Going in 2026: is the subscription worth it?

Going, formerly Scott's Cheap Flights, sends flight deals picked by a human team and backed by an algorithm. It is the most established paid alert service on the market — over a million subscribers — and it is very good at what it does. The question is whether what it does matches what you are looking for.

The model: curation, not monitoring

This one distinction explains everything else. Going does not watch your criteria: a team spots good fares and sends them to subscribers.

You pick your departure airports, and you receive what the team found out of those. The same offer goes to every subscriber on the same airport. It is a high-quality newsletter, not a personalised monitoring engine — and it makes no secret of that.

The three tiers

• Limited (free): a few deals per week, US domestic flights only.
• Premium: adds international, in economy. This is the tier most subscribers are after.
• Elite: adds premium economy, business and first.

At the time of writing, Premium runs around US$49 a year and Elite around US$199. Those figures move: check the current pricing before deciding.

Since 2024, a mobile app also lets you narrow your travel preferences somewhat.

What is it genuinely worth?

For a flexible traveller, Going is excellent, and US$49 pays for itself on a single well-caught transatlantic round trip. Human curation keeps the noise down: when a deal arrives, somebody looked at it.

Its other strength is US departure coverage, the broadest on the market, with alerts widely regarded as fast.

The three limits to know

Personalisation stays shallow. You do not describe the flight you want; you receive the ones the team found. If your dates are fixed or your constraints specific — checked bag, no overnight layover, one airline to avoid — most of what lands will not apply to you.

Your departure point decides everything. The service is built around US departures. From Canada, coverage is real but noticeably thinner, and the free tier is useless there: it is limited to US domestic flights.

You are a recipient, not the one giving instructions. Nothing matches the specific trip you have in mind? There is no setting to change. You wait for the next batch.

Who does the subscription pay off for?

Take Going if you fly several times a year, if you are willing to pick your destination based on the deal rather than the other way round, and if a weekly inspiration email suits you.

Skip it if you have a specific trip in mind with constrained dates, if you fly out of Canada and expect equivalent coverage, or if you want to watch several routes in parallel on your own criteria.

Where Kestrelia fits

The two tools answer different questions. Going answers "where can I go cheaply?". Kestrelia answers "when will the flight I want hit my price?".

If you fly out of Canada and your constraints are real, our piece on alternatives to Going for Canadian travellers covers the options. And to place each tool, the Going, Hopper and Kestrelia comparison is broader than this single review.