Seats.aero Launches Google Flights Chrome Extension for Comparing Cash and Award Prices

Seats.aero, one of our favorite tools for searching award availability, just made comparing cash and points prices a lot easier. Users can now download a new Google Flights Chrome extension that displays award pricing directly beneath cash fares, so you no longer have to bounce between airline sites and loyalty program pages to figure out whether points or cash gets you the better deal.

Alongside the extension, seats.aero also rolled out a redesigned search experience and expanded cardholder pricing to all Pro members.

Let’s take a look at what’s new.

New Seats.aero Google Flights Chrome Extension

The new seats.aero Chrome extension layers award pricing directly into your existing Google Flights searches, with support for Chase Travel already live and additional booking sites planned.

Once installed, you’ll instantly see:

• How many points a flight costs.
• How that redemption compares in value to the cash fare.
• Additional loyalty programs you could use to book the same flight.

In a New York City to Paris search example, the results show award options for eligible programs through the usual Seats.aero website, including Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Delta SkyMiles, and more.

These results are displayed right underneath the cash price, and when you hover over the details, you’ll see the award price for each program, how recently that pricing was found, how many seats are available, and the taxes and fees you’ll need to pay.

Overall, this resource is functionally similar to a competing program, Points Path, but Seats.aero has the benefit of pulling award pricing from more programs.

The usefulness of this new feature will vary depending on whether you are a free or paid user of Seats.aero, with Pro members getting live, real-time award pricing, while free users can see cached availability for flights up to 60 days out.

Redesigned Search Experience

In addition to the new Chrome extension, the Seats.aero website has received an upgrade as well, with new tools for comparing award options:

• New sorting options, including Cheapest by Date and Cheapest Direct.
• Enhanced filters for connection airports, aircraft type, departure and arrival times, fare codes, and flight duration.
• Expanded flight details, including transfer partner previews, historical pricing charts, and one-click price drop alerts.
• Customizable results, letting you hide certain cabin classes, prioritize preferred airports, and switch between city names and airport codes.

The redesigned search experience is rolling out in phases, with full availability expected for all users by early August.

Cardholder Pricing Expands to All Pro Members

Cardholder pricing, a feature that shows the discounted award rates available to holders of certain co-branded credit cards, is now open to every Pro member. You can turn it on for United and Delta in your profile settings.

Once activated, seats.aero displays the lower pricing eligible cardholders qualify for. For United specifically, turning on cardholder pricing also expands the visible award inventory, surfacing flights that eligible cardholders are more likely to actually be able to book. This addresses a common frustration where advertised award space isn’t available to every member.

Final Thoughts

Seats.aero continues to be one of the most useful tools for maximizing the value of your points and miles. The new Google Flights extension is a genuinely useful addition for anyone who routinely weighs whether to use points or cash, and the redesigned search tools and expanded cardholder pricing make the core site more powerful as well.