An honest review of Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights) Premium at $49/year — what the flight-deal alerts actually get you, how the free and Elite tiers compare, and who should skip it.
Checked against primary sources, July 2026 · How we verify
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What Going actually is
Going is not a booking site and does not sell you flights. As of July 2026, it is an alert service: you tell it your home or departure airports, and it emails you when unusually cheap fares — or outright mistake fares, where an airline briefly misprices a route — appear. When a deal lands, you book it directly with the airline or an online travel agency. Going's job ends at the alert; the transaction is between you and the carrier.
That structure is the key to judging it. The service is not competing with a booking engine on price or convenience; it is competing on discovery — surfacing fares you would not have thought to search for, from your airports, at the moment they exist. Mistake fares in particular are time-sensitive and vanish quickly, so the value is in the speed and relevance of the heads-up.
The tiers, side by side
There are three tiers, and the jump from free to Premium is where most of the useful deal flow appears.
Feature
Limited (Free)
Premium ($49/yr)
Elite ($199/yr)
Price
$0
$49/year
$199/year
Economy deals
Continental U.S. only
All domestic and international
All domestic and international
Premium economy / business / first
No
No
Yes
Mistake / error fares
No
Yes
Yes
Points and mileage deals
No
Yes
Yes
Card needed to start
No
Free trial available
Free trial available
Going membership tiers, as of July 2026 — confirm current terms on going.com
The annual prices make the ladder clear at a glance.
Free$0/yr
Premium$49/yr
Elite$199/yr
Going membership tiers, annual price, as of July 2026
The free Limited tier is a fair way to sample the service, but it only sends economy deals to the continental U.S., so it misses the international and mistake fares that make the paid tier interesting. Premium at $49/year opens up all domestic and international economy deals, the newsletters, mistake fares, and points and mileage deals. Elite at $199/year is a narrower proposition — it adds premium economy, business, and first-class deal alerts, which matters only if you fly (and can book) those cabins.
The savings claims, read honestly
Going markets the service with concrete savings figures, and they are worth quoting precisely because the framing matters. The company says Premium members save an average of $500 on international flights and $200 on domestic. Those are company-reported averages, not guarantees — an average blends the members who caught a spectacular mistake fare with those who never booked anything, and your personal result could be far more or far less.
Who it is for — and who should skip it
The honest math is simple. At $49 a year, a single well-timed deal — a cheap international economy fare, or a genuine mistake fare — can pay for the membership many times over. But that only happens if you can actually take the trip: fly on the dates the alert surfaces, from the airports you set, at short notice. The service rewards flexibility and punishes rigidity.
A single good deal can pay for the year many times over — but only if you can actually fly the dates and routes it surfaces.
Pros
Cheap relative to a single flight saving — one usable deal can cover the $49 several times over.
Surfaces international economy and mistake fares you would not have searched for yourself.
A free trial (currently around 14 days) lets you watch real deal flow before paying.
Adds points and mileage deals, useful alongside a travel-rewards strategy.
Cons
Near-useless if your travel dates and routes are fixed — you cannot act on most alerts.
Savings figures are averages, not guarantees, and your result may be nothing.
It is an alert service, not a booking tool, so you still do the booking legwork yourself.
Mistake fares are time-sensitive and can disappear before you are able to book.
As of July 2026, Going Premium is $49/year, which works out to about $4.08 a month billed annually. There is a free Limited tier at $0 and an Elite tier at $199/year (about $16.58 a month). Going usually offers a free trial, currently around 14 days, so you can see the deal flow before paying. Prices can change — check going.com for the current terms.
What is the difference between Going Free, Premium, and Elite?
As of July 2026, the free Limited tier sends economy deals to the continental U.S. only. Premium ($49/year) adds all domestic and international economy deals, newsletters, mistake or error fares, and points and mileage deals. Elite ($199/year) adds premium economy, business, and first-class deals on top. The tier you want depends on where and how you fly.
Does Going guarantee I will save money?
No. Going publishes averages, not guarantees: the company says Premium members save an average of $500 on international flights and $200 on domestic. Those are company-reported averages, and your result depends entirely on whether you can actually fly the dates and routes the alerts surface. Treat the figures as marketing averages, never as a promised outcome.
How does Going actually work?
You set your home or departure airports, and Going emails you when unusually cheap fares or mistake fares appear. You then book directly with the airline or an online travel agency — Going is an alert service, not a booking site. As of July 2026, that means the value hinges on flexibility: if you can act fast and travel on the surfaced dates, a single deal can pay for the year many times over; if your travel is rigid, the alerts are hard to use.