The Best Secret Websites for Finding Cheap Flights

Nowadays, with the skyrocketing costs of travel, you gotta think outside the box if you want to score a cheap flight.  You may be surprised by this, but points aren’t always my go-to for saving money on airfare. Sometimes I may not have enough points, OR the flights offered on one of these websites below is so good that it’s hard to pass up.  Here are some lesser-known websites that I use to find super cheap flights. Each resource has its own unique advantages and drawbacks. So lets dive in:

1.  Skiplagged

Seriously, you have to try this website!  Their tagline is: “Our flights are so cheap, United sued us…but we won.”   The cheapest flights on the internet can be found here. But there is one caveat.  The flights are not very convenient or time-friendly.  Some of the itineraries can take anywhere from 16 to 40+ hours to get you from point A to point B.  Skiplag uses a “hidden city ticketing” technique to pull together the absolute cheapest possible itinerary.  And while you can save hundreds, if not thousands on a ticket, the travel time may not be worth it for some families. 

2. Airfare Watchdog

Where Google Flight lacks, Airfare Watchdog makes up. This site has a price tracker for almost all airlines, even the smaller ones like Southwest. But the real secret lies in HOW you use the site.  For every vacation, I use both Google Flights and Airfare Watchdog to research and set up price alerts, but then I book directly through the airline provider (NOT through Airfare Watchdog). Their “explore” feature and “deals of the day” or “weekender” alerts give me tons of ideas on destinations as well as which airline I need to transfer my points to to provide me the best deal. So use these sites as a tool, but remember to then go directly to the airline’s site for booking. 

3. Going.com/deals – best website for finding cheap flights

Originally Scott’s Cheap Flights, this is the OG of flight alert subscription services. They have a free version, a premium version ($49), and an Elite version ($199).  I’ve been an “Elite” member for 5 years now and I’m still happy to pay the annual fee in order to save thousands on airfare, thanks to their incredibly quick alerts on mistake fares and price drops. With the Elite status, they even send you “points” alerts (Think: 40k points for business class flights)! They’ll also send you strategies on booking flight deals using your points instead of dollars. Amazing!

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4.  Next Vacay

Next Vacay is another subscription-based service that sends flight deal alerts to its members. You will enter your local airport or airports and whenever there is an amazing deal that pops up, they will send you an email. You can also enter your priority destinations and dates as a filter and they will send you deals for them as well.  It’s one of the cheaper subscription services out there so if Scott’s Cheap Flights was too expensive, this may be a good alternative. 

5.  Jack’s Flight Club

This is one of the relatively newer subscription services for flight deal alerts.  And since they are newer and have to compete with Next Vacay and all the others, their free subscription service needs to be one of the best! And it is! They also offer flight deals originating outside of the United States, something that few of the other subscription services offer. 

6. Travel Freely 

I’ve been travel hacking for years, and I can honestly say I have NEVER come across a better app/website than this one.  This free app averages $2,000+ in free travel for it’s members every single year. The app’s “card genie” is like having a one-on-one personal consultant who can recommend the best credit cards for earning HUGE sign-up bonuses, which then offset your cost of flights. You pay for your flights with points!. The app takes into account what cards you have and what cards you need. It’s a MUST for those who want to earn and use points for free travel! You can download the Free App Here. 

I hope these resources are as helpful for you as they have been for me.

Points may be my favorite currency, but I will ALWAYS love finding new and creative ways to save money on airfare (even if it’s not points). So if you ever come across a new website or tool that makes travel more affordable, please send it my way as well!