abujiggy 
If you’ve ever paid $1,200 for a flight that was briefly available for $380 because of an airline pricing error, you know the pain of missing a mistake fare. Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) is the service that hunts those fares for you and emails you as soon as one appears. It’s less of an AI tool and more of a curated alert service powered by a mix of human experts and AI-driven pattern matching — and if you’re flexible, it can save you hundreds per flight.
What is Going?
Going is a flight deal alert service. You sign up, pick your home airports, and they email you when unusually cheap flights appear — think 40% to 70% off typical fares. The deals come from a mix of legitimate sales, fare glitches, mistake fares, and flash promotions.
Originally started as Scott’s Cheap Flights by a guy named Scott who was obsessed with hunting cheap flights, the service has grown into a full company with AI-powered deal detection, an expert curation team, and a mobile app. They rebranded to “Going” in 2022.
How it actually works
The magic happens in three layers.
Layer 1: AI fare monitoring. Going’s systems continuously scrape fare data across dozens of airlines and hundreds of routes. ML models detect anomalies — fares that are significantly below the typical price for that route.
Layer 2: Human expert verification. Before an alert goes out to subscribers, a human expert verifies the fare is bookable, checks for hidden gotchas (brutal layovers, wrong return dates, no baggage), and writes a short description. This is what separates Going from pure automation.
Layer 3: Email alerts. You get an email like “Dubai to Tokyo, $520 return (normally $1,100), book before Thursday.” You click, you book, done.
Free subscribers get economy deals only. Paid subscribers (“Premium” and “Elite”) get business class deals, mistake fare alerts, and longer lead time before alerts expire.
Do the deals really exist?
Yes, I’ve tested this. In the last 18 months, Going alerted me to:
- Dubai to Lisbon, $480 return (typical: $750)
- Dubai to Tokyo, $540 return (typical: $900)
- Dubai to New York, $620 return (typical: $1,200) — this was a mistake fare that was pulled within 4 hours
- Dubai to Cape Town, $510 return (typical: $850)
- Dubai to Bangkok, $310 return (typical: $450)
I booked the Tokyo and Lisbon ones. The New York mistake fare I was too slow on — they recommend booking immediately for anything marked “mistake fare” and that’s good advice. I was checking my email at 9pm and the fare was dead by morning.
What I like about Going
You don’t have to hunt. This is the killer feature. Instead of manually searching flight sites daily hoping to catch a deal, Going hunts for you and emails you. Zero effort.
Human verification cuts noise. I used to subscribe to fully-automated fare alert services and got dozens of emails per day for deals that weren’t actually deals (cheap fares with brutal layovers, non-changeable one-way tickets, wrong date formats). Going sends maybe 2-3 deals per week for my region and they’re all actually good.
Regional targeting. You pick departure airports and they only send deals relevant to you. If you’re based in Dubai, you get Dubai deals, not random LAX specials.
Business class deals are real. Premium/Elite tiers get alerts for deeply discounted business class. I’ve seen $2,200 business class fares to Tokyo (usually $5,000+). Worth the subscription for one big trip.
Expert tips. Each deal includes context from the expert who verified it — “this is the cheapest we’ve seen this route in 18 months” or “book within 24 hours, prices are rising fast.”
Where Going falls short
You have to be flexible. Deals come for specific routes and specific date windows. If you need to fly to a specific city on specific dates, Going probably won’t help — you’ll need to do the normal flight search.
Free tier is limited. You don’t get mistake fares, business class, or some international deals. Most of the best stuff is behind the paywall.
Deals expire fast. Especially mistake fares. If you’re not checking email hourly during the business day, you’ll miss some.
Origin airport limitations. Some smaller airports don’t get many deals. If you’re based in a tertiary city, Going’s value is much lower than if you’re in a major hub.
No trip planning. Going finds you flights. It doesn’t plan your trip. Use it alongside a planner like Layla or Mindtrip.
Going vs Hopper vs Google Flights
These three tools solve different problems:
- Going: “Alert me when there’s a great deal from my airport.” Passive, curated, high signal.
- Hopper: “Should I book this specific flight now or wait?” Price prediction for specific routes.
- Google Flights Explore: “Show me all flights from my airport right now.” Active discovery.
I use all three. Going catches the big deals I wouldn’t find manually. Google Flights handles specific routes I already know I want. Hopper tells me when to pull the trigger.
Pro tips
Add all your nearby airports. If you live near multiple airports (like NYC with JFK/LGA/EWR, or LA with LAX/BUR/LGB), add them all. Deals vary by airport.
Act fast on mistake fares. If the email says “mistake fare” or “book within 24 hours,” drop what you’re doing and book. These are pulled fast by airlines.
Have a list of dream destinations. When a deal email arrives, you need to make a fast decision. Having a mental list of “if I saw a $500 fare to Tokyo I’d jump on it” helps you move quickly.
Book refundable if uncertain. Some mistake fares are honoured, some aren’t. Use a credit card with trip cancellation protection if possible.
Upgrade to Premium for one trip. If you have an expensive international trip planned, pay for a month of Going Premium. If you catch one deal, it pays for itself ten times over.
Verdict
Going isn’t an AI travel planner — it’s a flight deal alert service with AI and human experts working together to hunt bargains. For flexible travelers who care about price more than specific dates, it’s one of the highest-ROI travel subscriptions you can buy.
Start with the free tier. If you find yourself wanting the deals you can see in the email preview but can’t book (because they’re Premium), upgrade for a trip or two. You’ll likely make the money back fast.
Going is one of 26 AI travel tools on my AI Travel Tools directory. Also see my Hopper review for AI price prediction on specific routes.
Leave a Reply