Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Secrets to Finding Cheap Flights and Avoiding Fees, Straight from Scott’s Cheap Flights
Wed, 26 Mar 2025
Learn when to book flights, how to spot mistake fares, and ways to use lesser-known tips like booking stopovers and tapping into rideshare rewards. When is the best time to book a cheap flight? Do budget airlines actually save you money after all the fees? Scott Keyes, founder of Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights), joins Smart Travel to talk about how to actually find cheap airfare — including how to time your bookings, when to use points instead of cash, and how to pounce on mistake fares before they disappear. He also busts some of the most persistent airfare myths (spoiler: incognito mode won’t save you money). But first, Sally and Meghan break down the latest travel headlines, including new perks and price hikes for United Airlines credit cards, changes to the Delta-Lyft partnership, and why JSX credits might actually be worth something. They also share the best deals they’ve ever gotten on airfare and how to use free stopover perks. Resources discussed in this episode: United Credit Cards Unveil Major Changes: Higher Fees, More Perks Earn Delta Miles for Uber Rides: New Partnership Replaces Lyft How to Maximize the United Excursionist Perk In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: best time to book flights, airfare myths, flight deals, mistake fares, Goldilocks booking window, how to find cheap flights, budget airlines, Spirit Airlines fees, Frontier Airlines fees, JSX flights, United Airlines credit card, United card benefits, airline card perks, United Club card, Lyft Delta partnership ending, Delta Uber miles, Uber SkyMiles, 24-hour flight cancellation rule, booking flights with points, best points for travel, Air Canada Aeroplan dynamic pricing, Flying Blue Air France, travel stopovers, free stopovers, Icelandair stopover, Turkish Airlines hotel stopover, United excursionist perk, multi-city travel, hidden city ticketing, best rewards credit cards for flights, travel credit card updates 2025, how to avoid flight layovers, booking partner airlines, and reselling airline tickets. In a previous version of this episode, the name of the United Quest card was not mentioned. A line was added for clarity.
Chapter 1: What are the latest travel updates from major airlines?
And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip. And today is a special episode because we brought on another travel expert to help you find the deals. Stay tuned for an interview with Scott Keyes, the founder of Going, which is a flight deal service. But first, some news.
So our first topic is credit cards related. So here is our usual spiel. We'll talk about a few credit card companies that are nerd wallet partners in this episode, but that does not influence how we discuss them.
Chapter 2: What changes are being made to United Airlines credit cards?
Chase just announced a slew of new benefits to the United Airlines co-branded cards. The United Gateway card, which is the $0 annual fee card, now has two free checked bags each year. To be clear, you only get those after you spend $10,000 in a calendar year with your United Gateway card.
Yeah, so that might be unrealistic to actually hit that $10,000 spending threshold. Don't go out of your way to spend that money if it's something you wouldn't do otherwise. But at least this benefit is maybe better than a poke in the eye.
And some more bad news. The United Explorer card is going up in price. It will now have a $0 intro fee for the first year, then $150. That's up from the previous annual fee, which also had a $0 intro fee, and then $95 per year.
Sadly, I think $150 is the new $95. You know, I'm thinking about another card like the Delta SkyMiles Gold. That's the equivalent card in the Delta family of cards. It also has the same $0 intro annual fee for the first year, and then it's $150 after that.
And you're kind of seeing the same thing with mid-tier cards as well. The United Quest card is increasing its annual fee by $100 to $350. But it also added some perks, like a $200 United Travel credit. This is instead of the previous $125 United Flight credit. And this is annually, so... Each year you get that kind of discount on a United flight.
There is also a new 10,000 mile award flight discount. That's every year and 1,000 card bonus PQP each qualification year starting in 2026. PQPs are what you need to earn elite status. Oh, and one fun one I'll add is up to $150 in credits on JSX purchases annually. JSX is a semi-private flight service where you can fly in these small private jets that can usually hold up to 30 people.
And we're going to talk about JSX later, in fact. Oh, and let's finish out these United card updates. I'll make it quick. The annual fee on the United Club card is also increasing from $525 to $695. Oh, yikes. That's a lot. Yeah, it's sad. The lounge membership fee is going up, too.
So it's slightly cheaper to pay the annual fee on the United Club card if you can get approved for it, even with this higher annual fee. But still, that's a lot of money to spend on a single airline card.
Okay, so did they at least add any other benefits to make up for it?
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Chapter 3: How is the Delta-Uber partnership impacting loyalty miles?
Womp womp. I feel like we should have a sound effect for devaluations.
Ooh, make it happen. Playing the points and miles game does feel like being on a game show sometimes.
Now let's go back to JSX, that semi-private jet service we mentioned earlier. Why don't we tell people a little more about what it is?
So with JSX, instead of going through a regular airport and its standard security, you'll board in a private hangar. Plus, JSX has partnerships with both JetBlue and United, so you can earn frequent flyer miles for either of those programs when you fly JSX.
That sounds so awesome, like this private jet experience, walking out on the tarmac. But how much is it?
Yeah, so it's definitely more expensive than your standard airline, but much cheaper than a true private jet. So if you're looking at something like a flight from LAX to, let's say, Las Vegas, Obviously, airfares fluctuate, but you can find a flight on JSX for something like $250, $300. Now, you can probably find a flight on that same route on a standard carrier, sometimes for less than $100.
But that's so much less than probably the thousands you would pay for a private jet that it can be at least worth the experience for some people.
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Chapter 4: What is JSX and how does it compare to traditional airlines?
And with some of those credits on the United cards, like the $150 credit, I mean, that $250 credit became a $100 flight to Vegas one way, which isn't too terrible.
So let's go to the new JSX updates, and that is that JSX has just unveiled a new list of destinations that will begin offering service in May or June. Those include Santa Fe, New Mexico, Destin, Florida, and Monterey, California. Those routes will go between existing cities that JSX already serves. I'm talking about locations like Dallas and Las Vegas.
Should we go to the Monterey Aquarium, Sally?
Oh, yes. Field trip. Field trip.
Sally, I've been so excited ever since you told me you landed this guest because I've been following him for a long time. Yes, our guest today is Scott Keyes, the founder of the Flight Deals Alert Service, going. I've been on Scott's email list for years, back when it was called Scott's Cheap Flight. Same. I think the best deal I got was that $317 round trip flight from California to Beijing.
Oh my gosh, it was so cheap. It was crazy. And even more recently, I booked a deal to Edinburgh, Scotland, and it was $500 round trip from Washington, D.C. And the dates were perfect because it lined up with my childhood friend's wedding in Scotland. And Scotland's not the most common destination. Like most people fly to London and then either take another short flight or a train.
But I'm always really impressed with the variety of destinations that Scott and his team are able to find deals for. Really cool spots.
I flew to Croatia because I found a deal through him. I booked a flight to Hong Kong from San Francisco. That was about $500 per person. Often, I think these flights to foreign countries are cheaper than what I pay to go see my parents in Missouri.
And that's the reason Scott started the company in the first place, because he found a killer flight deal back in 2013. I think it was between New York and Milan.
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Chapter 5: How can you find cheap flights with Scott’s Cheap Flights?
But international, more like two to eight months off peak, four to 10 months during peak travel period. That's the best way to get the timing of your booking right.
What is the number one mistake people make when they're looking for airfare?
Yeah, look, I think that most people say they want cheap flights. And then the way they go about trying to find cheap flights is the exact opposite right approach. Here's what I mean. We all say, oh, I really want to get cheap flights. Airfare is so expensive. And then we do a three-step process when we search for flights. Step one, we decide where we want to go.
Step two, we decide when we want to go there. And step three, we look, well, what are the prices cost? What are the flights at? Does that sound about right, Sally? Does that sound like the way that you might search for flights usually?
That's how definitely most normal people go. I think you and I are a little different.
That's true. That's true. But look, by setting price as the last priority, it's not terribly surprising we end up with some pretty expensive flights. And so what I tell folks is like, look, if cheap flights are a priority – Make them the priority. Take that same three-step process and reverse your search.
Step one, where are there cheap flights available right now out of my home airport, knowing that that changes every day? Step two, of those places that are available cheap right now, which one interests me the most? Where would I like to go? And step three, what dates do they have those cheap flights available that work for my schedule?
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Chapter 6: When is the best time to book a flight according to Scott Keyes?
So by setting prices the top priority rather than the last priority, That's how you end up being able to get cheap flights and take three or four vacations for the same price you used to pay for one.
Yeah, and it definitely sounds like being open-minded to location is the way to go. And, you know, that's how I found some of my most exciting locations. I went to Croatia randomly just because there was a cheap flight and I would have not gone to Croatia otherwise.
Totally. You know, it's funny you mentioned that exact destination. I remember, you know, interviewing a couple for a book I wrote a few years back and they had the exact same experience where a mistake fair from Columbus, Ohio to Zagreb, Croatia.
That's where I went to.
Oh my goodness. Yeah, it was under 350 bucks round trip.
Maybe we felt the same flight.
They might've been. They had never thought of going to Zagreb, but they were like, for that price, you know, look, we'd fly that same amount to fly down to Florida or to go over to Texas. Let's go to Croatia. Let's be serendipitous. And they ended up having the trip of a lifetime.
So I think leaving yourself open to serendipity is a great way, not only to be able to get cheap flights, but to take much more interesting, unexpected vacations than you might otherwise.
Yeah, I agree. It was totally interesting and totally not a place I would have gone to otherwise. So I do want to ask you about budget airlines. What is your take? Do these things actually save you money? I'm talking about Spirit, Frontier, or do all the hidden fees cancel out the savings? So it depends.
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Chapter 7: Do budget airlines really save you money?
Chapter 8: What is the Goldilocks window for booking flights?
Totally. You know, it's funny you mentioned that exact destination. I remember, you know, interviewing a couple for a book I wrote a few years back and they had the exact same experience where a mistake fair from Columbus, Ohio to Zagreb, Croatia.
That's where I went to.
Oh my goodness. Yeah, it was under 350 bucks round trip.
Maybe we felt the same flight.
They might've been. They had never thought of going to Zagreb, but they were like, for that price, you know, look, we'd fly that same amount to fly down to Florida or to go over to Texas. Let's go to Croatia. Let's be serendipitous. And they ended up having the trip of a lifetime.
So I think leaving yourself open to serendipity is a great way, not only to be able to get cheap flights, but to take much more interesting, unexpected vacations than you might otherwise.
Yeah, I agree. It was totally interesting and totally not a place I would have gone to otherwise. So I do want to ask you about budget airlines. What is your take? Do these things actually save you money? I'm talking about Spirit, Frontier, or do all the hidden fees cancel out the savings? So it depends.
Obviously, if you're only traveling with a backpack, it's definitely going to save you money. Because I've looked at flights from my home airport in Portland down to Las Vegas, and the Spirit flight costs $25 each way. The next closest Alaska flight costs $130. So an extra over $100. But You mentioned once you start taking into account some of the fees.
Some of those bag fees.
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