Guest Writer ~ Jaclyn Ramirez has some brilliant tips in how to use Scotts Cheap Flights & how it works with families!
Having traveled quite extensively as a single, young twenty-something, I dreamed of experiencing all the world has to offer with my someday family. I dreamed of walking through South American markets with children in tow, a romantic getaway in Europe with my husband and the chaos of African transportation with young kids.
Fast forward 5 years-- the husband came, and so did the kids. But so did paying off student loans, buying a house, upgrading vehicles, and the other expenses involved in well, living. The dream of traveling with my family felt farfetched and out of reach.
That is, until some friends introduced us to Scott's Cheap Flights, a flight deal subscription service that sends incredible flight deals directly to your inbox.
So, how exactly does Scott's Cheap Flights work?
It's so simple.
Enter your email on the Scott's Cheap Flights website. After quickly confirming your email address, you'll select your "Departure Airport", or the airports you would fly in and out of and want deals from. Scott's Cheap Flights will even recommend other airports near you that have the best deals. Get deal alerts directly in your email-- Scott's Cheap Flights emails flight deals to you as they occur from the airports you selected.
There are two versions of Scott's Cheap Flights-- A free subscription and Premium. For a while, we utilized the free subscription, just to see what it was all about. Eventually, as we got more serious about traveling internationally as a family, we signed up for the Premium subscription and we're so glad we did! The $49 annual charge was well worth the thousands of dollars saved in international airfare and we received nearly five times the amount of deals emailed to us along with a plethora of mistake fares and rare deals that are shared exclusively with Premium subscribers.
So, some tips and tricks for using Scott's Cheap Flights based on our experience:
Be flexible-- in all the ways.
On where you go-- We created a list of our top 5 international destinations and kept our options open, providing a narrow enough scope to focus our search for flights, but broad enough to regularly see deals come through for many of our top destination choices. On when you go-- Many (although not all!) Scott's Cheap Flight deals tend to be on the front and back end of the peak seasons in most countries. Staying flexible on when you travel and being willing to travel into the "off season" not only allows for less crowds while you're in country, but allows for incredible prices when flying internationally! On where you leave from-- We chose two "Departure Airports" to receive flight deals from. They aren't airports we would necessarily travel out of for everyday travel, but with price in mind, staying flexible in our departure location was well worth a little extra drive.
Be patient-- We watched Scott's Cheap Flight email deals come through our inbox for over a year before making our first purchase. While you don't have to wait a year, allowing some time to watch the deals come through, look into potential trips, and then wait for the right one was totally worth it for our family. If you miss a deal (sometimes they only last a few hours), don't panic! It's almost certain you'll see a similar deal cycle through in the coming weeks or months.
Take a risk-- Be willing to travel somewhere new with your family! We have always found that traveling with our kids and sharing experiences with them is worth the extra effort to get there.