Aviasales FAQ: 40+ Questions Answered (Complete 2026 Help Center)

Aviasales is a flight metasearch engine — a free online tool that compares real-time flight prices from 728+ airlines and 200+ online travel agencies in one unified view. Critically, we don't sell tickets ourselves. We redirect you to the airline or agency offering your chosen flight, where you complete the booking and payment directly with them.

Yes, Aviasales is fully legitimate. Legal operator: Giant Travel Unicorn Two Limited. Registered: Hong Kong corporation. Business Registration Number: BRN 76803739. Operating since: 2007 (18+ years of continuous service). Active users: 15+ million per month. Countries served: 190+. App Store rating: 4.9 / 5 (5,000+ verified reviews).

Aviasales is owned and operated by Giant Travel Unicorn Two Limited, a privately held Hong Kong corporation. The company was originally founded in 2007 by Konstantin Kalinov. It is NOT owned by Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, or Google.

Aviasales was founded in 2007, making it one of the oldest flight metasearch engines still operating. The project launched in January 2008 and has grown continuously since.

Aviasales searches 728+ airlines globally, including all three major alliances (Star Alliance, OneWorld, SkyTeam), all major US carriers (Delta, American, United, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant), all major low-cost carriers (Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet, AirAsia, IndiGo, Volaris), and hundreds of regional airlines.

Aviasales aggregates fares from 200+ online travel agencies (OTAs) — significantly more than most competitors. Major OTAs include Kiwi.com, Trip.com, Expedia, CheapOair, ASAP Tickets, OneTravel, BudgetAir, Flightnetwork, and many more.

When you enter your travel details on Aviasales, our system simultaneously queries all 928+ partners (728 airlines + 200+ agencies) in real time. Within 3 to 5 seconds, we receive all available fares for your dates and rank them by price, duration, or convenience.

No. Aviasales is a metasearch engine, not a ticket seller. We display real-time prices from airlines and agencies, but we never issue tickets ourselves. When you select a flight and click 'Buy', we redirect you to the airline or agency website.

Typical searches complete in 3 to 5 seconds — faster than most competitors (Skyscanner averages 5–10 seconds, Kayak 7–12 seconds).

Every price displayed comes directly from the airline or agency that's selling that specific fare. We don't set prices, mark them up, or adjust them in any way.

Because we search 200+ online travel agencies, many of which have bulk purchasing agreements with airlines. Airlines sell large blocks of unsold inventory to OTAs at wholesale prices, which OTAs then mark up only slightly. This OTA competition creates fares 10–25% below the airline's own direct prices.

No. Aviasales is an independent, privately-held company owned by Giant Travel Unicorn Two Limited (Hong Kong). It is not affiliated with Google, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, or any other major travel conglomerate.

You pay the airline or travel agency directly — never Aviasales. After you click 'Buy' on a search result, we redirect you to the seller's website. You enter your payment details on their site, they charge your card, and their name (not Aviasales) appears on your credit card statement.

Aviasales doesn't process payments — the seller does, and accepted payment methods depend on each individual airline or agency. Common methods include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and some debit cards.

From Aviasales itself: zero. We display total prices including all taxes and mandatory airline fees, and we don't charge any booking fees, service charges, or convenience fees. Some OTAs add their own small service fees at checkout (typically $5–$20 per passenger), visible before you confirm payment.

Flight prices update in real time based on demand and remaining seat inventory. Cheap fare classes can sell out within seconds — especially on popular routes. If the price changed, return to Aviasales for other cheap options or try different dates.

Yes. Aviasales allows completely anonymous searching and booking. You don't need to register, log in, or provide any personal information to use the platform.

The seller charges you in their own currency — usually USD for US-based OTAs, EUR for European sellers, etc. Aviasales displays prices in 50+ currencies using real-time exchange rates.

Yes. Loyalty miles are always awarded by the operating airline, not the booking platform. When you complete your purchase on the seller's website, enter your frequent flyer number at checkout.

Contact the seller directly — the airline or agency you paid. Their contact info is in the itinerary receipt they emailed you after booking. Aviasales cannot modify, refund, or cancel your booking, because we never held the ticket in the first place.

The seller (airline or agency) handles all refunds. Refund policies depend on your fare type, when you're requesting the refund, and seller-specific policies.

In the US, DOT rules require airlines to offer you either a full cash refund OR rebook you on the next available flight. In the EU, EC Regulation 261/2004 may entitle you to compensation of €250–€600 plus rebooking or refund.

Most US airlines allow free cancellation within 24 hours of booking — this is required by US DOT for flights departing from or arriving in the US. During this window, you can cancel and rebook at the lower fare.

Contact the seller (airline) immediately. Most airlines have a 'flat tire rule' that allows rebooking within 2 hours of your missed flight on the next available seat, often for a fee.

Your protection: (1) Pay with a credit card — US credit card companies offer strong chargeback protection, (2) Travel insurance — policies covering 'supplier default' reimburse you, (3) Document everything, (4) Report to authorities.

Every search result on Aviasales clearly displays baggage rules. You can also filter search results by baggage inclusion to see only fares with the bags you need.

US Ultra-Low-Cost: carry-on $35–65, 1st checked $45–75. US Basic Economy: carry-on free, 1st checked $30–40. US Main Cabin: carry-on free, 1st checked $30–40. European Low-Cost: carry-on €25–50, 1st checked €25–60. Full-Service International: carry-on free, often checked bags free.

Yes. Aviasales searches all major low-cost carriers worldwide including Spirit, Frontier, Southwest, Allegiant, JetBlue, Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet, AirAsia, IndiGo, Volaris, flydubai, and many more.

Yes. Select your preferred cabin class (Economy, Premium Economy, Business, or First) before searching. Aviasales searches premium-class fares across all 728+ airlines.

No — seat selection is handled on the seller's website (airline or OTA) during checkout, not on Aviasales.

1. Run a search for your intended route. 2. Click the 'Track price' button (bell icon). 3. Confirm your email address. 4. Aviasales monitors the route 24/7. 5. Receive email notifications when prices drop. 6. Click the email link to book instantly.

The price map is an interactive world map that visualizes cheap flights from your home airport as a heat map. Destinations marked with green 'X' are the cheapest current deals.

Yes. Use the 'Anywhere' search: enter your origin city, set travel dates, select 'Anywhere' as destination, and Aviasales returns a ranked list of the cheapest destinations.

The flexible date search (monthly calendar view) shows the cheapest fare for every day of the month at a glance. Alternatively, search with ±3 or ±7 days flexibility.

Yes. Aviasales supports multi-city routing with up to 6 flight legs in a single booking. Open-jaw itineraries are supported as 2-leg multi-city searches.

Yes. Aviasales has a built-in hotel search tab that aggregates rates from Booking.com, Hotels.com, Agoda, Expedia, and other major hotel booking platforms.

Yes. The Aviasales mobile app is available free on both iOS (rated 4.9/5 with 5,000+ verified reviews) and Android (rated 4.7/5 with 500,000+ verified reviews). The app is completely free with no ads, no in-app purchases, and no paid tiers.

The app includes every desktop feature plus mobile-exclusive tools: push price alerts, offline ticket storage, biometric login, dark mode, home-screen widgets, and occasional app-exclusive deals.

Both have the same core functionality. The app offers a slight edge for frequent users with offline tickets, push alerts, biometric login, and app-exclusive deals.

iOS: Open the App Store and search 'Aviasales'. Android: Open Google Play and search 'Aviasales'. QR code: Scan the QR code on aviasales.us.com.

No. The Aviasales app is completely free — no download fee, no subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads.

Yes, Aviasales is safe. The key reason: you never pay Aviasales directly. When you click 'Buy' on any search result, you're redirected to the airline or agency's secure website, where you enter your payment information. Aviasales never processes, stores, or even sees your credit card details.

Aviasales has no public record of data breaches. Because we don't process payments, we don't store credit card numbers — which means there's less sensitive data to steal in the first place.

Aviasales never receives your credit card information. Your payment details go directly to the airline or agency you book with, entered on their own secure checkout page.

Yes. Aviasales has served international travelers since 2007 and processes bookings in 190+ countries every day. For international trips, we actually recommend Aviasales over airline-direct booking in most cases.

If a seller looks unprofessional or has bad reviews, don't complete the booking. Return to Aviasales and select a different seller — there are usually multiple sellers for the same flight at similar prices.

Since Aviasales doesn't issue tickets, your booking is held by the seller (airline or OTA), not by us. Check your email for the itinerary receipt, log into the seller's website, or contact the seller directly using the info on your credit card statement.

Wait 30 minutes (some OTAs take time to process). Check spam/junk folder. Verify payment via credit card statement. If 1–2 hours pass with no email but a charge appears, contact the seller immediately.

No, this is standard airline dynamic pricing and happens on every flight platform, including airline direct websites. Flight prices change in real time based on demand and remaining inventory.

Probably not. If the seller's checkout page has technical issues, it's a warning sign. Try a different browser, pick a different seller on Aviasales, or consider booking airline direct.