Comparison
Going vs. Secret Flying
Since 2015, Going has saved travelers millions of dollars in airfare (but don't just take our word for it; you can read reviews here). We’re talking an average savings of $550 on international economy flights, $200 on domestic economy flights, and up to $2,000 on international business class flights—and while we think we’re the best at what we do, we know you have other options.
Here’s how Going compares to Secret Flying.
Secret Flying was founded in 2014 by Tarik Allag. It’s a website (and a smartphone app) that focuses solely on “mistake fares” (which they calso call “error fares”). The site’s algorithm specifically looks for flights that have accidentally been priced much lower than the airlines intended. Users then book flights directly with one of Secret Flying’s partner OTAs.
People can subscribe to get notifications for specific departure or destination airports via email, social media, or the mobile app. Most Secret Flying deals are for economy class, though they also occasionally find deals on premium economy, business, and first class tickets.
Secret Flying is free. They make money when you book a flight by clicking though one of their links. In contrast, Going makes money by charging a membership fee, which means we're never tempted to flood your inbox with bad deals in the hope you'll book it. We never pressure you to book a deal. Our only goal is to send you a deal you'll love.
Secret Flying is a legitimate company. There are only three reviews on Trustpilot, with an average rating of 4 out of 5. Online reviews aren’t numerous, but they’re generally positive—it’s hard to complain about a free service. One review, however, claims the service doesn’t actually find deals on its own, but rather grabs them from other similar services (thereby re-routing the booking commissions).
Since it’s free to use and subscribe, canceling is as simple as unsubscribing.
Going costs more than Secret Flying (everything costs more than a free service). And while we do include Mistake Fares in our alerts, they’re not the only deals we’re looking for. Additionally, Going serves more than six times the number of airports that Secret Flying does so no matter where you are in the US, you're likely close to one of the 183 airports we serve.
If you travel mostly in economy, Going's Premium service includes Weekend Getaway trips, Mistake Fares, and both domestic and international deals. And if you prefer the big seats up front, Elite has you covered with amazing deals in premium economy, business, and first class.
Secret Flying publishes its deals for free online and via an app, but the deals themselves are pretty bare bones as far as the details. You’ll learn the airline, price, and get links for some sample dates, but there’s no additional info to help you book. At Going we include details like whether or not the airline is waiving change fees, if there are extra fees for bags or seats, the flight times, layovers, and aircraft details, and how long the deal will likely last, so you have all the info you need to quickly decide if the deal is right for you.
While Secret Flying is great at finding Mistake Fares—those rock-bottom holy grail fares we love—you have to spend too much time on their site wading through some not-so-great deals, like flights on some of the low-cost carriers that many travelers prefer to avoid. Their website is basically a big data dump without the curation Going offers, and filtering results to just see what you want can be frustrating.
Secret Flying has been around since 2014, but their website simply states that they’re a team who loves to travel. At Going, we’re transparent about who we are (and it’s more than just Scott!). Got questions? You can reach us at [email protected] or check out our extensive help center.
Everyone’s gotta make money and Secret Flying does it by taking commission from OTAs like Priceline when you book a deal through one of their links (they also make money from ads on their site. So. Many. Ads).
At Going, we don’t take commission from the airlines so we’re not motivated to clog up your inbox with more deals or pressure you to book. Our only goal is to send you deals you love.
We carefully vet every single deal we send and make sure it meets our standards. If it’s not a deal we’d send our best friend—because it’s a bad airline like some of the low-cost carriers that Secret Flying sends deals on, terrible routing, or simply not a great price—we don’t send it to members. This also means that when conditions change—whether it’s a global pandemic or simply due to a myriad other factors that affect prices—we can react and adjust our deals accordingly.
Secret Flying seems to have pretty rigid deal standards, which means folks miss out on stuff when pricing dynamics change. Secret Flying also seems to prioritize price, and while price is obviously important, we also strive to make sure our members get diversity in the deals and destinations we send. We don’t just send the cheapest destinations over and over again.
We’re proud to have a five-star rating on Facebook with nearly 3,000 reviews. Secret Flying's reviews are also mostly positive, but there are a lot less of them—only about 160.
See how Going compares to other services, like Next Vacay, Thrifty Traveler, or The Flight Deal.
Our members love us for the quality of deals and the transparent information we provide about each one. While membership comes with a fee, it also comes with a team of real humans ready to help make sure you never overpay for flights again. If you want the best deals, we hope you’ll give us a try.
If you’re looking for a free service, Secret Flying also fits the bill—though we hope you’ll check out our free Limited membership as well!
Published September 3, 2021. *All competitor details were accurate at the time of publishing.