I'm Scott from Scott's Cheap Flights. Here to help find you cheap flights & answer travel questions for the next 7 hours! AMA

Ever managed to get a 100% discount? Did you then put on shades and say "looks like you got off... Scott free"

Sheeeiiiitttt me at the airport IRL getting five-finger discount flights: http://giphy.com/gifs/deal-with-it-joe-biden-Me9HRX7wrTsKQ

Hi Scott,

I emailed you about something specific, and you gave me personal advice based on my situation and even monitored the flights for a little while to make sure I got the right price. That experience really stood out because I didn't even expect a response. You're absolutely amazing.

My question is, how are you able to keep a personal touch while probably getting hundreds of requests (if not more)?

Edit: also, do you see Sydney/Auckland flights being cheap any time soon? (From the east coast)

That is so kind of you to mention, thank you!

Honestly, I just feel like if someone takes the time to write me, it'd be kind of a jerk move not to respond? Maybe I'm old-fashioned that way haha. But I feel like I owe it to people, especially all you early adopters who took a chance on this weird guy with some cheap flight list, you know?

In any case, so kind of you to mention and I really appreciate it :-)

It's true that there are now hundreds of emails a day, but in terms of how, lotsa caffeine, quick typing fingers, and a decent ability to multi-task.

Thank you again!

Hey Scott, do you need any help with those emails and finding cheap flights? Finding the things I want for as little money as possible is pretty much my favourite pastime. It sure would be great to do that professionally...

ahhh sorry, didn't mean to ignore! RIP inbox and all.

wanna shoot me an email [email protected]? would love to chat about this more

Sent. :)

:-)

Hey Scott, love the free emails! I signed up last time I saw you in here and I've already booked two flights to Europe for this year! I was wondering if there'd be a way to filter the emails so that I only receive them if they contain an airport around me? It's really disappointing to see an awesome deal on a flight I'd love to book, only to see that the closest airports are 10 hours away.

Thanks for doing this!

Amazing!! Where are you going??

Great question! So we just implemented that functionality (seriously last week) to filter alerts so it's only for airports you're interested in, but alas it's one of the perks for premium subscribers. Really sorry about that!

Totally reasonable

:-)

You seem like such a nice person and I just want to give you a hug.

Aww I love random Reddit hugs! * hug *

Where is your favorite travel destination that you only discovered after finding a cheap flight there?

Ohhh great question! This is going to sound silly, but Milan. I had zero interest in going to Milan, until I found a nonstop flight there for $130 roundtrip. Who wouldn't go to Milan for $130 roundtrip??

Granted, I didn't spend a ton of time in the city itself (aside from seeing an AC Milan game), but there's so much magic in northern Italy. Took a train to hike Cinque Terre, took a train up to Lake Como for the day, even took a train out to the Italy/Switzerland border to ski the alps right by the Matterhorn. All on a whim! Likely never would've gotten to do any of that if not for the cheap flight.

EDIT: flights were NYC-Milan for $130 nonstop roundtrip. Sorry for ambiguity about origin before!

$130 round trip from where?

shit sorry, just saw this. NYC-Milan. will edit comment above to make that clear.

Flight to Milan for under $200.... be still my beating heart!

Not as good, but I'll play shill for Scott here, from his email list I got round trip to Rome for $350. Still pretty freakin' awesome.

ahhhhh love u :-)

even took a train out to the Italy/Switzerland border to ski the alps right by the Matterhorn.

Cervinia-Breuil? How was it? Did you rent gear or bring your own? I'll be there in 2.5 weeks.

that's the one! it's glorrrrious. i rented at a place in town. wasn't very pricey if i recall. doesn't seem worth the hassle to me to bring your own.

have a great trip!! if you are inclined hashtag any instagram photos #scottscheapflights so we can follow along and repost!

Milan is awesome, I miss living there, so many good location within a 4hr drive from Milan too. French riviera, to alps, to tuscany.

It's so true! And 25yo Scott had no clue until he landed. They needa advertise themselves better!

Any good honeymoon success stories? Weddings are so expensive, I'm losing hope of being able to travel with my husband for the next few years :(

Ahh well first off congratulations to you and yours!

Tl;dr: yes!

Longer answer: you're absolutely right that honeymoons can be suuuuper expensive, especially with summer flights and whatnot. But one of the most gratifying success stories I see each day are couples who didn't think they'd be able to afford a honeymoon but ended up getting one because of the list!

Some of the more popular honeymoon destinations for US travelers of late (along with price):

• Paris for $351 roundtrip
• Mallorca for $469 roundtrip
• Croatia for $541 roundtrip
• Rome for $498 roundtrip
• Hawaii for $475 roundtrip

Not nothing, obviously, but hopefully much more affordable than the $1000-to-Europe many people are used to paying!

Ow wow! Hawaii sounds amazing! But Paris is somehow a better deal? Ah, so romantic. I'm totally daydreaming right now.

OK off to check out your website. Bye!

:-P tough choice!

$475 round trip on Hawaii!?!? assuming that this is per person which is STILL ridiculous. Food included? Cause god knows those flights LOVE to be technical with it being a "domestic" flight despite the 12 hours it takes.

Yeah! $475/person. Wish that were for 2! But when prices from Atlanta are typically $700 to Hawaii, $475 ain't bad!

Patiently waiting for domestic US deals. Do you have a timeframe?

Ahhh hopefully this year, but lemme explain a bit more about why I haven't started doing domestic US deals yet.

Flights to Europe typically cost $900. Many of the flights I'm able to find and send out cost $400. Savings: $500.

Domestic flights vary significantly by routing, but typically are $350 or less. Let's say you're flying JFK-LAX. Typically $350. A really good price for that route would be like $225. Savings: $125.

Obviously nice to have those savings, of course, just not nearly as much on an absolute level, you know?

You got me a cheap flight to Paris yesterday! <$700 roundtrip for two tickets!! Amazeballs. Thank youuuu.

Any tips for Paris?

Ahhh congrats!! That's so wonderful to hear :-)

Confession: I've never actually been to Paris. Sorry! Maybe someone else on here has and can guide you instead?

Definitely wander through Montmartre, go up to Sacre Coeur so you can see the Paris skyline with the Eiffel Tower (cause when you go up the tower, it's missing from the view, obvs)!

Sounds legit! Thanks for the help :-)

Hey Scott, I've been a premium member for a couple months now and as a Cincinnatian I'm still waiting for that "Holy Crap!" deal that everyone else seems seems to get. My question though, have you ever been burned by third party travel dealers like Travel Merry and Explore Trip? I helped a buddy out by finding him cheap tickets to the Phillipines. It was through Explore Trip and after booking I decided to check their reviews. They were awful so I got nervous and cancelled right away. Has that ever been an issue with you?

Hey there, thanks for checking in! Ahh the Delta monopoly puts a damper on cheap flights out of CVG, but it was one of my home airports growing up and I search for it with every possible deal.

Were you on the list in November when the flights from Cincinnati to mainland Europe ($400 roundtrip) or Greek Islands ($500 roundtrip) popped up? Those were the bees knees.

I haven't been burned personally by any OTAs like those you'd mentioned, but I've read the same reviews you have. I'm torn about how much weight to give them -- after all, how many people take a flight that went as scheduled and feel motivated to write a review of the company they bought it from online? So I think there's a bit of a response bias at play, you know?

That having been said, there are real differences between buying from OTAs and buying directly from airlines. Without typing a total wall of text I'll just link to the FAQ I wrote up about OTAs, but if anything there you're unclear about happy to go into it more!

Yeah it killed me when I saw the $400 flights. But it was Christmas time and with two kids I didn't have the extra cash to throw around. I got lucky on the Phillipines flight though and booked directly through EVA airlines for pretty much the same price.

Ahh well congrats on that! I've never been to the Philippines but the snorkeling there looks unreal

The hookers are awesome, too!

Fair enough!

I've booked a flight from Frankfurt to Cincinnati with a layover in Detroit and back I have a layover in Washington DC. Do you know if it is possible to skip the flight from Cincinnati to DC if I want to visit the city a day or two before the departure?

I booked the flight for 500€ 3 month ago. I think it is way cheaper in winter. The last time I was in Cinci it was summer and I payed around 1200€. Someone told me that CVG is one of the more expensive airports in the US.

And if you have time: I am in Cincinnati the whole February. Any suggestions which US city I could fly to on a low budget for a short trip?

First off, happy Pie Day!!

Ahh alas if you skip any leg of an itinerary the rest of the itinerary gets automatically cancelled. So you can only skip a leg if it were the last leg of a trip you didn't want, but what you're talking about would cancel your return flight to Frankfurt.

Chicago's not far and a great city! And be sure to go on the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky, it's fantastic.

Why are there rarely great deals out of DFW?

The stupid AA monopoly there :-(

I wrote up a longer explanation here but the tl;dr is that the American Air monopoly in DFW prevents more airlines from competing on price, so fewer opportunities for cheap flights, mistake fares, etc.

Hey Scott! What do you think about solo travel? Is it a good experience or better to go with a friend?

Oh man. I highly recommend everyone travel solo at least one, purely as a learning and get-to-know-you experience.

But personally once I've gotten that growth out of the way I'm a big fan of shared experiences. Misery loves company :-P

Thanks for the advice ;)

Anytime!

P.S. what kind of dog is that? He's so cute!

Hah! Aww that's Chela. She's a rescue so not 100% sure what kind of dog, but we think a dachshund mixed with a pit bull. Definitely a Grade-A pup :-)

I have seen some real bargains but the stopovers can be long. How long would a stopover have to be before you decide it isn't worth the saving? Back in 2012 I got cheap return tix to Amsterdam with Garuda, stopovers in Jakarta and Dubai before Amsterdam. The stopovers really added to the exhaustion.

Great question. The answer is partly to-each-his-own, but also partly depends on the city you're laying over in.

If it's in a city like Frankfurt with a quick-and-easy train from the airport to the city, I actually like half-day layovers because it gives me a chance to sample a new city that I might not have seen otherwise and then decide if it's worth coming back to. I've gotten to do that in places like Frankfurt, Seoul, Hong Kong, etc.

But you're definitely right that multi-leg trips are usually much more exhausting than direct flights. Nice if you can get em cheap!

Yeah I agree. 5 years on I mainly remember the nice cheap price of the Sydney to Amsterdam flight and not the stopovers. A cheap flight allows you to stay longer in destinations so that's always worth it.

Fair point

You have to fly somewhere on the basis of food alone, where are you going?

Ohhhh great question. Can I give you three? If so, Japan, Mexico, and Spain, in no specific order.

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Ohhh awesome! Where in the US are most of your family members?

Yes, I think there's a strong chance cheap-ish flights to Hong Kong will pop up for this summer. Plenty of time for it to happen.

P.S. Where's the best dim sum in HK?

Hi Scott, love your service! I am curious if you would ever consider adding 'business class' section to your premium service? Do you see these type of mistake fares or big discounts on business class flights?

I am considering it! Hoping to do it a bit later this year :-) It'd probably have to be a slightly different list since what's "cheap" for business class would shock people used to econ prices, you know?

But yes, I do every once in a while see big discounts for business fares! Found some $377 roundtrip US to Peru business class seats last year and just this week sent out €500 roundtrip Oslo to Zanzibar/Seychelles/South Africa in business.

Hey Scott!

Have you personally gotten on a cheap flight to a certain destination that turned out to be an instant regret?

Ooo great question! Like I regretted going there or regretted buying the ticket?

Scott! Love your site! Have you ever thought about leveraging your service for larger group travel? You have fans. Many of us are like minded. Why not help put a group of us together and have us invade a small tropical island for a week? It could be good PR too.

Hmm good question! I haven't yet, though it does sound like a perfect stepping stone on my path to world domination...

And your talk of a small tropical island just sweetens the deal. I'm in! Where do I sign up for your tropical excursion list, u/happytrailz1938?

Hey Scott, my gf and I are hoping to head to Colombia for 7-10 days in June or July this summer from Washington, D.C. Any advice on finding a good deal?

Ahh fantastic! Cheap flights to Colombia pop up fairly regularly, so don't book too early. (Don't wait too long either since it's peak summer.) I'd recommend monitoring prices and booking if they get below $350 roundtrip, and setting late March or so as the deadline to book if nothing great has popped up before then.

If you're feeling saucy monitor prices out of NYC too bc it can be a lot cheaper and can be worth a Megabus ride up to take advantage :-)

With your help, I booked roundtrip tickets to Paris for an insane price (thank you!!). I just read that you've never been to Paris (what?!) but we are also using our time there to spend 4 days in London. Do you have any tips or "must see" places???

Amazeballs! Ahhh I so love to hear that :-)

I know right? It's my personal shame.

Ooo must see in London:

• Take a free guided walking tour the first day to get oriented and learn City of London
• Get high tea at the Saatchi Gallery
• Go to the British Museum, of course
• Get lunch at the Borough Market
• It's a great city for wandering, so don't be afraid to throw away the plans and just explore :-)

Because of your emails, my husband and I booked flights to Munich from Memphis for less than 450 each(typical prices from Memphis to Munich is about 1500)!!! This was in November when there were so many great deals to European cities. Great deals hardly ever come from Memphis Airport so I ran around my office telling everyone to start booking trips and you got a whole bunch of new subscribers that day!

Are there times of year where whole groups of flights get crazy discounted? I thought it was interesting that almost all the major cities in Europe were <$500 the week of Black Friday. Coincidence?

Amazing!! Ahhhh I so love hearing success stories :-) And thank you for spreading the word!

Re: timing, I think it was a coincidence. The biggest cause is an unadvertised fare war between the major airlines, and those pop up because of a multitude of factors like demand, unsold inventory, pricing, fuel costs, etc. but not so much a particular time of year.

My local airport, Charlotte Douglas International (CLT) is all but monopolized by American Airlines/U.S. Air. Over they last few years they've been pushing every other airline out. Does this make it more difficult to find cheap flights?

What is the cheapest major city you could get me to out of CLT?

Argh yeah, the AA monopoly in CLT is super annoying huh? I'm afraid it does significantly hamper cheap flight opportunities out of there.

The good news though is sometimes other airlines like United try to come in and poach some CLT travelers with cheap offerings, like $405 roundtrip to Barcelona I found last week and sent out to the list.

If you want a slightly longer explanation of why not more cheap flights out of CLT I wrote up this explainer: https://scottscheapflights.com/few-deals-from-specific-airport/

Are you a Rick and Morty fan?

I've only seen one episode and may not have been sober. Why ya ask?

Hi Scott!

We've talked about Kenya and Mombasa - do you have a timeline for us to receive notices for Africa?

Cheers!

Ahh hoping to soon! If you go to https://scottscheapflights.com/choose-your-location/ you can put your name on the list to be notified when Africa's up!

Hey Scott! What are your favourite airlines for both value/quality?

Oh man. I'd been an American Airlines quasi-loyalist for a few years, but not for any particular reason.

Gun to my head one of the nice Asian ones like ANA or Cathay, but honestly I'm not one of those travelers who cares a ton about who I fly or that stuff. It's all about the destination for me :-)

I really want to go to Munich for Oktoberfest this year (and probably visit Austria and Switzerland too). In November you posted a huge deal throughout Europe and I could have flown from my home airport CVG round trip for under $500. I blew it and didn't purchase the tickets. Any chance a similar price will spring up like that later in the year? Obviously you can't predict the future, but maybe similar prices appear multiple times a year.

Flights out of CVG like that are rarely under $1000 and often around $1100-1200.

Ahhh that sucks! I feel your pain though, I've had some great deals like that that fell through my fingertips and now have perma-regret over :-/

I think there's a decent chance something like that pops up again. Whether or not it will have availability to Munich over Oktoberfest is another question, but especially if you can fly anywhere nearby it's easy to get to Munich from there. Those $400/$500 everywhere in the US to Europe unadvertised sales pop up once or twice a year on average, so I'm hopeful.

Hey Scott ever been to Sicily? If so any suggestions for best places to eat or see?

Oh maaaaaan I wish! Alas, the furthest south I've been in Italy is Rome :-( Sorry I can't help more on that front!

Have you had any bad experiences on any of the flights you have taken?

I was on a flight back from Hawaii once that had the worst turbulence our flight attendant had seen in her 25 years on the job. Surprised no serious injuries to any passengers. Other than that so far so good! knocks on wood

Did you 2+ weeks without sending emails or did something from server to my gmail go wrong?! Just started getting emails again. Premium user btw.

Noooo been sending them out. Will you shoot me an email (scott@scottscheapflights) and I can make sure your account gets straightened out? No flight deals = no bueno

Hey Scott, any good deals on flights from London to Seoul or Tokyo for August?

What do you recommend doing in those countries for that time frame? I've been told it might be unbearably hot for someone from the UK.

Ahhh there were some flights a month ago from UK to Tokyo for £248 return! Hope those pop up again, they were amazing.

In South Korea, you must go to a baseball game. We went to one in Seoul this past August (we saw the LG Twins) and it was one of the coolest sporting experiences of my life.

In Tokyo, eat all the sushi, go to a sumo match if they're happeningm and eat here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/%E6%85%8E-%E6%B8%8B%E8%B0%B7%E5%8C%BA-2

Hi Scott -

Wow I had never heard of this before, but it's a game changer! I actually just put my 2 week notice in at my job so i can travel. I have a trip to Europe booked, and the first 35 days are accounted for, but I'm interested in hopping around from there.

What is your favorite location in Europe, and can you find cheap flights throughout Europe? I would love your input - I'm going to go check out your website now! Thanks in advance! :)

Amazing!

My favorite location in Europe...hmm that is a great question. I've been to about half the countries there and my favorites in general are probably Czech Republic and Lithuania. The best mix of price, food, scenery, history, English-speaking, etc. If you want scenery though, go Scandinavia or Switzerland. If you want food, go Spain/Italy/Greece.

Have a great time over there!!

I love premium email service! As a Kentuckian, I know the flights from nearby airports are few and far between, but I love that I can filter for ones within a half a days drive. Also where do you think the best place to do a solo trip would be?

Awesome!! And I promise you I search SDF and LEX and CVG with every possible deal :-)

Hard to beat Europe or southeast Asia for solo trips. Cheap prices, traveler infrastructure, other travelers to meet along the way, etc.

Hello Scott.

Have you ever looked at flights going in and out of Guam, USA to the mainland US? Seems like we get treated as international sometimes and not others. Prices are never on sale and the mileage they (United and Delta) ask for is insane. I'd live to read your thoughts on how best to approach buying tix outta here.

Thank you!

Ahh great question! So I haven't been including GUM as a departure airport I search for the US list, but we're going to be launching the Scott's Cheap Flights - Asia list soon, so we'll include Guam on there :-)

United sometimes has some solid fares over to the west coast departing Guam. Have seen in the $300s/$400s roundtrip from time to time

Hey Scott! How about some help finding a cheap flight from Tallinn to Milan at the end of March?

Love your service, thank you so much!

Sure thing! How long you looking to stay for? Or is it a one-way trip?

I'm going there for a conference from 29-31 March, but we're looking to make a mini vacation out of the trip, maybe a week total. A good flight into Florence would also work. Thank you!

Are you averse to easyjet? They've got the best price at €127 direct return TLL-MXP for a week.

https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=TLL;t=MXP,LIN,FLR;d=2017-03-26;r=2017-04-02;sel=TLLMXP0U22668,MXPTLL0U22667

Have a blast in Milan! It's a cool city but the entire region is magical :-)

I'm looking to fly from Chicago, IL to Portland, OR sometime in June or July? Would you be able to help me find a cheep flight for that? I'm not sure if 6 months out is too far though :P

Not too early for summer travel! You're smart to plan ahead. How long are you thinking to stay ideally?

Hey Scott :) what do you think is a good price for a flight from Europe to Uruguay when it doesnt matter how long it takes and how often someone must change the plane? Is 500€ with 2 Stops and a 21h long flight cheap?:)

500€ is decent! Is it from your home airport?

I think 500€ is right about the cutoff for where I'd consider good. Any higher and it becomes meh, any lower and you're getting into a solid deal for sure

Hey Scott! I still haven't used any discount but hope to do so soon! :) Regarding the premium prices – how do I know I'm being offered the regular or discounted (for the first 250 subscribers) price?

Ahh great question! The limited-time prices are 9/15/29 for 3mo/6mo/12mo, so if it's no longer that then you've missed the boat I'm afraid. (Zero pressure, seriously!)

Hi Scott, first off, thanks for all the advice, I am subscribed to your mailing list and although I live in Europe I often find a lot of your tips and suggestions carry over to budget travel within Europe. Thanks to your advice am actually about to have a four day vacation in Bucharest for only €80.

Now my question, out of all of the destinations you have been, where would you say you got the best "bang for your buck"?

Ahh amazing! Thanks for being one of the early Europe subscribers :-)

Oh maaaan great question. Okay gun to my head I'll say Taiwan. The food is amazing, the outdoorsy stuff is amaaaaazing (Taroko Gorge is like a green Grand Canyon), and the prices on everything is dirt cheap. 10/10 would recommend

Scott, I just got your recent email re: JFK to Paris. Is it worth it to grab the $89. flight to JFK from buffalo and risk timing it all perfectly (getting bags, checking in), or stick with finding something out of here or toronto?

I would. I doubt you're gonna see much better fares to Paris from JFK and certainly not BUF. $440 all-in BUF-Paris is amaaaazing. The best strategy would be if you have any friends in the city you want to catch up with and fly down to NYC the day before.

P.S. Love y'all's weck :-)

Thanks, booking both this eve. Make your own 'weck impress your friends.

I've never made my own weck but I have been to a game at the Ralph and lived to tell about it