How Aviasales works when you are pricing a cash fare against an award

When you price an award, the cash fare only helps if it is a ticket you would actually buy. Aviasales is a flight search site that can surface those fares from airlines and online agencies in one list. It is not, on its own official terms, the company that issues the ticket.

That distinction matters for points travelers. The seller you pay is the party that handles changes, refunds, and customer service. The fare you click through to may or may not include a bag, a change policy you can live with, or a frequent-flyer credit. Use the search as a starting point, then confirm the full price with the seller and with the airline if you need miles to post.

Affiliate disclosure: Points Frog may earn a commission through these Travelpayouts provider links. Sources were checked on Nov. 10, 2026.

Aviasales is a search, not the ticket office#

The company's English How Aviasales works page, checked on Nov. 10, 2026, describes a four-step process. You enter the route and dates. The site searches airlines and agencies. When you select a ticket and choose to buy, you are sent to the seller's website to enter passenger details and pay. The seller then emails the itinerary receipt.

Aviasales says it does not save tickets or charge a commission, and that it shows the prices quoted by airlines and agencies. After the purchase, you find the ticket in your account on the seller's site. That is also where changes, refunds, and exchanges have to be made. Aviasales says it cannot make those changes for you. The seller's name appears on the itinerary receipt or the payment receipt.

The terms of use state the same limit in legal language. Aviasales is a metasearch service for information about flights and other travel products offered by third parties. It is not, the terms say, a service that lets you purchase the ticket from Aviasales itself. Any contract is with the partner. Disputes about the booking go to those parties, not to Aviasales.

1. 1Search the routeenter dates, airports, and cabin class
2. 2Compare the offersairlines and agencies can show the same flight at different terms
3. 3Leave the searchyou pay on the seller's website, not on Aviasales
4. 4Confirm the ticketthe seller emails the receipt and handles changes

Source: How Aviasales works

Compare more than the headline price#

A second official page, How our service works, checked the same day, fills in what the search results can show. You can choose economy, comfort, business, or first class in the search form, and you can filter by stops, times, bags, and airlines. The ticket card is supposed to name the operating airline, the cities, and whether baggage is included.

If no bag is shown, Aviasales says the seller provided a baggage-free fare, and that you can add a bag later when you book on the seller's site. After you select a ticket, the site can show more than one partner offering it. Those offers are not interchangeable just because the flight number matches. Change fees, baggage, and who issues the ticket can differ. Check the fare rules before you treat the lowest number as your cash benchmark.

The same page warns you to type your email correctly on the seller's site. If the address is wrong, the ticket may not arrive, and you have to go back to the seller to fix it.

What to check	Why it changes the award math
Seller name	That company, not Aviasales, handles changes and refunds
Bags and seat fees	A cheap base fare can rise once extras are added
Change and refund rules	An award and a cash ticket can be hard to move in different ways
Operating airline	Miles, if any, are credited by the carrier and the fare, not the search site

Use the fare as a benchmark, then confirm miles separately#

Our award-search guide already treats a cash search as a way to find a fare worth checking with the seller. That is the right use. Record the itinerary, the full cash price including bags, and the award's points and fees on the same dates. If the cheap result uses a longer layover or a different airport than you would accept, it is not the fare you would have paid.

Frequent-flyer miles are awarded by the operating airline, subject to the fare rules. Aviasales is not the carrier. Add your frequent-flyer number on the seller's checkout if the form allows it, then confirm with the airline after you fly. Do not assume an agency ticket earns the same as a ticket bought on the airline's site. If the award still looks worse than a cash fare you would actually buy, that is useful information. If the cash fare only wins after you ignore bags, change rules, or a connection you would not take, keep looking.

Sources: How Aviasales works, How our service works, and Aviasales terms of use, all checked Nov. 10, 2026.

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