Booking a flight, in recent years, has become easier than ever. With so many flight comparison sites, you can easily set filters, find the cheapest deal, enter your details and reserve the flight, all within a few minutes. There is no need to make calls, send emails or worry about printing anything off, everything is readily available to quickly and simply sort out transport to whichever destination you so wish to travel to. However, while you may know the company with which you will be flying, how can you find out about the aircraft? Where is the information on the in-flight amenities or the quality of the food on long-haul journeys? Can you charge your phone and access Wi-Fi mid-flight or will you have to wait until you land? All of these questions are left unanswered by regular flight booking and comparison websites, such as Skyscanner and Expedia. That’s where air travel information websites come in. Featuring the most up-to-date onboard and aircraft details, they include everything from seat width to beverages to number of completed flights. Not only can they help you make the most of your flight by making it as comfortable and relaxing as possible, they can also provide details on quality of service, 360-degree tours and detailed descriptions to help you book with the best company available for your journey.

That being the case, we have compiled a list of the top four helpful sites for air travel, be ita long haul flight across the globe or a short trip to the neighbouring country. Discover in-flight details, view photos, read descriptions, track flights, and leave your own feedback, all by simply checking out the options on this extensively researched list. Being fully informed on what to expect from a flight, particularly when it is for a journey lasting more than just a couple of hours, can be essential for obtaining maximum comfort and satisfaction. For that reason, each site was thoroughly assessed to ensure that a selection featuring only the best were included, with each review containing a brief summary of the service, its highlights, what makes it unique and its potential drawbacks, while the pros and cons of each one are listed in an easy-to-read set of bullet points below each review.

Clearly, a primary factor that should to be taken into consideration when reviewing any type of website is its user interface and, ultimately, how easy it is to achieve what you set out to do. A good, user-friendly interface with simple aesthetic is an obvious, yet often underrated, aspect of many websites, and something that can ultimately influence the entire experience for customers trying to find details on a particular type of aircraft or flight route. While a website may offer a vast array of options and added features, an overcrowded and confusing homepage can make using even the platform’s most simple function difficult for many users. Frequently, the best sites are those with a simple, minimalistic aesthetic that make no attempt to over complicate the service offered by adding too many extra features, while they also seem to be the ones with the fastest loading speeds. Those that have an abundance of pop-up adverts and promotions can also make searching for information a more stressful experience than it ought to be. Therefore, we made sure that, when reviewing the various air travel information websites, we considered the overall usability and how easy it was to find what you were looking for before going on to assess any other factors.

When flying, a number of different factors have to be considered to ensure the most personalised and comfortable experience possible. The ability to quickly narrow these parameters down so that they match customers’ specific requirements is a useful feature to have included, saving time in scrolling through pages and pages of suggestions, none of which are of interest to you. The option to narrow down and sort through search results often comes in the form of filters and ‘Sort By’ options. By applying various filters, you will be able to view all the aircrafts and companies that match your requirements, while the ones that do not match will disappear from view. ‘Sort By’ options, meanwhile, work in a similar way to filters, however as the name suggests, they sort the results once users have added the appropriate filters, so that they can view options in either ascending or descending order depending on what they have selected. If, for example, you are looking for flights that offer customers extra legroom, wifi, and a good quality hot meal at the cheapest price, you will be able to do so by applying filters and then sorting in ascending order by price.

Details matter to people when they are flying and we found that the websites with the most comprehensive in-flight information tended to be better than sites that skipped some of the smaller characteristics. SeatGuru was one example of a site that featured fantastically detailed information, and offered comparison charts to compare airlines in everything from from seat width and leg room to power sockets, entertainment and on-board Wi-Fi. They also use a colour coded ‘seat map’ to indicate the best and worst seats on any particular aircraft based on user reviews and photographs. This level of information goes above and beyond the typical, however for those that frequently fly or are planning a long distance journey, it can be invaluable knowledge to have beforehand. Therefore, when reviewing the various sites, we made sure to include those that offered a greater level of detail in place of those that were more blasé about it.

Finally we looked at whether the platforms offered a blog featuring useful articles to help travellers. Blogs can be great places for providing useful tips, advice and general information on a variety of air travel-related topics, aiding travellers in making the right choice when it comes to deciding with who, or even where, to fly. For example, SeatGuru offers a section called ‘Guru Tips’ on its website, where you can find numerous articles on what to expect from certain airports and airlines, as well as advice on airplane etiquette, saving money at the airport and surviving a long layover. FlightAware, meanwhile, does not provide a blog but rather a discussions page that features a whole host of different articles from users, with topics ranging from general aviation news, to the best flight tracking mobile apps. Ultimately, these contribute towards making the websites more comprehensive and resourceful for travellers, and were therefore factored into the review process.

Overall, this list provides a selection of the four most helpful air travel sites from among hundreds, combining all of the above features to single out only the top four. Flying to a destination is often the initial part of any travel plans, and therefore making it as comfortable and suited as possible should be a first priority wherever you’re headed. With so many companies offering such a wide array of different amenities and services, taking the time to find out all the information you can on any particular airline and aircraft is well worth the time. Hence, we have taken into account the aforementioned factors to provide you with only the very best sites for finding all air travel information you could possibly need, be it the quality of seats or help receiving compensation for a flight that didn’t turn out how you expected. With this list you have everything you need in one convenient place, saving you time in scrolling through pages of results on a search engine to discover the best sites for air travel information yourself.