3 free tools to stretch your travel $$$ farther

Looking to fly without emptying your wallet? I’ve got you covered! In this article, I’ll dive into three awesome, free tools that’ll help you snag cheap flight deals. These are game-changers for finding those hidden discounts and alerts for price drops. So, get ready to book your next trip without breaking the bank!

Bring sun on the horizon behind a plane sitting on a tarmac.

This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See disclaimer.

Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights)

This one’s my fave. Scott’s Cheap Flights (now called Going) scours airfares to find the best deals from major carriers (Delta, United, American, Southwest, etc.) and sends them right to your inbox with instructions about how to book directly with the airline (no third-party online travel agencies like Expedia).

They’ve also recently launched an app that will send you push notifications of flight deals as well.

They offer their service for free with their Limited plan or you can upgrade to Premium to get their best deals…like $197 nonstop from Charlotte (CLT) to Honolulu on American. No joke. Going is the only premium flight deals service that I use. Period. If you only book one flight deal through Going every other year it will still pay for itself multiple times over.

See more about Going in my full review article here.

Compare Going’s Limited and Premium plans to see which is best for you.

Secret Flying

My favorite completely free flight deals app is Secret Flying. You can also sign up for email notifications through their website, but I prefer to get the app notifications on my phone so I get the deals as they happen.

Sometimes there’s overlap between Secret Flying deals and Going deals, but not as many as you’d think.

Honestly, if you use only one of these two, you’ll get more value from a Going Premium subscription. But since Secret Flying is free, go ahead and sign up for both.

TIP: Keep track of all your important travel details with a digital travel planner like this.

Screenshot of the Secret Flying app homepage
Secret Flying

Google Flights

Google Flights is an outstanding free tool to look for deals on airfares and track prices.

Okay so I’m a travel nerd and I have been known to occasionally poke around in Google Flights just for fun…just to see what fares are available at the moment.

Google Flights also offers some great features to help you track down a cheap flight to your dream destination.

Learn more about how to use Google Flights to save money on airfare.

Screenshot of Google Flights showing where to enable the track prices feature
Track flight prices on Google Flights.

The bottom line

The quest for cheap flights can be greatly simplified thanks to a variety of free tools. These platforms not only allow users to visualize price trends and explore the cheapest days and destinations to fly, but they can also provide features to track and predict the best airfares.

The key to finding the best flight deals lies in utilizing these tools to their full potential and staying alert for any price drops or mistake fares that may arise.

Pin this post!

Pinterest pin image featuring a photo of a plane in flight and a woman booking a flight on her phone. The text overlay says "how to stretch your travel budget. Three free tools to help you score cheap flights!"