, and a clear plan.

Step 1: Verify Availability On The Airline Website

Seats.aero updates frequently, but award space can disappear quickly. Before transferring points or celebrating, click through and confirm the seat directly on the airline or loyalty program website.

When verifying, double check:

• The flight number and routing
• The cabin class shown
• The number of seats available
• The total points required
• Taxes and fees due at booking

If the seat does not appear on the airline site, do not transfer points yet. Either refresh, try another program, or set an alert.

Step 2: Confirm You Are Booking Through The Right Program

The same flight can often be booked through multiple programs at different prices. Before moving points, confirm:

• Which program you are booking through
• That you have access to that program’s miles
• That the pricing and fees make sense

This is where transferable points are especially powerful. You only want to move points once you know exactly which program offers the best value.

Step 3: Understand Point Transfer Times

Not all point transfers are instant. Some happen immediately, others can take hours or days.

Before transferring points, make sure you know:

• Whether the transfer is instant or delayed
• If transfers are reversible, usually they are not
• Whether availability is likely to hold during the transfer window

If transfers are slow and availability is fragile, look for backup options or consider programs with instant transfers.

Step 4: Move Points Only After Availability Is Confirmed

One of the most expensive mistakes in award travel is transferring points without confirmed availability.

Always follow this order:

• Find availability
• Confirm availability on the airline site
• Confirm pricing and fees
• Transfer points
• Book immediately

Once points are transferred, you are committed to that program. Seats.aero helps prevent this mistake by showing you options before any points move.

Step 5: Book As Quickly As Possible

Premium award space often disappears within minutes or hours. When availability looks good and points are in place, book immediately.

Avoid:

• Waiting to compare too many options
• Leaving the booking page open for too long
• Assuming availability will still be there later

If the booking fails or errors out, refresh and try again quickly.

Step 6: Save Confirmation Details Immediately

After booking, save:

• Confirmation numbers
• Ticket numbers
• Screenshots of the booking
• Emails from the airline

This is especially important for partner bookings, where changes or seat selection may need to be handled by the operating airline.

Step 7: Handle Seats And Extras After Booking

Some bookings require extra steps after ticketing.

You may need to:

• Select seats on the operating airline website
• Add frequent flyer numbers
• Confirm meal selections
• Check baggage rules

Do this as soon as possible to avoid surprises later.

Seats.aero vs Other Award Search Tools

Award flight search tools all aim to solve the same problem, finding flights you can actually book with points, but they approach that problem very differently. Understanding those differences helps you choose the right tool for the job instead of expecting one platform to do everything perfectly.

Below is a practical comparison of Seats.aero, Roame.travel, and Point.me, based on how travelers actually use them in real award searches.

Seats.aero

Seats.aero is built for speed, scale, and power. It favors data visibility over simplicity.

Strengths

• Extremely wide coverage of airline loyalty programs
• Powerful filtering and sorting options
• Fast scanning of large date ranges
• Advanced alerts and specialized finder tools
• Excellent for premium cabin and last minute searches

Weaknesses

• Interface can feel overwhelming for beginners
• Requires more knowledge of award travel concepts
• Less guided discovery compared to Roame

Seats.aero shines when you know what you are doing and want maximum control. It rewards experience and flexibility.

Roame.Travel

The biggest strength of Roame.travel is accessibility. It is designed to help travelers see award availability without feeling overwhelmed.

Strengths

• Clean, guided interface that is easy to understand
• Multiple search modes that support inspiration, flexibility, and confirmation
• Strong alert system that stays active after triggering
• Program focused results that highlight partner opportunities
• Free tier that allows meaningful searching

Weaknesses

• Cached data can lag real time availability
• Fewer advanced filters than some competitors
• Less raw data density for power users

Roame excels at helping travelers move from confusion to clarity. It is especially effective for flexible planning and premium cabin inspiration.

Point.me

Point.me takes a different approach. It focuses on guided booking rather than exploration.

Strengths

• Step-by-step search flow
• Clear booking instructions after results appear
• Useful for straightforward, fixed date trips
• Reduces decision making for simple itineraries

Weaknesses

• Less flexible for wide or exploratory searches
• Limited visibility into broader availability patterns
• Less effective for premium cabin deal hunting
• Often slower for complex or flexible planning

Point.me is best when you have a specific trip in mind and want help executing it cleanly.

Which Tool Is Best For Beginners

For most beginners, Roame.travel is the easiest place to start.

Its visual layout, discovery tools, and program based results help new travelers understand how award availability works without requiring deep knowledge upfront. Features like Discover and SkyView allow beginners to learn by exploring real data instead of reading abstract rules.

Point.me can also work for beginners with very specific trips, but it teaches less about how award availability behaves over time.

Which Tool Is Best For Advanced Users

Advanced users tend to gravitate toward Seats.aero.

Its speed, depth, and advanced filters make it ideal for travelers who:

• Chase Business Class and First Class awards
• Monitor last minute availability
• Track multiple routes simultaneously
• Understand partner programs and pricing

Seats.aero rewards travelers who already have a strong mental model of award travel and want maximum visibility.

Why Many Travelers Should Use More Than One Tool

No single award search tool is perfect because award travel itself is messy and inconsistent. Each tool excels at different stages of the process.

A realistic and effective workflow often looks like this:

• Use Roame.travel to explore ideas, spot patterns, and set alerts
• Use Seats.aero to dig deeper into premium availability or advanced searches
• Use Point.me to help execute a simple, fixed itinerary

Using more than one tool is not redundant. It is strategic. Each platform shows availability slightly differently, pulls from different data sources, and highlights different opportunities.

Award travel is about stacking small advantages. Using the right tool at the right time improves your odds far more than relying on a single platform for everything.

Final Thoughts

Award travel is rarely limited by how many points you earn. It is limited by how easily you can find award seats worth booking. This is the problem Seats.aero is built to solve.

Seats.aero gives you visibility across programs, routes, and dates so you can stop guessing and start planning with real data. Instead of checking airline sites one by one, you see what is actually available and compare your options in minutes.

What makes Seats.aero especially valuable is how its tools work together. Explore helps you understand what is possible. Search helps you lock in specific trips. Finder tools surface rare premium opportunities. Alerts quietly monitor availability in the background so you do not have to.

Seats.aero also grows with you. Beginners can use it to learn how award travel works, while more experienced travelers rely on it to save time and consistently find strong redemptions, especially in Business and First Class.

The key is approach. Start broad, stay flexible, and let availability guide your plans. When a good option appears, be ready to act. When it does not, set alerts and move on.

If you have ever felt stuck with points you could not use, learning Seats.aero can change that. It does not guarantee perfect trips, but it dramatically improves your odds and makes award travel far more repeatable.

Kevin Zanes