Other than hobbyists, there’s hardly anyone who enjoys searching for award space, the term for finding seats available using your credit card points or frequent flyer miles. Most websites are clunky, some even funky and it always seems to take longer and be more painful than it needs to be.
That’s exactly why SeatSpy was created.
SeatSpy is easily one of the most useful and simplistic ways to search for seats using points, for the limited airlines it’s been integrated with. The list of airlines is growing, and you can now use the service just as usefully from the US as the UK, with the intro of American Airlines and United Airlines searches.
SeatSpy Adds US Airlines
SeatSpy is a leading web tool for finding the seats you want using your points. It debuted with searches for British Airways flights, expanded to Virgin and now serves Air France, KLM, American and United too.
What makes it simple? One and done searches, but also easy follow up for desired dates that aren’t available. When you make a single search, you see an entire year of calendar availability, and can filter by number of seats, or cabin, or just see what’s out there.
If what you’re looking for isn’t there, while browsing the entire year of options at once, you can join the modest subscription service for between $2.99 to $9.99 a month, and there’s similar UK pricing. GSTP Premium members received a free month’s trial last week.
Depending on the subscription plan selected, this will then allow you to set alerts and be notified via email, or even WhatsApp/text message when and if the seats you want become available.
Is it perfect? No. In a perfect world, SeatSpy would offer Singapore Air, Etihad, Emirates and a few other super valuable airlines where availability can be frustrating to search, but GSTP understands that in time, it’s coming. Efforts are also being made to increase the reach and accuracy of each search, and the platform is always keen for feedback.
SeatSpy searches as frequently as every 30 minutes, giving a higher chance that if a seat you want becomes available, you’ll be able to quickly snap it up before others do.
SeatSpy isn’t the only solution aiming to make points easier to redeem. Reward Flight Finder, AwardNexus and ExpertFlyer each offer varying methods and opportunities to capitalize on points, as does Straight To The Points, a subscription newsletter which flags unique opportunities.
I just took a look and find the site to be essentially useless, since it only lists non-stop flights. I fly almost exclusively out of CLT and looking at American out of CLT the destination drop box doesn’t list any of the places I am interested in going. It doesn’t even have CLT-Munich, which is a direct flight I am actually (hopefully) taking in November. I can’t search CLT-HND or SEL. Too bad.
“Efforts are also being made to increase the reach and accuracy of each search, and the platform is always keen for feedback.”
For Brits its been a godsend. Direct allows it to show actual BA metal avail, and that concept was applied to the US. That feedback you have would be useful for them no doubt. I have no affiliation or vested interest and get nothing from this. American is in beta and just launched like a week ago.
It fails to show BA seat availability 355 days ahead. It stops at 352, sometimes less. This is pointless if you want to nab a seat immediately it becomes available.
BA releases 2 seats in each cabin (at least) on all flights as they become available, so while SeatSpy should have 355, it’s rather pointless if you’re nabbing seats as they’re released anyway. The point is for the constantly changing availability and opportunities through the year. If I want to book 355 days out, I just wait until midnight and call and hope for the best.