SeatGuru has gone: We rate the alternative online tools to help pick the best seats on a flight

Tripadvisor quietly discontinued SeatGuru last year. Here we rate five of the most popular alternatives, from one with interactive videos, to a site powered by AI

Seat-mapping tools give you the lowdown on what's good and bad about specific seats (Viacheslav Yakobchuk - stock.adobe.com)

For years, SeatGuru was the go-to website for passengers who wanted a guide on the best seats to pick for their upcoming flights. The Tripadvisor-powered portal displayed cabin layouts for almost every commercial flight in the world, with seats color-coded according to whether they were good, bad or possibly annoying.

However, Tripadvisor quietly discontinued the site last year. Fortunately for those who like to handpick their high-altitude perch, there are alternative seat-mapping tools available and we have rated five of the most popular.

We discovered that they’re all useful, but to varying degrees.

One has slick interactive cabin videos, another can alert you when your favorite seat becomes available and there’s one powered by an AI database that promises to give you the most helpful information about your selection.

1. Seatmaps.com

Seatmaps.com offers cabin layouts and seat ratings, along with interactive cabin videos (seatmaps.com)

Seatmaps.com was founded by Fred Finn, a Guinness World Record holder for passenger miles (he clocked up 718 Concorde flights and 15 million miles), and Djois Franklin, a tech veteran from AMD and Microsoft.

Their combined pedigrees in aviation and tech show as the site is slick, reveals useful detail, has a 360-degree video function, and it’s a breeze to navigate — you can find the seat map relevant to your flight in seconds.

What’s more, it’s free to use and you don’t need to create an account.

We tested the site’s “find your flight seat map” tool by telling it we were flying with American Airlines on February 14 from New York’s JFK Airport to Los Angeles.

Nine departures were listed, so we clicked the 6 a.m. service with an Airbus A321.

Up popped a cabin diagram with the seats color-coded to denote “standard,” “more comfort,” “some issues,” “mixed features,” or “reduced comfort.”

According to the website, seats 11B, 11C, 11D and 11E are the most comfortable, with the back row — 22A to F — is the least comfortable, as “recline might be limited” and they’re “close to the restrooms.”

Accompanying the seat diagram were four 360-degree interactive videos, including an in-seat perspective, seat ratings from site users (it scores 4.16 out of 5 based on 311 reviews), information on seat sizes, and descriptions of each seat by seatmaps.com. There are also links to reviews of the cabin on other websites.

Verdict: Excellent.

2. Expert Flyer

Expert Flyer isn't the slickest of seat-map sites, but it does the job (Expert Flyer)

Expert Flyer, owned by Red Ventures, the parent company of The Points Guy travel site, is moderately useful, but a bit clunky and functionality could be slicker.

Users are required to create an account and are then pushed to take out a subscription (though there is a “free trial option”). Next, a flight number and a specific cabin category must be entered on the seat map tool.

The site displays the cabin layout with color-coded seats. Hover over one and a mini review pops up drawn from the defunct SeatGuru site. While this was a mammoth archive and the descriptions are detailed, the information could now be out of date.

The standout feature is the alert system — tell the site which seat you’d most like to fly in and it’ll notify you when it becomes available to book.

Verdict: A no-frills tool that does the job.

3. AeroLopa

Finding seat maps for specific flights on AeroLopa requires users to know the precise model of the aircraft operating the service (AeroLopa)

AeroLopa.com is a mixed bag. The site is clear and nicely laid out, but finding seat maps for specific flights requires users to know the precise model of the aircraft operating the service — it’s not possible to search by flight number and destination.

What’s more, while the seat map is clear, it doesn’t contain information pertaining to seat comfort.

For extra details, users must create an account and agree to receive email and text messages from the site, which isn’t a positive customer experience.

Verdict: Frustrating.

4. SeatCompare.ai

SeatCompare.ai has an intuitive user interface and displays useful seat insights (seatcompare.ai)

SeatCompare.ai is, as the name suggests, AI-powered. It describes itself as “your seat-obsessed travel companion” that uses a “FleetBrain” database.

The site doesn’t require an account, is free to use, and has an intuitive user interface.

And while it doesn’t display cabin maps — “travelers need live aircraft and cabin intelligence, not outdated diagrams,” it argues — inputting a flight code, cabin type and departure date prompts an easy-to-read list of helpful information, including the best seats, those to avoid, and the option for a notification if the plane type changes. The latter function is useful as seat size and cabin configurations can vary significantly from one aircraft to another.

The site is still in beta testing, so more features are likely to be added.

Verdict: Good.

5. Seat Maestro

Seat Maestro isn't short on detail, but the website is cluttered with adverts (Seat Maestro)

Seat Maestro? Seat Apprentice might be more accurate. While it has good intentions, the user experience is a bit frustrating.

To begin with, the screen is cluttered with pop-up ads, and the site couldn't find a scheduled American Airlines flight from JFK to Los Angeles. To compensate, it displayed a list of the planes in American Airlines’ fleet, leaving users to work out which plane they’d be flying on.

The seat maps themselves are useful, indicating “good,” “good but beware,” and “beware” options, alongside traveler reviews and ratings.

Verdict: Room for improvement.

The Independent’s pick: Seatmaps.com.