Places I’m interested in traveling to are: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Vietnam, Africa/South Africa, etc. Can move things around to travel at various times, so just seeking the best deals. I do subscribe to Scott’s Cheap Travel or whatever it’s called now, but any other tips for just finding deals too good to pass up? Thanks!
Do you have 40k or more credit card points? If so, seats.aero can be great.
Mika said:
Do you have 40k or more credit card points? If so, seats.aero can be great.
Naw, just a 100k+ with our favorite airline… I never thought it was worth doing a credit card for general points, but maybe it is worth considering? We do run a good amt through credit cards every year.
- Edit to add: traveled with my brother this year–he used Amex for everything, I used Amex for hotels but the airline card for everything else. Seemed worth committing to one airline for the upgrades/companion tix, etc., but maybe with this new travel bug and more free time, Amex is the way to go? What do you use?
@Skyler
Definitely worth considering. Airline program loyalty is starting to have no value. Having a Chase, non-branded Amex, or Cap1 offers the most flexibility because you can transfer those points to different airlines when you need it.
Having miles with one airline leaves you at the mercy of that airline. So they can continue to devalue your points and jack up the cost of an award ticket.
@Skyler
Then try seats.aero’s explore feature to see good point redemption value for that airline and their international partners.
Mika said:
@Skyler
Then try seats.aero’s explore feature to see good point redemption value for that airline and their international partners.
I use this site all the time. I believe you can toggle for money versus miles.
@Skyler
If it’s from the US, then 100k to see in biz is not going to be enough. Depending on what airline, a lot of the credit card companies partner with the airlines so that you can transfer points. The only major US airline that doesn’t have a transfer partner yet is AA. Citi might change that soon.
Mika said:
Do you have 40k or more credit card points? If so, seats.aero can be great.
Hadn’t heard of that, thanks! Do you get the premium version or is free enough?
Best bet is to wait for something you like or set up an alert on Scott’s Cheap Flights (called Going now). Pricing errors do happen, so just be ready for them. Google Travel also has a flight price tracker.
@Harper
Yes, I was hoping to use Google Flights if possible since I’m somewhat familiar with it, but didn’t see an option for things like, I dunno… alert when price drops 40% below normal (or whatever) to any destination any time.
Is Scott’s Cheap Flight (Going Now) worth money to subscribe to?
Reid said:
Is Scott’s Cheap Flight (Going Now) worth money to subscribe to?
I recommended it to dozens of people, and many thanked me for finding deals for crazy low prices. The fact that they’re not SELLING you anything is the greatest… they just tell you about them, and you book yourself directly with the airline.
I found a few good deals there myself. I’ll go check around the site to see, but now that I’m looking at First/Biz class tix as an option, I don’t think they mention the ability to search by class.
@Skyler
Thanks. Are you using the free version? Premium? Elite?
The elite subscription shows first/business class deals and $199 per year.
Reid said:
@Skyler
Thanks. Are you using the free version? Premium? Elite?
The elite subscription shows first/business class deals and $199 per year.
I used the premium so that I got all the deals offered rather than one per day on the free one. Things maybe changed since I used it a lot before the pandemic. I’ll start using it again though if there is a class option. Gonna check tonight.
Try Travel Zoo.