What it does
Air travel just isn’t what it used to be. Besides having to pay for your peanuts, for extra thigh space aka another seat, checked luggage and headsets to listen to a somewhat charming and eclectic mix of radio programs, you have to face cancellations, overbooked flights, and daunting lines at the service counter. SeatCounter endeavors to make your flying a bit easier by giving you the inside story on the number of seats available on particular flights. The site details how many seats are available in each fare class of a flight. The site neatly color codes availabilities making it easier to read: green equals high availability, while red means you’re probably outta luck. To start your search, enter your destination and origin points as well as travel dates. SeatCounter will pull up flight information from a variety of airlines; you can book your flight via one of SeatCounter’s partner sites (Hotwire, Expedia, Orbitz among others); they’ll get a small commission if you do so.
In their own words
“SeatCounter: The Booking Class Availability Machine”
Why it might be a killer
SeatCounter is a neat little tool which gives you flight availability insights you normally don’t get from booking engines. For those who use mileage points, SeatCounter is a gem, as you can browse through flights for your particular award class without having to go through an operator. All you have to know is the fare class letter abbreviation and you’re set.
Some questions
SeatCounter’s weak point is in its design. It’s not the easiest site to navigate, especially as it deals with booking codes which most people aren’t too accustomed to. They could give more explanation about how to find the right fares.
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