Worried prices will drop after you book flights? Not sure what to do? Let us do the work for you: Early testers of our free new FareTracker tool have already claimed almost $5,500 in airline credits. Also today: Kyle’s surprising his sister with business class to London, and the best window to book holiday flights has moved up again.
- 📉 Meet FareTracker: Our Free Tool That Watches Your Flight’s Price
- 🤝 Deal of the Day: Delta Gives SEA up to 40% Off & $12 Upgrades
- 📖 Gettin’ Booksy: Kyle’s Bringing His Sister to London … in Style!
- 🎄 The Best Time to Book Holiday Flights Is Getting Earlier
- 🎙️ On the Pod: Who’s Up & Who’s Down in Airline Loyalty?
- 🛒 Final Day: Prime Day Travel Deals Worth Grabbing
- ✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
📉 Meet FareTracker: Our Free Tool That Watches Your Flight’s Price
Flight prices don’t stop moving just because you’ve already booked it. And when it drops, you can usually get the difference back … and our free new tool makes that even easier.
Today, we’re officially launching FareTracker: a free tool from Thrifty Traveler that checks your fare every day after you book. If it drops $20 or more, we’ll email you step-by-step instructions to rebook with your airline and claim the savings.
It’s already paying off, big time. In just a few weeks of beta testing, early users have claimed almost $5,500 in airline credits, averaging nearly $192 in savings on each flight.
We built this to simplify the valuable (but annoying) process of rebooking flights when prices drop. Google Flights Price alerts are powerful but imperfect, and a handful of third-party services out there will take a cut of whatever you might save.
Not us. A few things about FareTracker:
- 💸 It’s free: No subscription, and we don’t take a cut of what you save. Free accounts can track up to five flights at a time, while Thrifty Traveler Premium members can track up to 10
- 🔒 It doesn’t snoop: No confirmation numbers, no frequent flyer numbers, and we don’t have access to your inbox. You enter your flights yourself
- ✈️ It covers the big five: Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, and United flights booked directly with the airline. Main Cabin fares and up qualify – basic economy tickets generally don’t (with the exception of Southwest)
We built this because we were tired of overpaying for flights we’d already booked, and every other tool out there wanted a fee, your personal information, or access to your inbox.
Got flights on the calendar? Add them today. Your airline certainly isn’t going to tell you if your flight gets cheaper.
We will.
Start tracking your flights for free!
– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder
🤝 Deal of the Day: Delta Gives SEA up to 40% Off & $12 Upgrades
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥
Why we love it: Delta is targeting Seattle (SEA) travelers with a big promo, but book ASAP – this sale ends tomorrow!
The sale includes 30% off nonstop domestic flights from SEA and up to 40% off flights between SEA and Hawaii.
Plus, Delta Comfort fares are only $12 more than Main Cabin until Thursday as part of the promo, too.
There are also unique discounts to and from Alaska & Florida, along with $1 Comfort upgrades.
Book this sale on Delta’s website before it expires tomorrow!
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
📖 Gettin’ Booksy: Kyle’s Bringing His Sister to London … in Style!
Welcome to Gettin’ Booksy, a celebration of our favorite feeling: Booking something awesome! Book something lately? Let us know at [email protected]!
What Did I Book?
Flights to London and back with my sister to celebrate her 40th birthday this coming spring, making good on a promise I (apparently – I forgot but she sure didn’t!) made her more than a year ago. We’re planning to spend five days exploring the city, eating everything at Borough Market, and catching a Premier League game.
How’d I Book It?
Can you keep a secret?
This’ll be my sister’s first time heading to Europe … and her first time leaving the country in 10-plus years. So I’m surprising her with a business class flight across the pond!
British Airways charges an arm and a leg for its fanciest new Club Suites: 88,000 Avios and $400 each. Other airlines charge closer to $1,000 or more in fees. No thanks.
Instead, I booked us for 42,000 miles and $219 apiece from Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) to London-Heathrow (LHR) using my beloved Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles. That’s right: I covered both of us for less than a single ticket using other programs.
This is one of the best deals in travel, period, if you ask me.
For the way home, you can’t beat a nonstop. I booked us from London right back to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) on Delta – not using SkyMiles, but Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points. That cost 17,500 miles and about $275 in taxes and fees each.
Yes, that’s in economy. Sorry, Karley.
What Makes it So Awesome?
This is more than just an awesome redemption – though that certainly doesn’t hurt. So here’s a trigger warning: Sappiness incoming.
Aside from family, travel has been the dominant driving force in my life for the last decade … and yet I haven’t really shared much of that with my family, least of all my only sister.
She and I practically grew up on soccer and especially Harry Potter – fitting with our name, I know. We got every new book the day it was released and read in shifts: one of us handing off the book at midnight so the other could race through it overnight. Every single book.
So the thought of taking her around some of the sights captured in the films – walking across Millennium Bridge, strolling through Diagon Alley, and the obligatory Platform 9 3/4 photo opp – and catching a soccer football match at the highest level feels like a real full-circle moment with the person I’ve known longest in my life.
Honestly, I can’t wait. I know my co-workers are ready for me to stop talking about it.
– Kyle Potter, executive editor and front-runner for Brother of the Year 2027
🎄 The Best Time to Book Holiday Flights Is Getting Earlier
Google Flights releases data every year, offering guidance from its treasure trove of flight pricing data about when you should book your flights home for the holidays. 🎁
It’s not perfect for travelers, but it’s the best we’ve got. Google isn’t promising a good deal on your flights home, just the least bad deal based on historical trends.
And this year, Google shifted its guidance for Christmas flights up almost a whole week! Let’s dig into the data as analyzed by Google Flights.
🦃 Thanksgiving Flights: The best time to book flights home for Thanksgiving week is in October. Booking between 22 and 57 days before the holiday, with a sweet spot coming 34 days out in late October, will give you the lowest prices on average.
🎅 Christmas Flights: The best time to book Christmas flights is in late October and early November – a range of 33-67 days before travel – with a low point about 56 days out. That’s five days earlier than last year’s guidance – a huge shift of nearly a week.
📅 Bottom Line: We’re already in the sweet spot for booking Thanksgiving flights, and the time to book Christmas flights has moved up another week and is right around the corner.
It’s time to book, or at least start planning your holiday celebrations, because the best prices might soon be behind you!
Check out our full breakdown on the website, or listen to our recent episode of the Thrifty Traveler Podcast about our best tips and tricks for booking holiday travel.
– Gunnar Olson, flight deal analyst, travel reporter, and host of the Thrifty Traveler Podcast
🎙️ On the Pod: Who’s Up & Who’s Down in Airline Loyalty?
✈️ We go through every single airline loyalty program U.S. travelers can access and help you understand if they’re worth your time, effort, and points. To help us decide, we bring in Katie Rollins, one of the foremost points and miles experts in the industry!
Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
🛒 Final Day: Prime Day Travel Deals Worth Grabbing
Amazon’s second Prime Day sale of the year kicked off yesterday, and it runs through the end of the day tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 7). Most of what’s on sale isn’t worth your time. But a handful of travel gear deals are … and a few are the lowest prices we’ve ever seen.
Here’s what’s worth your attention:
🎧 Bose QuietComfort headphones for $169 (was $359): This is a record low for the noise-canceling headphones our entire team swears by. If you’ve been waiting to upgrade, this is the time.
🎧 Apple AirPods Pro 3 for $179.99 (was $249): Apple’s latest and greatest noise-canceling earbuds are a good choice if over-ear headphones take up too much room in your bag.
✈️ AirFly SE for $26.55 (was $34.97): Most seatback screens won’t connect to Bluetooth headphones. This little dongle plugs into the headphone jack and fixes that. Pair this with the AirPods Pro 3s above.
📍 Four-pack of Apple AirTags for $89 (was $99): This is the cheapest price we’ve seen on the latest version of Apple’s AirTags. Put one in every checked bag, and you’ll know where your luggage is even when the airline doesn’t.
🔌 Anker Nano Travel Adapter for $19.99 (was $25.99): It’s one compact plug for international trips, with two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and a standard outlet for bigger devices. It’s quickly become one of my favorite travel gadgets.
😴 TRTL travel pillow for $47.99 (was $59.99): Yes, it looks goofy. Yes, people will think it’s a neck brace, but several of us won’t fly long-haul in economy without it anymore.
You’ll need a Prime membership to get these prices. If you don’t have one, you can start a free 30-day trial.
Have credit card points from American Express? These deals could get even cheaper: Apply a few hundred points and get up to 50% off if you’re targeted for this money-saving Amex promo!
Plus, make sure to check your Amex offers. There is a new offer for Amazon purchases that lets you earn 1,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $40 or more (you can use it up to 3 times). Another similar offer gives you 1,200 points after you spend $150 or more, which, again, you can use up to 3 times.
See all our favorite Prime Day travel deals here
– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- 🤖 Southwest Airlines has launched a plugin in ChatGPT that lets travelers explore destinations and shop for Southwest flights, which the airline calls a first for a U.S. carrier. (Southwest Airlines)
- 🛋️ American Airlines says its new Admirals Club at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) will be its largest, spanning more than 40,000 square feet in the airport’s atrium. (American Airlines)
- 🔢 Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) will start identifying its terminals by the numbers 1 through 7 on March 16, 2027, replacing the current names. (Paris Aéroport)
- 📱 Southwest is giving Rapid Rewards members up to 10,500 points for screenshotting their unread phone notifications and taking a quiz, with the notifications offer ending Oct. 12 or when the points run out. (View from the Wing)
