How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets

Post originally Published May 4, 2024 || Last Updated May 4, 2024

See how everyone can now afford to fly Business Class and book 5 Star Hotels with Mighty Travels Premium! Get started for free.


How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Leveraging APIs for Real-Time Flight Data Tracking


How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets

Leveraging APIs for real-time flight data tracking has become crucial for businesses and developers in the travel and aviation sectors.

APIs like Airlabs' ADSB-based service and Aviationstack's comprehensive aviation data offer accurate, up-to-the-second information on flight status, schedules, and routes.

These APIs enable seamless integration of flight data into applications, facilitating real-time tracking, schedule management, and post-flight analytics.

The availability of historical flight data sets and the ability to scale APIs to meet business needs further enhance the utility of these tools for the industry.

Aviationstack's API offers not only real-time flight tracking but also comprehensive historical flight data, enabling in-depth post-flight analytics for travel and aviation businesses.

FlightXML and FlightAware Firehose APIs provide access to extensive historical flight data sets, allowing developers to analyze trends and patterns beyond just current flight statuses.

OAG's Flight Info API can be seamlessly scaled to meet the demands of enterprises, ensuring reliable real-time flight data integration even for high-traffic applications.

The Flight Data API leverages the latest RESTful JSON format, enabling efficient and flexible integration with a wide range of programming languages and technology stacks.

Many of these APIs, such as Airlabsco's ADSB-powered solution, can deliver accurate real-time flight updates by tapping into live aircraft telemetry data, going beyond traditional flight schedules.

What else is in this post?

  1. How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Leveraging APIs for Real-Time Flight Data Tracking
  2. How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Automating Seat Availability Checks with Google Sheets
  3. How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Setting Up Customized Price Alerts for Desired Routes
  4. How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Integrating Payment Gateways for Seamless Booking
  5. How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Optimizing Workflows with Macros and Add-Ons
  6. How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Combining Data from Multiple Sources for Comprehensive Analysis

How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Automating Seat Availability Checks with Google Sheets


Google Sheets offers powerful tools for automating the process of tracking and managing airline seat availability.

Scripts, macros, and integration with third-party automation platforms can streamline tasks like scraping seat data, triggering alerts, and even completing seat bookings directly within the spreadsheet environment.

By leveraging these automation capabilities, travelers can save time and increase their chances of securing preferred seats for their flights.

Automating seat availability checks with Google Sheets can save users significant time by eliminating the need for manual monitoring of airline websites.

The `IMPORTHTML` function in Google Sheets allows users to scrape seat availability data directly from airline websites, enabling automated tracking and alerts.

Third-party add-ons like Autocomplete and AutoCrat can further streamline the process of checking seat availability and sending notifications to users.

Google Sheets can be integrated with airline APIs to automate the seat booking process, reducing the risk of missing out on desired seats.

Browser automation tools can be used in conjunction with Google Sheets to navigate airline booking pages and complete purchases when a preferred seat becomes available.

Tracking seat availability trends over time in Google Sheets can provide valuable insights to help users make informed decisions about their travel plans.

The ability to centralize all seat availability data and automation processes within a single Google Sheets environment can greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of airline seat tracking and booking.

How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Setting Up Customized Price Alerts for Desired Routes


Travelers can easily set up customized price alerts for their desired flight routes using Google Flights.

By searching for a specific route, selecting preferred travel dates, and enabling the "track prices" feature, users will receive email notifications whenever the price changes for that itinerary.

Another option is to utilize airline-specific fare alert tools, as well as third-party websites like Point Hacks, which provide guidance on effectively using price tracking features to find the best flight deals.

Google Flights can detect price changes as small as $1 and instantly notify users, allowing them to pounce on the best fares.

The price alert feature on Google Flights can analyze historical data to predict future price trends, helping users decide the optimal time to book their flights.

Certain airlines, like Qantas and Virgin Australia, offer their own built-in fare alert systems that can complement the capabilities of Google Flights.

Price alert tools can factor in ancillary fees, such as baggage charges, to provide a more accurate representation of the total trip cost.

Some travel hacking websites, like Point Hacks, offer advanced fare alert strategies that combine multiple sources to identify the lowest possible fares.

Google Flights' price tracking feature can analyze millions of flight itineraries in real-time, leveraging the computing power of Google's infrastructure.

Setting up customized price alerts can be particularly useful for booking flights during peak travel seasons when prices fluctuate rapidly.

The accuracy of price alerts has improved significantly in recent years due to advancements in data analysis and machine learning algorithms.

How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Integrating Payment Gateways for Seamless Booking


Integrating a payment gateway is crucial for seamless transactions when automating airline seat tracking and purchases.

Businesses should ensure they have the necessary credentials from their chosen payment service provider and follow a step-by-step guide to achieve effective integration.

This integration can eliminate manual data entry and reconciliation, allowing for real-time transaction processing and recording.

Payment gateways can process transactions in over 130 currencies, catering to the diverse needs of global travelers.

Successful integration of payment gateways can reduce failed transactions by up to 25% by streamlining the checkout process.

Leading payment gateways offer advanced fraud detection algorithms that can identify and block suspicious activities in real-time, enhancing security for travel bookings.

Integrating multiple payment gateways can increase conversion rates by up to 18% by providing customers with their preferred payment options.

Payment gateway APIs can automatically sync booking data with inventory management systems, reducing manual data entry and the risk of overbooking.

Certain payment gateways offer dynamic currency conversion, allowing customers to pay in their local currency while the merchant receives funds in their preferred currency.

Advanced payment gateway integrations can enable one-click bookings, improving the user experience and reducing cart abandonment rates by up to 35%.

Payment gateways with built-in support for recurring payments can facilitate seamless subscription-based models for travel memberships or loyalty programs.

Integrating a payment gateway with a travel booking system can provide detailed transaction analytics, enabling data-driven decisions to optimize pricing and revenue management.

How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Optimizing Workflows with Macros and Add-Ons


Google Sheets offers a variety of add-ons and macros that can be leveraged to optimize workflows and automate repetitive tasks.

These tools, such as Sheetgo, Zapier, and Google Apps Script, enable users to streamline business processes, schedule actions, and integrate data from multiple sources.

By utilizing the automation capabilities within Google Sheets, travelers and travel businesses can enhance efficiency and productivity when tracking airline seat availability and managing booking processes.

Google Sheets offers over 250 add-ons that can be sorted by category or searched through the Sheets Addons store, providing a wide range of tools to optimize workflows.

Recorded macros can be stored as functions in Google Apps Script and imported into a new sheet's macro file, allowing users to automate tasks with a single click.

Google Apps Script can be used to write custom scripts and automate tasks, with access available by opening a new Sheet, navigating to Extensions, and selecting Apps Script.

Zapier, a workflow automation tool, integrates with over 6,000 apps, including Google Sheets, enabling users to automate repetitive tasks and streamline data storage.

The Sheetgo add-on allows users to create custom workflows that manage everyday business processes, from start to finish, within the Google Sheets environment.

The Power Tools and Yet Another Mail Merge add-ons can also be used to improve workflow efficiency and automate tasks in Google Sheets.

Google Sheets' `IMPORTHTML` function enables users to scrape seat availability data directly from airline websites, facilitating automated tracking and alerts.

Third-party add-ons like Autocomplete and AutoCrat can further streamline the process of checking seat availability and sending notifications to users in Google Sheets.

Browser automation tools can be used in conjunction with Google Sheets to navigate airline booking pages and complete seat purchases when a preferred seat becomes available.

Tracking seat availability trends over time in Google Sheets can provide valuable insights to help users make informed decisions about their travel plans, optimizing their booking strategies.

How to Automate Airline Seat Tracking and Purchases with Google Sheets - Combining Data from Multiple Sources for Comprehensive Analysis


Consolidating data from various sources, such as financial reports and budget spreadsheets, can be achieved through tools like Coupler.io and Excel's Consolidate function.

By cleaning and preprocessing the data to ensure consistency and accuracy, airlines can leverage data analytics to identify profitable routes, make data-driven decisions on route expansion or contraction, and streamline processes using AI and cognitive technologies.

Combining data from multiple sources provides benefits like improved accuracy, better decision-making, increased innovation, and a competitive edge.

Data integration solutions can connect multiple data sources to a dashboard or report template without blending data in one file, presenting a holistic view of the combined data.

Data consolidation using tools like Coupler.io can increase analytical accuracy by up to 43% compared to manual data merging.

Applying machine learning algorithms to consolidated airline data can identify previously undetected seasonal travel patterns, leading to a 21% improvement in flight scheduling.

Merging real-time flight tracking data with historical weather information can enhance airline route planning, reducing fuel consumption by an average of 7% per flight.

Integrating social media sentiment analysis with traditional customer feedback data can provide airlines with a 360-degree view of passenger satisfaction, leading to a 15% improvement in customer loyalty.

Combining predictive maintenance data from aircraft sensors with flight logs can help airlines preemptively address mechanical issues, reducing unscheduled downtime by up to 29%.

Utilizing natural language processing to extract insights from unstructured customer service records can reveal previously overlooked pain points, enabling airlines to improve their service offerings by 18%.

Fusing flight booking data with geospatial information can help airlines optimize their route network, resulting in a 12% increase in passenger traffic on underserved routes.

Blending airport operations data with flight schedules can enable proactive management of ground handling resources, cutting airport congestion delays by an average of 16 minutes per flight.

Incorporating weather forecast data with airline crew scheduling can improve rostering accuracy, reducing costly last-minute crew reassignments by 23%.

Merging airline loyalty program data with external consumer behavior datasets can enhance personalized marketing campaigns, leading to a 27% lift in conversion rates.

Leveraging edge computing to process and consolidate data from multiple sensors installed on aircraft can provide real-time operational insights, improving fuel efficiency by 4% on average.

See how everyone can now afford to fly Business Class and book 5 Star Hotels with Mighty Travels Premium! Get started for free.