SeatClear
The airline-approved seat marketplace
Trade seats,
fly easy.
Can't make your flight? Sell the ticket and get your fare back. Need a flight that's sold out? Buy a seat from someone who can't go. Your airline sets the price, approves every move and reissues the ticket in the new name.
Coming to partner airlines. Free to join with your airline loyalty account.
How it works
Three steps. Your airline does the rest.
01Sign in with your airline
Link your loyalty account. Your upcoming trips appear on their own, straight from the airline.
02Choose what to do with a seat
Sell, buy, make an offer, swap, trade or gift. You see every number before you confirm.
03The airline reissues the ticket
The ticket is reissued in the new name on the airline's own systems, and the boarding pass updates in the app.
Selling
Can't make your flight? Get your fare back.
Most tickets are non-refundable, so a change of plans usually means losing the fare or taking a credit that expires. List the ticket instead: the seat goes to someone who needs it, and the money comes back to you.
- 1
List it the day plans change
Your listing stays dormant, invisible to buyers, while the airline still has seats of its own to sell.
- 2
The flight sells out
The airline places any oversold passengers, clears the flight and sets the price. Your listing goes live on its own.
- 3
Someone buys it
The ticket is reissued in the buyer's name, straight away, on the airline's systems.
- 4
You're paid
Your fare back in cash, not a credit, plus 40% of the profit, by bank transfer, airline credit or miles: you choose when it sells. If it doesn't sell, nothing changes.
Paid in cash, not a credit: the airline pays you by bank transfer, or as airline credit or miles if you prefer. You choose when it sells.
A $300 ticket sold for $800. The airline earns $292, SeatClear $40.
Buying
Sold out isn't the end of the line.
On a full flight, some of the people booked won't make it. Search the flight you need and see every seat that's for sale, with the seat number, the price and how many people are watching. Pay what's shown and nothing more. The ticket is issued in your name straight away and appears in your airline app like any other booking.
- Nothing listed? Pick a seat on the map and offer the airline's starting price, or more for a better chance of a yes. You pay only if the holder accepts.
- Not in a hurry? Watch the route and hear the moment a seat opens.
- Want extras? Add the airline's own bags, Wi-Fi, lounge access or a better seat before you pay, if you like. The airline prices and charges them.
Built for the flights that sell out.
The busiest routes fill up first. That's where a seat someone can't use is worth the most, to them and to you.
Six ways to use a seat
Not just buying and selling.
Sell, Buy, Offer, Swap and Trade run on sold-out flights, on non-refundable tickets. Gift runs on flights that aren't sold out.
Sell
List your ticket. It sits dormant until the airline clears the flight, then goes live.
The buyer's payment covers you: your fare back plus 40% of the profit.
Buy
Buy a seat another passenger has released.
You pay the listed price, nothing on top.
Offer
Ask to buy a seat that isn't listed, at the airline's price or above. The holder can accept, decline or ask for more.
You pay only if the holder accepts.
Swap
Exchange seats with another passenger on the same plane: the aisle for the middle, or economy for a full business cabin.
The person asking pays a fee.
Trade
Exchange whole flights on the same route, both sold out. Move from the 6pm to the 9am.
The person asking pays a fee. Any fare difference is paid by whoever moves to the pricier flight.
Gift
Give your ticket to a named person, for free. Works on flights that aren't sold out.
The recipient pays the fees; you pay nothing.
Fair by design
Money only moves up.
The airline's price is the floor and nobody can go below it. Sellers get their fare back in full before any profit is shared. SeatClear is the software in between.
Your airline sets every price
It prices every seat and every swap or trade fee, reissues each ticket on its own systems, and can pause a flight or end a listing at any time.
Fake listings can't exist
You never type in a ticket. Your trips sync from the airline, so if it isn't in your name, it can't be listed.
No names, no contact
Listings show the flight, the seat number, the price and how many people are watching. Buyers and sellers never see or contact each other. Gift is the one exception.
Your money stays with the airline
The airline is the merchant of record: it takes every payment on its own checkout and pays sellers out. SeatClear never holds your money or keeps your card.
Status
Your airline status counts here too.
Better terms follow the status you already hold with your airline. It isn't a subscription and there's nothing to buy. On a full flight, two hours of early access is usually the whole market.
| Member | Silver | Gold | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early access to listings | None | 30 min | 1 hour | 2 hours |
| Tickets listed at once | 3 | 5 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Open offers at once | 2 | 5 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Gifts a year | 2 | 5 | 10 | Unlimited |
| SeatClear base fee | 5% | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| Search ranking | Standard | Standard | Higher | Top |
| Support | Standard | Priority | Priority | Dedicated line and concierge |
Questions
Good to know
Straight answers on selling, buying, and what your airline does along the way.
Which flights does it work on?
Sold-out flights. While an airline still has seats to sell, it sells them itself and SeatClear stays out of the way. Once the airline has placed any oversold passengers and marked the flight full, the marketplace switches on, until a cutoff shortly before departure. The airline can pause a flight at any time. Gift is the exception: it works only on flights that aren't sold out.
Which tickets can I use?
Non-refundable, simple tickets bought directly from the airline, the ones you would otherwise lose. Award tickets, tickets with an upgrade applied, unaccompanied minors and group bookings aren't eligible. One-way tickets only for now: round trips come after the pilot.
Who can use SeatClear?
Anyone 18 or over with a loyalty account at a partner airline. You sign in with that account and your upcoming flights appear on their own. Your legal name and age come from the airline's records, so there's no separate ID check. You can only list your own ticket: one you bought for another adult is listed by them, from their account. Tickets paid for by a company go through a corporate path, and the company gets the money.
Who sets the price?
The airline, on everything: the price of a listed seat, the starting price of an offer, and the fee on a swap or trade. It prices each seat so it earns at least what a cancellation would have earned it, and its price is the floor: nobody can go below it. SeatClear sets no price, floor or ceiling of its own. A seller sees exactly what they'll receive before confirming, and a buyer sees the full breakdown before paying.
What does it cost?
Buyers pay the price shown, nothing on top, and there are no listing fees. When a seat sells, SeatClear takes 5% and the airline 5%, each capped at $100 (Gold members pay SeatClear 4%, Platinum 3%). The seller gets back everything they paid, and the profit splits 40% to the seller and 60% to the airline. A $300 ticket sold for $800 pays the seller $468.
What if my ticket doesn't sell?
Nothing changes. You still hold your ticket, there are no listing fees, and you can take a listing down at any time.
What if someone makes an offer on my seat?
You get a notification and have 24 hours, or until the flight's cutoff if that comes first, to accept, decline, or ask for more, once. A higher number goes to the airline first, and only a price it approves reaches the buyer. Say yes and you get your fare back plus 70% of the profit, a bigger share than a listed sale because you were planning to fly. A $400 offer on a $250 ticket pays you $327; the airline gets $42 and SeatClear $31.
How do swaps and trades work?
The airline sets the fee, the person asking pays it, and nobody changes it. The other passenger has 24 hours, or until the flight's cutoff if that comes first, to say yes or no. If they accept, they keep 80%, the airline 10% and SeatClear 10%: on a $100 fee, $80, $10 and $10. Any fare difference, for a pricier cabin or a pricier flight, is paid to the airline first by whoever moves up. Only a seat someone paid for can be swapped, not an upgrade.
How does a gift work?
Send the ticket to someone you know, by name. They accept from their own loyalty account, or create one in a couple of taps, and the ticket is reissued to them. You pay nothing; they pay $30: $10 to SeatClear and the airline's $20 reissue fee. Gift is off on sold-out flights, so it can't be a back door to a sale, and it's the one place names are shown.
How am I paid?
When your seat sells, you choose bank transfer, airline credit or miles. The airline holds the money and pays you out: it's the merchant of record on every payment, so SeatClear never holds your money or keeps your card.
What if the airline cancels the flight?
The buyer is the passenger of record and is refunded through the airline's normal process. The seller keeps their payout, and SeatClear reverses its fee.
When can I use it?
SeatClear is launching with partner airlines, on iPhone and Android first and on the web after. Once yours switches it on, you sign in with your loyalty account and your upcoming trips are already there.
The next time plans change, you'll have options.
SeatClear is coming to partner airlines. Work at one? See how it runs on your side.
SeatClear for airlines