Going vs Thrifty Traveler: Plans, Prices and Alerts

• $49/year

  Going Premium standard annual price

• $199/year

  Going Elite standard annual price

• $129.99/year

  Thrifty Traveler Premium standard annual price

• 19 Oct 2026

  Date prices and terms were checked

Choose by cabin, points and airport coverage

The practical difference is packaging. Going places economy alerts in Premium and adds premium economy, business and first class in Elite. Thrifty Traveler Premium already advertises economy, business, first class, cash and points alerts, while Premium+ adds hotel features. That makes the cheapest headline plan an incomplete comparison.

If you are comparing the wider market, start with our Going alternatives guide and the broader flight deal alert service comparison. This page is limited to the published features and terms of these two U.S.-oriented services.

Going vs Thrifty Traveler at a glance

Departure coverage is organised differently

Going's workflow starts with a preferred U.S. departure airport. Its help centre lists Premium economy points and miles deals from all U.S. airports, while its membership guide says Premium mistake fares come from your home airport and Elite members can get every mistake fare Going finds. Do not read "all U.S. airports" as a promise that every airport gets every deal.

Thrifty Traveler publishes coverage from more than 200 U.S. and Canadian departure cities and lets paid members choose preferred airports. Its how-it-works guide says members can also view recent deals online. A large airport count is useful only if recent alerts from airports you can reach match the cabins and destinations you would book.

Prices and tiers are not like for like

Going lists Limited at $0, Premium at $49 per year and Elite at $199 per year. Premium covers domestic and international economy deals, custom destination alerts and economy points deals. Elite includes Premium and adds premium economy, business and first class cash and points deals.

Thrifty Traveler lists Limited at $0, Premium at $129.99 per year and Premium+ at $189.99 per year. Its comparison places economy, higher cabins and points alerts in both paid flight plans; Premium+ adds hotel features. Compare Going Elite with Thrifty Premium for higher cabins, not Going Premium with Thrifty Premium on price alone.

Cash, points and cabin focus

Both services publish cash and points coverage, but they divide it differently. Going Premium includes economy points deals; Going Elite extends points and cash alerts to higher fare classes. Thrifty Traveler Premium advertises points and miles award alerts plus business and first class cash fares in its base paid flight plan.

Points alerts are only useful when you hold or can transfer the required currency and the seats work for the whole party. Before paying, inspect how an alert explains programme, cabin, number of seats, taxes and booking route. Neither provider's marketing savings example proves the value of a future alert for your account.

A free trial is not a money-back guarantee

Going's help centre says people who have never redeemed a free trial can receive 14 days of Premium or Elite. Its refund page separately says all membership payments are non-refundable, although a web charge made less than 30 days ago can request a refund exception if you have never received a refund before. App-store purchases go through Apple or Google. An exception request is not a promised refund.

Thrifty Traveler does not present the 100-day term as a free trial. It describes a money-back guarantee for first-time subscribers, which means payment and refund are separate events. Both services renew annually. Save the checkout price, renewal date, cancellation route and exact refund language before subscribing.

Neither service is the default for one fixed trip

A curated feed is strongest when several destinations or travel periods could work. Thrifty Traveler's own FAQ says Google Flights price alerts are the best option for very specific dates. Going now publishes custom flight alerts in its mobile app, but a fixed itinerary still deserves comparison with free route trackers before another subscription. Our guide to flight price alerts for specific dates explains those free options.

Blame the Fare takes another approach: a member can create a Watch for one origin, destination, outbound date, return date and maximum return fare. The founding first year is $49 USD and renews at $79 USD per year, with a 7-day eligible annual trial and card required. Check the current membership and renewal terms before comparing it with free trackers.

Who each service is for

Limitations of this comparison

• This is not a fare test. We did not count, price or independently score the alerts each service sent.
• Coverage is not uniform. A published airport total does not show alert frequency for your airport.
• Plan pages can change. Prices, trials, guarantees and feature splits must be checked at checkout.
• Provider claims remain provider claims. We excluded advertised savings percentages, testimonials and user counts.

How we compared Going and Thrifty Traveler

We compared the live Going plan page, Going membership and refund help pages, Thrifty Traveler plan page and Thrifty Traveler how-it-works guide on 19 October 2026. We recorded standard annual prices, free tiers, published departure scope, cabins, cash and points coverage, trial terms and money-back language.

We treated a free trial, post-payment guarantee and discretionary refund exception as different terms. We also excluded temporary discounts and any claim that one service is always cheaper or finds the best deal. The result is a product-fit comparison, not an endorsement.