One of the best features of Seats.aero is the ability to create an unlimited amount of flight alerts. Alerts can help you find space for itineraries that are harder to book.
For example, airlines sometimes re-release award space when existing award bookings are cancelled. As a flight comes closer to its departure date, airlines also release more award space when they realize that they will not sell the seats with cash fares. When these events occur depends on each airline and can be completely random.
Alerts check our database every 15 seconds to see if they have matched. Once we find availability for your alert, we delete it and no longer look for that availability. Alerts use the same data that is visible on Seats.aero; in most cases, we do not check the airline more frequently just because an alert was created.
Alert types
Seats.aero supports two types of alerts.
Flight alerts: Alert if availability appears on a specific route + departure date, in the cabin you choose.
"Email me if a flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt on January 1st has First Class available"
Cabin alerts: Alert if availability appears on any flight departing or arriving a specific airport + date range, in the cabin you choose.
"Email me if any flight departing Frankfurt has First Class available anywhere between January 1st and January 7th"
In most cases, you will want to create flight alerts, as they are the simplest form of an alert. If you are searching for premium cabin availability, you may sometimes need to use cabin alerts to cast a wide net on availability.
Pro features
Pro users do not receive alerts any faster than normal users. However, there are a few additional features that Pro users have access to:
Only trigger the alert when there is direct availability, or when there is a specific carrier available.
Receive SMS alerts for your flight alerts, in addition to email alerts.
Manage or cancel all of your existing flight alerts.
Pre-filled forms when creating alerts without a captcha.
Specific date alerts created by Pro users check the airline more often for availability.
Users always receive alerts at the same time, regardless of membership or subscription. If we discover new availability from a Pro alert, the alert is also sent at the same time to any other alerts for that flight/route.
Advanced filters
Pro users can select advanced filters when creating alerts. Currently, the following filters can be applied:
Only match the alert when there is direct availability.
Only match the alert when the availability is on a specific carrier.
Filters are specific to the cabins you select for the alert; availability in other cabins is not considered. If both filters are applied on an alert, they must both match for an alert to trigger. However, they can match independently of each other. For example, if you create an alert for a direct flight operated by CX, the alert will not match if CX has a connecting flight available. However, the alert will match if JL has a direct flight available, and CX has a connecting flight available, as both filters are satisfied.