This Innovative Cheap Flights Newsletter Now Features Points and Miles Offers

Since its inception in 2015, Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) has been an essential tool for savvy travelers seeking unbeatable flight deals. From unbelievable flash sales to aggressive price wars and error fares offering discounts of up to 90 percent, this newsletter alerts its members via email the moment a deal is detected by its cutting-edge software or skilled flight experts.

As travelers increasingly search online for the best possible bargains, subscription-based Going has expanded to over 2 million members and counting. Official statistics indicate that Going members save an average of $200 on domestic economy flights, $550 on international economy flights, and $2,000 on international business and first-class fares due to the newsletter's alerts.

In its latest effort to provide members with the best deals, Going has introduced Going with Points. This feature is exclusively available to those holding an Elite Going membership, the top-tier subscription priced at $199 annually, which includes notifications as soon as excellent points deals are discovered.

“There’s nothing I enjoy more than cheap flights: free flights,” says Going founder Scott Keyes. “Most of the time, when a non-millionaire finds themselves in business class, it’s thanks to frequent flyer miles. Points and miles are the most accessible way for everyday travelers to experience a lie-flat bed on a long journey, and we want to ensure Going members are aware of these valuable offers.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Going with Points and how to score deals that will make you feel like a points expert.

Joining Going with Points

Going offers three membership tiers at various price points: Limited (free), Premium ($49 per year), and Elite ($199 per year). The Going with Points feature is a new bonus available to Elite members without raising the annual fee—how great is that? Elite membership grants access to all first-class, business-class, premium economy, and economy deals from countless U.S. airports, plus weekend getaway deals and mistake fares from any U.S. location.

While soaring airfare prices might make it seem like there are no good flight deals available, the reality is quite the opposite. Last year, Elite members who opted for all notifications received over 2,500 deals. Fortunately, Going allows members to customize which types of notifications they want through various settings. The first step is simply toggling a button under “Notification” settings to choose which alerts to receive.

To receive updates on these new points and miles offers, members need to ensure the “Going with Points” option is selected. They can then specify which classes they want deals for and from which airports (for either cash or points offers).

I personally filter my alerts to include only deals from my local airports (Miami and Fort Lauderdale), but you can track deals from as many airports as you wish. I also limit the notifications to receive only business and first-class deals for international flights, business and premium economy for domestic ones, and all mistake fares across all classes and airports (just out of curiosity).

When You’ll Receive Going with Points Deals

Depending on your preferences, you’ll receive email alerts the moment Going identifies a points or miles deal, complete with a direct link to book it. For instance, with the specific criteria I set, I recently got an email offering a round-trip flight using miles to Australia or New Zealand in business class for as little as 150,000 miles this summer. (Typically, there are either no award seats available or they cost over half a million miles, making this a significant find.)

As I scanned through the email, it detailed specific dates for award availability, the cities from which the award tickets could be booked (including Miami), and how to access the mileage tickets through direct links to Aeroplan and Avianca, the two award programs offering the deal through partner airlines in the Star Alliance network. It even included instructions for booking via transfers from American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points, as points from these loyalty programs can be transferred to either or both Aeroplan and Avianca frequent flyer programs.

It might seem strange that this incredible deal involved flights on United and Air New Zealand, but the offer didn’t link to booking through either of their programs. This is because, although United, Air New Zealand, Aeroplan, and Avianca are part of the same airline alliance, they don’t have uniform pricing for award bookings. Both United and Air New Zealand charge about three times the miles, which is why Going would never flag those high prices as a “deal.”

How Frequently Will I Receive Points Deals?

Keep in mind that while cash deals from Going often flood your inbox, points deals are not as common. Recently, I received at least seven fantastic cash offers, but only one points deal based on my criteria. I decided to ease my settings a bit to explore what else I might find, and a few more opportunities emerged, including a round-trip to South Africa for as low as 80,000 miles in economy class for travel between June 2023 and May 2024. Other economy round-trips that Going members have spotted this summer include Paris for 24,000 points, Tokyo for 50,000 points (including availability during cherry blossom season next spring), and Bali for 88,000 points.

Determining What Qualifies and Acting Swiftly

One more aspect to appreciate about Going: It doesn’t inundate your inbox with random deals. The service values credibility and integrity, sending members offers that are significantly lower than retail prices (often 50 percent or more off). So, when I receive a Going with Points notification, I know it’s a serious opportunity. I also understand that other members will likely act quickly, making it essential to decide fast. While some cash deals remain available for a while and can be accessed on the Going dashboard long after the initial alerts, points deals tend to vanish rapidly due to limited availability.