Hi, my daughter told me about a possible money-saving option for selecting flights today that her friend has been using. Has anyone been using Going.com? It used to be Scott’s Cheap Flights.
I thought about bringing it up during our next local RS travel group meeting but thought the broader forum might have much more to say on the topic.
I’ve just used Skyscanner & Google flights for checking & monitoring in the past, and then I always book directly with the airline.
Pros & cons?
Thanks!
Another site that lists last minute savings for the flexible traveler is Thriftytraveler.com. Like Going.com, there is a subscription service cost associated with best membership level.
Con. He charges you for his service
Please keep continue your good practice of only booking with the airline. When one of these sites send you to kiwi.com or edreams etc. Back out. Because chances are very good you’re going to be ripped off or you’re going to have problems and if you don’t believe me, go over to Tripadvisor type in the name of your fly-by-night travel agent into the Search and see what pops up - it won’t be pretty.
Similar service in my area: cheapdfw.com (has other Texas cities as well). Like others have said, it will notify me of sales that pop up but isn’t a place to actually buy the tickets so you aren’t caught with a third party. Not as useful for when I want specific routings or destinations but great for if I am open to inexpensive options. It has both a free and a paid subscription.
I will relay my experience. I used to have their free service, then during the pandemic they offered super cheap premium membership so I did that. Now I have a paid premium account that is I believe $49 per year (I think they do offer some discounts for military/students/teachers). Membership gets you email notices about deals for your chosen airports. Free accounts get slower notifications. Premium accounts have faster notices and more airport choices, and elite accounts have even more choices and include deals for higher fare classes. You can also search for deals on their website (I think access depends on your account level).
My experience is they link you directly to Google flights where their search criteria pre-populates and then you pick dates and book directly with the airline or the third party booking service (just like using Google flights on your own). I don't believe any flights are booked directly through the Going website. The deals are often a really specific set of criteria and the ones I get are usually for very basic economy (no bags, no seat reservations, etc.). So you do have to pay close attention to the details and timing. For example, yesterday I got notified about a nonstop flight to Amsterdam from my home airport (Portland, Oregon) for $465 traveling November-March - which is a great deal. This morning when I click through to Google flights, that price is gone, though using the flight grid I can see other dates with some reasonable prices (a 10 day trip in December, $669 for basic economy or $843 main cabin). Other recent emails showed super prices but the details were terrible (58 minute layover in Chicago, no thanks).
I haven't yet found a deal I can take advantage of, but I just retired so I am hoping to take advantage of my increased flexibility. For about $4 per month I figure it's an educational experience, plus if I do find a deal that will likely offset membership cost. I'll reevaluate the value when my account renewal comes up.
I like Going.com for their "deals". May not work for your specific trip dates (like an RS tour), but we were able to get a super deal to Madrid at Thanksgiving by using the $49 a year price. It was about 500 roundtrip from Sacramento...I get excited when I find RT to Europe for less than 1k as I usually have to plan for about 1500 per person! So, we "splurged" to pick our better seats with some more leg room and the trip was still less for 2 of us than I usually plan for. YMMV and it worked for us. Our flight only has one stop both ways in Dallas - so that was great too. Well worth the $49 I would say!
I will note that the price they sent for Thanksgiving was this past January - and if I had searched myself I could have found it. But I would not have gone looking....it is so easy to put in an airport or 5 to "follow" and then see what they send.
I will also say I am not retired, so the ability to go "last min" is pretty limited, but the "Thanksgiving in Spain" email sure caught my eye 10 months ago, and now we leave in less than a month!
Steph,
Your reply has made me start thinking that this site would end up costing me a lot of money! LOL! I am retired, although busy with weekly volunteer work, and I could see myself reacting to these flight specials! Or worse, being notified and knowing I had to pass it up. ; )
All of a sudden I would need to carefully keep a Schengen running count.
Don't sign up for Going.com unless you love to travel, because they will push deals to you quite often that are almost irresistible. Once you start researching the flights you might come to realize they come with a lot of restrictions. I had them for a while and then tried to cancel and they made me some "special" offer.
It used to be Scott’s Cheap Flights.
https://www.bbb.org/us/co/boulder/profile/discount-stores/scotts-cheap-flights-inc-1296-1000117125
I would be wary. Not to say they haven't improved/corrected their operation, but wide open eyes looks to be a a good approach to this entity
Thank you, everyone, for your replies! I also received a private message from one of our forum travelers who uses and really likes this option.
It sounds like there are both pros & cons to consider it carefully either way.
