Is the "flight deal alert" hype actually worth it or just noise?

I keep seeing people swear by those flight deal alerts from services like Scott's Cheap Flights or Going. A buddy of mine spent $50 on a premium subscription last year and says he booked a $300 round trip to Iceland. But when I looked closer, he had to fly out of Newark at 4 AM on a Tuesday, plus he paid extra for bags. That's not a real deal to me if you're adding on fees and taking unpaid time off work. What's your take - are these services actually saving you money, or are they just selling you a hustle?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinson.leo25d ago

Oh man, I've been down this exact road and it's frustrating. I signed up for one of those premium flight alert services for a year and honestly it was mostly hype. Yeah sure I technically saw some cheap fares pop up but like you said they were always out of random airports at weird hours with hidden fees. The worst part is my schedule never lined up with those alerts anyway - I'm not taking three days off work to save a hundred bucks on a red eye with two layovers. If you're retired or work remote with total freedom then maybe it works but for most of us it's just noise. I found that just checking Kayak or Google Flights once a week and being flexible on dates by a day or two got me basically the same prices without the spam.

benflores27d ago

The $300 Iceland trip your buddy got sounds like one of those "it's technically true but also kind of a lie" deals. I checked Scott's Cheap Flights once and every alert was like "Miami to Tokyo for $450!" but then you click and it's actually Miami to Seattle with a 14 hour layover before a separate ticket to Tokyo. Plus these deals always leave from random airports like Newark or BWI at 3 AM on a Wednesday. If you got the flexibility to drop everything and sleep in an airport terminal, sure, you'll save money. But for most of us with jobs and lives, the extra fees and lost time make those "deals" way less appealing. I'd rather just set a Google Flights alert and call it a day.

keithbennett26d ago

@benflores sounds like you got sold a "great deal" that's really just a sleepover at Newark Airport.