We're professional cheap flight finders. Here for 4 hours to give free help finding you cheap flights! AUA

We're three professional cheap flight finders here to donate our time to helping any Redditor who has questions about finding cheap flights or wants help with a particular trip! Ask us anything :-)

Our bios:

  • Scott and Brian run Scott's Cheap Flights, an email list to alert people when mistake fares or similarly cheap flights pop up. In the past week, we've alerted subscribers about roundtrip flights to India for $212, Colombia for $209, Barcelona for $399, Barbados for $157, and dozens more. (If you're interested you can check it out here: Scott's Cheap Flights, but honestly no pressure!)

  • Vlad is the co-founder and also a flight hacker at Flystein. Flystein is a personalized flight search service for individuals and teams. Our experts help you save money on flights, using various travel hacking strategies that beat the traditional search engines. We specialize on international flights, taking into account all of your preferences, and help you save an average of $250. Find out more here: FlyStein.com.

  • Beck founded Nomadfly - Nomadfly is a simple online course and travel community that shows you how to find cheaper flights by breaking your itinerary up and buying one way tickets to more destinations, paying as you go.

Our Proof:

UPDATE: Due to popular demand and my complete inability to say "no" we ain't stopping this AMA at the 4-hour mark! Thanks again to all you A1 redditors who've been signing up for Scott's Cheap Flights. Fingers crossed it doesn't get the good ol Reddit Hug Of Death :-)

UPDATE 2: Taking the dog out for a quick walk. Will be back in 20 and try to answer as many of your questions as possible! <3 <3 <3 Okay back now!!

UPDATE 3: Still chugging along! Trying to get to as many people as we can. Also Flystein has had a Reddit Hug of Death, but you can still signup for their monthly newsletter.

UPDATE 4: u/beckisprobably from Nomadfly is back! We're spread out around the world (USA, Thailand, and Italy) so some of us had to get some sleep :-) We'll keep doing our best to answer questions. Thanks again Reddit!

UPDATE 5: What started off as 4 hours is about to turn into 24 hours! u/scottkeyes1 will continue answering as many questions as possible throughout the day. Thank you all again for such an awesome AMA :)

Comments: 3769 • Responses: 15  • Date: 

treverios4200 karma

Do you know the song?

EDIT: Thanks all kind strangers. Last time I checked, this comment was at 6 upvotes.

The group behind this great song is Fascinating Aida.

briankidwell610 karma

Feck. That is epic.

limbodog1401 karma

Hiya,

It always seems to me that no matter what website I check on, the prices range from outrageous to astronomical. And then I hear my friends flying half way around the world for $37.20 and a smile. Am I just going to the wrong places?

vlad_flystein866 karma

Hi limbodog! Probably your friends refer to travel hacking using credit card signups. It's a valid strategy but has some limitations: like you have to be a US resident, good credit score, find a card or with large signup bonus and use card to meet minimum spending - usually few $K and wait few months and then find an award flight without fuel surcharges. Actually cash prices for international flights are record low. Where do you want to go and what is your max budget?

limbodog372 karma

I want to go to Japan from Boston, but haven't bothered setting up a budget for it because it seems out of reach.

nevesis263 karma

Pretty sure I've seen Tokyo to Boston on Scott's list before :)

briankidwell521 karma

Yeah, Scott sent out a roundtrip Boston to Tokyo deal in June for $660 or so :)

PedroDaGr873 karma

What IS your budget. Obviously you won't get there on $37.50 but considering I was able to go to Thailand (which flew THROUGH Tokyo) for $700, you should be able to at least get $100-200 less than that. I have no clue if Boston is a notoriously pricey airport like Charlotte (the nearest international airport to me) but certainly you could take the train to somewhere like DC or NYC which are often very affordable.

limbodog53 karma

$700 RT would be amazing

PedroDaGr837 karma

Looking at Scott's emails that I have received (I am a premium member, but only for a couple months) I haven't seen Boston mentioned for any flights to Japan. I have seen deals to India, Vietnam, Beijing and Taiwan though. Boston seems to be mentioned a lot for the European deals and South American/Caribbean deals though. NYC on the other hand (if you can get there easily) has loads of very low priced deals to Tokyo.

briankidwell49 karma

We sent one out back in June, but like you said, they're more common from NYC :)

lillekasvol2903 karma

What's the best time to book flights? Are there really 'the best days' and 'the best times'?

briankidwell994 karma

and no, there aren't best days or best times. that's a weird quirk that existed back in the 90s/early 2000s when airlines' IT was less complex than today and they only updated prices once a week on tuesdays. no longer the case

briankidwell905 karma

depends where you're flying. in general, for international flights i recommend booking 2-6 months in advance. any longer than that and you miss out on future sales, any sooner and the price usually spikes.

obnoxygen612 karma

Do you clear cookies between searches or use private mode browsing?

briankidwell1208 karma

Scott Keyes: I have basically never found a difference. I think this is an urban myth, or hasn't existed for years. Didn't a reddit user once offer a $10k bounty for someone to show video proof that incognito actually led to cheaper flights?

beckisprobably86 karma

No but I've found sometimes if I tell the search engine I'm booking from a different location, in a different currency I can save quite a lot. Haven't managed to do any proper testing yet, seems like a big beast. (And for me it's worked on one way international flights, long and short haul)

briankidwell121 karma

These guys did a study on it a couple years ago. Interesting results: https://www.goldenfrog.com/blog/save-money-on-travel-with-vyprvpn

mrmaddness154 karma

Why don't you do domestic flights Scott?

briankidwell83 karma

This is on our radar, but we don't have a set date just yet. It's a bit more of a beast than international flights :)

jibas129 karma

When would be the best time to book a flight from the US to Europe for June 2017?

scottkeyes1161 karma

i would start looking at prices in december, then keep monitoring until you find a price you like. would be sure to book by march or so, since summer europe travel tends to be pricey

jibas35 karma

Thanks Scott! Love the email list and I've shared t with a bunch of friends and family!

briankidwell27 karma

:)

oednj110 karma

How do I find reasonable prices to Orlando from EWR/PHL/Trenton for a family of five?

briankidwell143 karma

a few ways! the more flexible you can be with your dates, the better your chances of finding cheap flights. also be sure to search Southwest separately since their fares don't show up on search engines like Orbitz.

swimbikerunrun84 karma

Just wanted to say that:

A) my gf is addicted to your emails (she has the premium subscription!)

B) our wallets have a love / hate relationship with you

C) we've shared you with all of our friends

D) please don't tell other Redditors that you're giving away two free flights (email campaign today). Shhhhh!

And I need to ask a question so what's the most discounted price you've ever seen?

briankidwell68 karma

A) Yay! Thanks u/swimbikerunrun's gf!

B) lol - why take 1 vacation when you can take 2? :)

C) Scott and I are very grateful! Thanks for spreading the word!

D) We'll try to keep it a secret :D

I'm not sure what the lowest price is that Scott has seen, but he found me a roundtrip deal from Taiwan > Sacramento > Taiwan for $176 (http://imgur.com/a/0QZjs). My mind is still blown.

somedude45660 karma

[removed]

scottkeyes165 karma

:-P even if you don't win the contest, you've won my heart

somedude45610 karma

<3

I work with many folks with families over seas, so they are always looking for a good deal to return and visit family.

briankidwell7 karma

:)

saymynameright37 karma

That would be me! Im writing this from Bangkok, on a trip sponsored by Scott.

briankidwell21 karma

Nice! u/beckisprobably is actually in Bangkok I think! And I'm in Chiang Mai :)

Hope you're having fun!

NoFunHere18 karma

I have my 21st anniversary coming up next Valentine's Day. I don't have much money, but I have free hotel points. Now I just need a cheap flight from Houston to anywhere cool for a Valentine's Day anniversary.

Where should I go and how can I fly two people for cheap, cheap, cheap?

briankidwell14 karma

Happy (almost) anniversary! What type of vacation do you have in mind? And how cheap are you thinking?

The fact that you don't have a location in mind is really great since it gives you a ton of flexibility.

In the past two weeks Scott has sent deals from Houston to:

  • St. Croix - $375
  • St. Thomas - $245
  • Ho Chi Minh City - $633

I'd just keep your eyes out on the emails for a great deal. As soon as you see one you like, book it! :)

CrackerSentry1 karma

I'm bit confused but how do I join your email?

briankidwell2 karma

If you're referring to Scott's Cheap Flights you can just head over to the home page and enter your email in the box there, or wait for the pop up :) Here's the link: scottscheapflights.com