Finance

SeatSpy How-To: Finding Award Seats

Above Article Content Ad

Probably the most troublesome elements of utilizing your airline miles is discovering award seat availability. Most airways would really like you to make use of their web site, however some have lately applied modifications that make it irritating to seek for availability. Plus, airways don’t have any incentive to warn you when awards open.

Fortunately there are companies you need to use to each discover award seat availability and get alerted to new availability. A few of these are highly effective, however exhausting for a newbie to select up — reminiscent of ExpertFlyer. After which there are easy-to-use award seat availability search instruments like SeatSpy.

Let’s learn how SeatSpy is usually a key device to serving to you discover and e book award seat availability — and if it is value the price.

Why discovering award seat availability issues

For many U.S.-based airways, discovering award availability might seem to be one thing from a bygone period. These days, nearly each flight choice will be booked with miles through the dynamic award pricing mannequin that many U.S.-based airways now use. As a substitute of getting one set award value, the award value merely varies based mostly on flight demand.

Nonetheless, if you wish to e book award flights via associate airline applications, you continue to typically want to seek out saver award availability. And there are many instances that you just may wish to e book via a associate program.

For instance, take an American Airways award flight from New York-LaGuardia to Nassau, Bahamas. Based mostly on American’s award chart, a MileSAAver award flight on this route prices 15,000 miles in economic system or 25,000 miles in enterprise class, although it might provide cheaper award charges as Net Particular awards. That is simply what American is providing on June 4, 2022, with an economic system award costing 12,500 miles or 22,500 miles for a enterprise class award:

Nonetheless, when there’s saver award availability, you possibly can e book this flight for cheaper via different award applications. For instance, British Airways Government Membership costs simply 9,000 Avios for economic system and 16,500 Avios for enterprise class for these similar flights:

Not solely does British Airways cost fewer miles, nevertheless it’s additionally simpler to build up British Airways Avios. That is as a result of British Airways is a 1:1 switch associate of a number of financial institution factors applications, together with:

  • American Specific Membership Rewards.

  • Chase Final Rewards®.

Nonetheless, you are going to want to seek out saver award availability to benefit from this chance. And that is the place an award seat device like SeatSpy can actually make a distinction.

What’s SeatSpy?

SeatSpy is a search device that vacationers can use to seek out award seat availability on a restricted variety of airways. SeatSpy operates on a “freemium” mannequin. Which means you possibly can full a restricted variety of economic system award searches at no cost. Nonetheless, you will have to pay for a premium subscription to carry out searches for premium cabins, arrange award alerts and carry out limitless award searches.

Anybody can full an economic system award search beginning proper on the SeatSpy homepage. Simply choose one of many supported airways, enter the route you wish to search, and choose whether or not you wish to seek for a one-way or round-trip award. Then click on search.

In only a few seconds, SeatSpy will present a calendar with circles round every date that has award availability. Stable circles point out peak/normal award pricing whereas smaller double circles point out off-peak award availability.

For those who aren’t logged right into a premium account, you will solely see grey circles — which point out economic system award availability. You will want to join a premium account to go looking and see premium economic system, enterprise class and first-class availability.

For those who’re not logged into an account, SeatSpy will pop up a field noting that you have reached your restrict of free award searches after a couple of searches. Creating an account and logging in will unlock extra searches.

However the actual outcomes are solely accessible to premium members. By paying for a premium membership, you possibly can search any class of service. The multi-color search outcomes are a bit overwhelming at first, however you possibly can merely slim the search outcomes to a specific class by unchecking a couple of containers.

SeatSpy subscription tiers and costs

To unlock a lot of the options of SeatSpy, you will want a premium subscription. SeatSpy provides two subscription ranges: Premium and First Class.

Premium subscriptions price $3.99 per thirty days or $39.90 per yr if paid in a lump sum. For this subscription value, members get limitless guide award searches plus 4 award alerts at a time. Alerts are despatched out hourly through both Telegram or WhatsApp.

First Class subscriptions price $9.99 per thirty days or $99.90 for an annual subscription. Upgrading to First Class enables you to arrange an infinite variety of alerts, and you will be alerted immediately through your alternative of SMS textual content message, Telegram or WhatsApp. Whilst you can arrange limitless alerts, needless to say SeatSpy units a “truthful use” cap of 30 SMS messages and 30 WhatsApp messages every month. Nonetheless, First Class members can obtain limitless Telegram messages.

Limitations of utilizing SeatSpy

Restricted variety of airways

The most important limitation of SeatSpy is the variety of airways for which it helps award searches. SeatSpy at present offers award seat availability protection for the next seven airways:

Which means you are out of luck if you wish to discover saver award availability on some other airline — reminiscent of Alaska, Delta, Hawaiian Airways or Air Canada.

Probably out-of-date award availability

Sadly, SeatSpy award availability is not at all times up-to-date. SeatSpy does not acquire new knowledge every time a person performs a brand new award search. As a substitute, SeatSpy searches for award availability periodically after which shows these outcomes once you search a route. This implies faster search outcomes however doubtlessly out-of-date info.

For instance, we searched from Dallas-Fort Price to Miami in December 2022 and had been excited to see that there have been a few dates accessible — particularly as American will be stingy with availability on this route.

Since this route is below 1,150 miles in distance, you possibly can e book saver award seats on this route for simply 9,000 British Airways or Iberia Avios. Nonetheless, once we searched this route on British Airways, the web site confirmed that there was no award availability.

Is SeatSpy value it?

Whether or not a SeatSpy premium subscription is value the price is dependent upon the way you journey. For those who usually fly on a number of of the supported airways, a premium subscription might make it simpler so that you can use your miles at a excessive worth.

For those who’re merely on the lookout for economic system award availability, you possibly can carry out a restricted variety of free award seat searches proper on the SeatSpy web site. Simply word that knowledge could also be out-of-date. So, SeatSpy is simply going to be one a part of your award search course of.

Easy methods to maximize your rewards

You desire a journey bank card that prioritizes what’s essential to you. Listed here are our picks for the finest journey bank cards of 2022, together with these finest for:

Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button