Thrifty Traveler vs. Going (Dollar Flight Club): Best Flight Deal Service in 2026?

Key Points

  • Thrifty Traveler Premium is the better pick if you want award alerts alongside cash deals.
  • Going (formerly Dollar Flight Club) Premium is the better value for cash-only deal hunting from major U.S. hubs.
  • Free tools cover most of the value for occasional travelers who fly only once or twice a year.

TL;DR

Thrifty Traveler Premium wins for travelers who use points and want award alerts. Going Premium wins for cash-flight hunters who travel from a major hub. As of April 2026, both services regularly save members hundreds per booking.

Introduction

If you have ever wondered whether a flight deal alert service is worth the subscription fee, you are asking the right question. The two most-recommended paid options in 2026 are Thrifty Traveler Premium and Going, the service formerly known as Dollar Flight Club (and before that, Scott's Cheap Flights). Both promise the same basic outcome: cheaper flights, sent to your inbox, before they disappear.

Here is what they actually do, what they cost, and which one is the right fit depending on how you travel and pay. As of April 2026, pricing, features, and gaps between the two services have shifted enough that older comparisons are out of date.

Quick Summary

Best For Award Travelers: Thrifty Traveler Premium. The only paid alert service that includes award availability alerts.

Best For Cash-Only Hunters: Going Premium. Broader free tier and a deeper bench of cash deals from major U.S. airports.

Best Free Alternative: Going's free tier, paired with Google Flights price tracking.

Current Pricing (April 2026): Thrifty Traveler Premium runs roughly $80 per year. Going Premium runs roughly $49 per year, with a free tier and an Elite tier near $199.

A Quick Note on the Going Rebrand

If you are confused about which service you are looking at, you are not alone. Going has been through two name changes in five years.

It launched as Scott's Cheap Flights in 2015, founded by Scott Keyes. The brand rebranded to Going in 2022 to broaden beyond economy cash deals. Then in late 2024, Going acquired Dollar Flight Club and folded that subscriber base into the Going platform. Some readers still receive emails branded as Dollar Flight Club out of habit, but the underlying product is Going.

For this comparison, I am treating them as the same service. If you signed up for Dollar Flight Club anytime before 2025, your subscription is now a Going subscription.

Thrifty Traveler Overview

Thrifty Traveler is a Minneapolis-based publication founded by Jared Kamrowski. The free side of the site is a points and miles blog. The paid side is Thrifty Traveler Premium, which sends hand-picked flight deals to subscribers via email.

What sets it apart from every other paid alert service in 2026 is its award alerts. Thrifty Traveler Premium flags both cheap cash fares and aspirational award space. Think Air France business class to Paris dropping to 50,000 miles one way, or Lufthansa first-class space opening up six months out. No other paid service in the U.S. market currently does this at scale.

The cash deals are also strong. Mistake fares (the rare moment an airline accidentally publishes a $400 round-trip business class ticket) get flagged within minutes. Members who book fast can save thousands.

Pricing as of April 2026 is around $80 per year. There is no permanent free tier, but the email signup gets you a sample of recent deals.

Going Overview

Going (the rebranded Dollar Flight Club / Scott's Cheap Flights) operates on a freemium model and is the larger of the two services by subscriber count. Its appeal has always been the volume of cash deals it surfaces from major U.S. departure cities.

The structure has three tiers as of April 2026:

Free: A handful of deal alerts per month, limited airport selection, no premium economy or business class deals.

Premium: Around $49 per year. All cash deals, all cabin classes, full airport coverage, and mistake-fare alerts.

Elite: Around $199 per year. Adds premium-cabin focus and earlier access to high-value deals.

Going does not send award-availability alerts. Every deal in your inbox is a cash fare. If you are flying on points, you will need a separate tool. Options include AwardLogic and Point.me, and our DailyDrop Pro review covers another popular pick.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Award Alerts

Thrifty Traveler: Yes. Includes business and first-class award space across major programs.

Going: No. Cash deals only.

If you travel primarily on points, this single difference settles the comparison. Thrifty Traveler Premium is the only one of the two that pays attention to your miles balance.

Cash Deal Volume

Going: Larger. The platform has been doing this longer and pushes a higher number of deals per week.

Thrifty Traveler: Hand-picked rather than firehose. Fewer deals, but each one is reviewed by the editorial team.

If your inbox tolerates volume and you want to see every deal under $400 from your home airport, Going wins. If you want a small number of high-quality alerts you can act on without scrolling, Thrifty Traveler wins.

Mistake Fares

Both services flag mistake fares quickly. In April 2026 testing, Thrifty Traveler had a slight edge on speed for premium-cabin mistake fares, while Going had broader coverage for economy mistake fares from secondary airports.

Airport Coverage

Going: Roughly 200 departure airports worldwide, with strong U.S. coverage.

Thrifty Traveler: Similar U.S. coverage, lighter on smaller international hubs.

For most U.S.-based readers flying out of a top-50 airport, both services cover your home base.

Free Tier

Going has a permanent free tier that is genuinely useful for occasional travelers. Thrifty Traveler does not — its free side is a content blog, not an alert service.

If you fly twice a year and do not want to pay for a subscription, Going's free tier is the obvious choice.

Pricing Breakdown

Here is what each tier costs as of April 2026:

  • Thrifty Traveler Premium: roughly $80 per year.
  • Going Free: $0.
  • Going Premium: roughly $49 per year.
  • Going Elite: roughly $199 per year.

Pricing for both services has changed multiple times in the past three years. Always check the current price before subscribing. Promo codes and first-year discounts are common on both platforms.

Pros and Cons

Thrifty Traveler Premium Pros

  • Only paid service that includes award alerts.
  • Strong premium-cabin deal coverage.
  • Editorial style with fewer alerts and a higher hit rate.
  • Useful for travelers with a meaningful points balance.

Thrifty Traveler Premium Cons

  • No free tier beyond the blog.
  • Slightly higher annual cost.
  • Lower volume of pure cash economy deals than Going.

Going Premium Pros

  • Free tier is genuinely useful.
  • Lower annual cost than Thrifty Traveler.
  • Higher volume of cash deals.
  • Strong coverage of economy deals from secondary airports.

Going Premium Cons

  • No award alerts at all.
  • Volume can mean noise. More deals to ignore.
  • Brand confusion from the Dollar Flight Club rebrand still trips up new users.

How They Compare to DailyDrop Pro

A third name worth mentioning is DailyDrop Pro, which we covered separately in our DailyDrop Pro review. DailyDrop's product is different: it is not primarily an email alert service. It is a points-and-miles search and tracking platform with a daily newsletter on top.

If you are deciding between all three:

  • Thrifty Traveler Premium for hand-picked cash and award alerts via email.
  • Going Premium for high-volume cash deal alerts via email.
  • DailyDrop Pro for a search-and-track tool with a newsletter, not an alert-first service.

The three are complementary rather than direct substitutes. Many readers I talk to subscribe to Going free and Thrifty Traveler Premium together. The free Going alerts cover cash deals, and Thrifty Traveler covers awards.

Who Should Get Thrifty Traveler

Great Fit For

  • Travelers with 50,000 or more points across Chase, Amex, Capital One, or a major airline program.
  • Anyone who has ever booked a business or first-class flight on miles and wants to do it again.
  • Readers who prefer a small, high-quality deal feed over a firehose.

Not Ideal For

  • Travelers who fly cash-only and never plan to use points.
  • Anyone flying once or twice a year. The free Going tier covers this use case.

Who Should Get Going

Great Fit For

  • Cash-paying travelers from major U.S. hubs who fly three or more times a year.
  • Readers on a strict budget who want the lowest possible cash fare.
  • Anyone who already has a strategy for points and does not need award alerts.

Not Ideal For

  • Award travelers with a stockpile of transferable points.
  • Travelers from small regional airports with limited international service.

How to Get the Most From Either Service

A flight alert subscription is only useful if you can act on the deals. That usually means having a flexible card with travel protections and the right earning categories. A solid pair to keep in your wallet:

The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 2x on travel, transfers to airline partners, and includes trip delay and cancellation insurance. That is useful when a mistake fare turns into a chaotic itinerary. Annual fee is $95.

The Capital One Venture is the simpler option: 2x miles on every purchase, transfer partners, and a $95 annual fee. If you do not want to think about category bonuses, this card pairs cleanly with a flight alert subscription.

For a deeper look at what credit card travel benefits actually move the needle on a booking, see our breakdown of the best credit card travel perks.

Final Verdict

If I had to pick one, I would put Thrifty Traveler Premium ahead for most readers of this site. Most readers here use points, and the award alert feature is genuinely unique in 2026. The roughly $80 annual cost is paid back the first time you book a business-class award seat that the service flagged for you.

If you fly cash-only and never plan to use points, flip the recommendation. Going Premium at around $49 per year is the better value for pure cash-deal hunting, and the free tier is a fair starting point if you only fly once or twice a year.

If you fly often enough to care, the realistic answer is to subscribe to Going's free tier and pay for Thrifty Traveler Premium on top. Together they cost less than Going Elite alone, and they cover both sides of the market: cash and awards. Pair either subscription with a flexible travel card, and the math works in your favor by the second or third booking.

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