What is Scott's Cheap Flights? (Going.com)

Every once in a while, on our wanderings through the depths of the internet, we’re lucky enough to stumble upon a hidden gem. The kind of hidden gem with the potential to both make lives easier and save an absolute bucketload of money.

Scott’s Cheap Flights appears to be one such gem. However, what can sometimes seem like a hidden gem can turn out to be a bit of a damp squib.

With that in mind, I’m going to give a rundown of this platform. Hopefully, this will allow you to decide whether it’s the kind of life-changing website we’re all constantly on watch for or whether you’re happy to let this one pass you by.

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Scott’s Cheap Flights rebrand

Before we get stuck into the nuts and bolts of what Scott’s Cheap Flights does, I want to quickly go over their recent rebrand to avoid any confusion.

In early 2023 Scott’s Cheap Flights rebranded, changing all manner of things up to and including their name.

What is Scott’s Cheap Flights called now?

Their new name is Going. The rebrand has been attributed to Scott’s Cheap Flights growing to be more than just a flight deal mailing list.

It now offers a number of wraparound travel services, and it likely hopes to offer even more in the future. As a result, they wanted a name referencing travel in a broader sense.

This begs the obvious question, “Why am I still calling it Scott’s Cheap Flights?”

Partially force of habit. Mostly though, it’s because this rebrand took place in early 2023. Meaning, the majority of people still know of Going.com as Scott’s Cheap Flights. So for the moment at least, it’s easier to keep referring to them by their old name.

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But what is Scott’s Cheap Flights Club (Going.com)?

Scott’s Cheap Flights is a subscription-based travel platform that started out as a newsletter for super cheap flight deals.

Now the site has expanded beyond this, now offering a tranche of features including the ability to search for and set up notifications for cheap flights.

The team at Scott’s Cheap Flights sifts through flights departing from the US looking for insanely cheap flights.

Whether they’re great deals or mistakes by the airline they then notify subscribers so they can grab these flights before prices go back up.

I love that this platform only notifies you of deals where you can expect to see serious savings. Expect flights anywhere from 40%-90% cheaper than their original price - on average users save $550.

Keep in mind, if you want to make the most of these insane deals you need to be flexible. This is so you can take advantage of the oftentimes very specific flight dates that allow for such low prices.

Also, it’s best if you live close to a major US airport since the majority of the best deals originate from these airports.

Finally, Scott’s Cheap Flights only provides deals for flights departing from the US. If you’re based outside of the US you may be disappointed.

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What’s the backstory?

Scott’s Cheap Flights was founded in 2013 by Scott Keyes when he discovered an absurdly cheap flight to Milan from New York to Milan (just $130).

On his return, people around him were so interested in how he managed to find such a cheap flight that he set up a mailing list, notifying people of similarly cheap flights.

From here Scott’s Cheap Flights has gone from strength to strength.

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How much is Scott’s Cheap Flights Club?

I’ll start with the good news - Scott’s Cheap Flights Club does have a free plan. However, this plan is limited. It’s literally called the “Limited” plan.

This plan will occasionally notify you about great deals, but these notifications will come 1-2 days after the team at Scott’s Cheap Flights initially finds these deals.

The deals offered on the Limited plan will only be for international flights, and just for Economy Class seats.

There are two paid plans available. These offer more benefits and may be worth your while depending on your needs.

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Scott's Cheap Flights: Premium

Costing $49 a year the Premium plan offers a host of upgrades compared to the Limited plan.

First and foremost, you’ll be sent all the deals immediately as opposed to having to wait a couple of days - meaning you’re far more likely to be able to snap them up.

The frequency with which you receive such deals is also much higher with the Premium plan.

Upgrading to Premium also provides other benefits including offers on domestic flights, weekend getaway deals and mistake fares.

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Scott's Cheap Flights: Elite

The Elite plan is how to get cheap business call tickets with going.com - it’s the only plan that sends deals for Premium Economy, Business Class and First Class seats.

From the Elite plan, you can expect extra supplemental benefits. These include priority support, mistake fares from all US airports, and points and miles deal alerts.

The Elite plan costs $199 a year.

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Is there a cheap version of Scott’s Cheap Flights?

When it comes to pricing, most similar services are priced pretty closely together, with little difference in the benefits offered.

This said, if you’re based in the UK, there is one platform that is slightly cheaper than Scott’s Cheap Flights. It’s called Secret Flight Club.

In terms of price, Scott’s Cheap Flights (going.com) vs Secret Flight Club - Secret Flight Club comes out slightly cheaper per month.

The reason I recommend it to any Brits out there is that it allows you to select departure airports from the UK. Meanwhile, Scott’s Cheap Flights requires a US departure airport.

But, if you want a site that is totally free and provides similarly cheap deals to Scott’s Cheap Flights then I would recommend Airfarewatchdog.

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Alternatively there is Jack's Flight Club. Jack's Flight Club (JFC) offers greater availability to the UK, Europe and United States combined. JFC is also a mailing list that notifies users when a cheap flight are available on the market, also offering a premium option for as little as $6 per month with a 30 day money back guarantee.

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What do the reviews say?

All sounds great so far, but is Scott’s Cheap Flights legit? Yes, it is legit.

However, that doesn’t mean everyone is a satisfied customer. I’ve compiled a few reviews from Trustpilot to try and showcase a range of customer experiences.

For the most part, people were happy with Scott’s Cheap Flights:

~ SJ a Trustpilot user gave 5 stars saying:

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​​I was fortunate to see a price of an airplane ticket direct from where I live at a great rate during a time I wanted to travel (spring break) so I thought what a great opportunity. A few hours later, I was booked.

~ Sarah a Trustpilot user also gave 5 stars saying:

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Going is fun and makes it easy to find flights. I love that they also have "insider" tips on locations/cities and fun, off-the-beaten path ideas and recommendations.

However, there were people with complaints:

~ Lisa a Trustpilot user only gave 3 stars saying:

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For me- a travel novice- I wasn’t able to snag any deal. I would click on link and be redirected to google flights. It seemed that if you didn’t book the dates that showed up- no real deal was available. In addition- many of the deals were for the lowest exi I my level- with no recourse for cancellations, booking seats, bags etc. Economy Plus is what most travelers book these days, but that added several hundred dollars. I probably won’t renew

And some people had outright bad experiences:

~ A Trustpilot user going by the handle Very Unhappy gave 1 star saying:

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Signed up for the "free 14 day trial". On day 12 I attempted to cancel. All instructions to end the trial PRIOR to being charged $39 were incorrect. The billing page DID NOT have a link to cancel and the chat box indicated, regardless of the time of day, that the office was closed and I should contact them again at a later time. None of the messages I sent were responded to. I don't know if the upgrade was worth it. I have contacted my bank to stop payment. It may be a good deal but I'll never know because of the way they scammed me to upgrade the free trial! In my opinion THEY SUCK!! OH, AND NOW I CAN'T POST A REVIEW HERE WITHOUT BEING SENT TO SOME OTHER LOCATION!!!

~ Jill, another Trustpilot member also gave 1 star saying:

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It seems that no one will do anything to resolve the issue of, my being charged for 2 years even though I canceled.

I prefer to take bad reviews with a pinch of salt unless the company has almost exclusively bad reviews.

If look at Going’s Trustpilot page, you’ll see that they’re almost entirely positive. However, when you look at Scott’s Cheap Flight’s Trustpilot page it tells a different story.

In cases like this, it can be tough to decide whether a platform is trustworthy or not. I’ll usually just go by the most recent reviews - almost all of which are positive for Going.

Why not read the reviews yourself either at Scott’s Cheap Flight’s Trustpilot page or Going’s Trustpilot page?

Are Scott’s Cheap Flights hiring?

After reading this, you might have decided that you don’t just want to subscribe to Going.com, but actually start working for them. I get it, phenomenal writing can be pretty inspiring at times.

Check out their careers page. They seem to hire almost exclusively for remote roles. Although, the ones currently advertised require you to be based in the US.

If there aren’t currently any jobs that are a fit for you, sign up for their Talent Community. Here you’ll receive updates regarding potential job opportunities.

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Conclusion

So, is Scott’s Cheap Flights worth it?

if you’re based inside the US, close to a major airport, and have the necessary flexibility in schedule - this could be that hidden gem you’ve been looking for.

Otherwise, if you’re based outside the US, probably not. You’re better off finding a platform that caters to flights departing from your country - like Secret Flight Club for British people, or Jack's Flight Club for Europe, United Kingdom and US combined.