I’ve subscribed to 15 travel services over the past 4 years. Most were forgettable monthly drains. Five genuinely pay for themselves many times over. Here’s the honest ranking.
The TL;DR
If you only subscribe to one: Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) at $49/year. Pays for itself on a single fare alert.
If you’re serious about credit card points: add point.me at $129/year. The best award search engine.
If you publish content to Pinterest: Tailwind at $9.99/month (or annual).
Skip: Lonely Planet Plus, Roadtrippers Premium, most generic “travel insider” newsletters.
The 8 subscriptions tested
1. Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) — $49/year (Premium)
What it does: Email alerts for fare drops and mistake fares from your home airports.
Real value: Single deals often save $400-800 per flight. The premium tier covers economy. Elite ($199/year) adds business class deals.
Best for: Anyone flexible on destinations who flies 2+ times a year.
2. point.me — $129/year
What it does: Award flight search engine. Type your dates and route, it shows the cheapest point cost across all airlines and transfer partners.
Real value: Saves hours of manual searching. Often finds business class deals at 50% fewer points than direct airline searches.
Best for: Travelers redeeming 100,000+ credit card points per year.
3. Tailwind — $9.99/month or $79.99/year
What it does: Pinterest + Instagram scheduling, analytics, content optimization.
Real value: The only easy way to schedule pins for Pinterest without Standard Access API approval. Hashtag suggestions are decent.
Best for: Pinterest content creators, travel bloggers, anyone publishing 20+ pins/month.
4. AwardWallet — Free or $30/year (Plus)
What it does: Tracks all your point balances across airline and hotel programs in one dashboard.
Real value: Prevents expired points (5-10% annual devaluation otherwise lost). Free tier covers basics.
Best for: Anyone with 3+ loyalty programs.
5. ExpertFlyer — $99/year
What it does: Detailed seat availability and award space search for major airlines.
Real value: Lets you predict if business class awards will open. Sets alerts for fare/seat changes.
Best for: Mile-and-points enthusiasts seriously pursuing business/first class redemptions.
6. Roadtrippers Premium — $35.99/year
What it does: US road trip planner with offline maps, scenic routes, attractions.
Real value: Limited beyond Google Maps. Skip unless you do 4+ multi-day road trips per year.
7. Lonely Planet Plus — $4.99/month
What it does: Premium content from Lonely Planet guides, articles, recommendations.
Real value: Static, mostly outdated. Skip – this is destination content marketing dressed up as a paid service.
8. Wikicamps — $9.99/year (regional apps)
What it does: Camping app for specific regions (US, Australia, etc.). User-contributed locations, reviews.
Real value: Excellent for road trippers and #vanlife travelers. Cheap and useful.
Subscriptions to AVOID
“Insider” travel newsletters at $99+/year
Most curated “insider travel destinations” emails recycle Google-able info. Skip.
Hotel/airline branded subscriptions
Hilton Honors Premium, Marriott Bonvoy Premium etc. Don’t pay for loyalty status – earn it through stays or affiliated credit cards.
Travel concierge services
“Personal travel agent for $200/month” – rarely pays back unless you book $20k+ trips regularly.
VPN bundles with “travel features”
A regular VPN does what you need. Don’t pay extra for “travel-focused” VPN claims.
How to calculate if a subscription is worth it
Simple math:
- Estimate how much it could save per use
- Estimate how often you’ll use it per year
- Multiply savings × usage
- If 3x the subscription cost, subscribe. If less, skip.
Going example: $49/year. One deal saves $400+. Use once = 8x payback. Easy yes.
Roadtrippers example: $36/year. Saves maybe $20/road trip in better route planning. Use 2x/year = 1.1x payback. Borderline skip.
FAQs
What’s the best travel subscription?
Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) at $49/year for Premium. The fare alerts pay for the subscription on a single deal – typical savings are $400-800 per discounted flight, and most subscribers get 5-15 actionable deals per year.
Is point.me worth $129/year?
Yes if you’re seriously using credit card points (redeeming 100,000+ per year). It saves hours of manual award searches and frequently finds business class redemptions at 30-50% fewer points than direct airline searches. For occasional point redeemers, free tools like seats.aero are sufficient.
What about Tailwind for Pinterest?
Worth it if you publish 20+ pins per month to Pinterest, especially while waiting for Pinterest API Standard Access. Tailwind also has analytics + hashtag suggestions. For occasional pinners, the free tier of Pinterest’s own scheduling is enough.
Should I subscribe to multiple flight deal services?
No. They cover the same general fare drops. Pick one (Going is the best). Subscribing to multiple costs more without proportional benefit since you’d see the same deals across services.
How do I cancel travel subscriptions I’m not using?
Check your credit card statement quarterly for recurring travel-service charges. Cancel anything you didn’t actively use in the past 3 months. Most subscriptions can be cancelled mid-term but pro-rated refunds are rare – cancel at end of billing cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best travel subscription?
Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) at $49/year for Premium. The fare alerts pay for the subscription on a single deal – typical savings are $400-800 per discounted flight, and most subscribers get 5-15 actionable deals per year.
Is point.me worth $129/year?
Yes if you’re seriously using credit card points (redeeming 100,000+ per year). It saves hours of manual award searches and frequently finds business class redemptions at 30-50% fewer points than direct airline searches. For occasional point redeemers, free tools like seats.aero are sufficient.
What about Tailwind for Pinterest?
Worth it if you publish 20+ pins per month to Pinterest, especially while waiting for Pinterest API Standard Access. Tailwind also has analytics and hashtag suggestions. For occasional pinners, the free tier of Pinterest’s own scheduling is enough.
Should I subscribe to multiple flight deal services?
No. They cover the same general fare drops. Pick one (Going is the best). Subscribing to multiple costs more without proportional benefit since you’d see the same deals across services.
How do I cancel travel subscriptions I’m not using?
Check your credit card statement quarterly for recurring travel-service charges. Cancel anything you didn’t actively use in the past 3 months. Most subscriptions can be cancelled mid-term but pro-rated refunds are rare – cancel at end of billing cycle.