Going
Going operates a subscription flight-deal monitoring platform serving over 2 million US travelers, tracking airfare to 986 destinations from 186 US airports and alerting members via email and mobile push when prices drop, including rare mistake fares.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersBoulder, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Going does
Going operates a subscription-based flight deal monitoring and alerting platform serving budget-conscious individual travelers in the United States. The company continuously tracks airfares to 986 destinations across 169 countries from 186 US departure airports and delivers curated deal notifications to members via email, mobile push notifications (iOS and Android apps launched June 2024), and an award-winning weekly newsletter. Going's core differentiator is its mistake-fare detection capability — identifying rare airline pricing errors that yield 60-90% discounts — with a record 16 such glitches surfaced in 2025. Going does not sell tickets; members book directly with airlines or OTAs after receiving alerts, so the product is a deal-discovery layer rather than a transactional travel agency.
The business runs on a three-tier freemium subscription model. The free Limited tier delivers a sample of continental US economy deals as a top-of-funnel acquisition channel. Premium membership at $49/year unlocks all domestic and international economy deals plus mistake fares, points-and-miles redemption alerts, and customizable destination watchlists. Elite membership at $199/year extends the same benefits to premium economy, business, and first-class cabins, targeting luxury travelers and points enthusiasts. A $20-per-paid-referral program and a creator-facing affiliate program amplify acquisition at low cost, supported by 7,000+ annual media placements across The Today Show, The New York Times, Good Morning America, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
Going is a bootstrapped, founder-controlled private company (legal entity Scott's Cheap Flights, Inc., Delaware), fully remote with 50+ employees distributed across the US. Co-founders Scott Keyes and Brian Kidwell built the company without external funding; Brian Kidwell served as CEO from 2019 until March 2026, when David Krauter (former Tripadvisor/SmarterTravel leader) was appointed CEO. The company serves 2+ million members, has surfaced 20,000+ deals cumulatively, and earns a Trustpilot 'Excellent' rating of 4.5 stars across 500+ reviews.
Going firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Going
- Legal name
- Scott's Cheap Flights, Inc.
- Website
- https://going.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Going operates a subscription flight-deal monitoring platform serving over 2 million US travelers, tracking airfare to 986 destinations from 186 US airports and alerting members via email and mobile push when prices drop, including rare mistake fares.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Going industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Travel Deal Subscription Services
- NAICS
- Travel Agencies (561510), All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (561599)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Travel Subscription, Membership & Deal Clubs (THAKAAAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Travel Deal, Loyalty & Subscription Platforms (BPAMAIAM), Price Tracking, Alerts & Deal Discovery (Fare Prediction/Watchlists) (THALAEAJ)
Keywords
Where Going is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boulder
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Going business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Premium Membership Subscription: Premium membership at $49/year (or $4.08/month billed monthly) provides access to all domestic (including Alaska, Hawaii, US territories) and international economy class flight deals, mistake fares, points and miles deals, and customizable watchlist alerts. This is the primary revenue driver.
- Elite Membership Subscription: Elite membership at $199/year (or $16.58/month billed monthly) includes everything in Premium plus premium economy, business, and first class cash and points deals. Upsell tier targeting luxury travelers seeking premium cabin deals.
- Limited Free Tier: Free Limited tier provides a small sample of economy deals to continental US destinations. Functions as a top-of-funnel acquisition channel to convert users to paid Premium/Elite subscriptions.
- Referral & Affiliate Revenue: Referral program pays existing members $20 when a referred friend becomes a Premium or Elite member. Affiliate program pays commissions for promotional referrals. These programs drive customer acquisition at low cost.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free tier with limited domestic economy deals |
| Subscription | Annual | Full economy class deal access with mistake fares and points deals |
| Subscription | Annual | Premium plus premium economy, business, and first class deals |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Going product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Going operates a subscription-based flight deals discovery platform that continuously monitors airfares to over 900 destinations across 169 countries and territories from 186 US airports, alerting members via email and mobile push notifications when prices drop or rare mistake fares appear. The company sells tiered memberships—a free Limited tier, a $49/year Premium subscription for economy class deals including mistake fares and points deals, and a $199/year Elite subscription for premium cabin deals—delivered through its website and native iOS/Android apps.
Product overview
Going operates a subscription-based travel deals platform with three membership tiers: Limited (free), Premium ($49/year), and Elite ($199/year). The core platform monitors airfare to over 900 destinations globally and alerts members when prices drop significantly. Premium adds all economy class deals plus Mistake Fares and points deals, while Elite extends to premium economy, business, and first class deals. The company also offers a mobile app, gift cards for memberships, a study abroad scholarship program, educational travel guides (On the Fly), and a merchandise store. The platform serves over 2 million travelers seeking flight deals, functioning as a deal discovery and alert service rather than a booking platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Going Platform Proprietary flight deal monitoring and alerting platform that continuously tracks airfares to over 900 destinations across 169 countries and territories from 186 US airports, surfacing curated domestic and international flight deals, mistake fares, and points/miles opportunities to members via email and mobile push notifications.
- Limited Membership Free membership tier offering a small sample of economy class flight deals to continental US destinations (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories), with no credit card required; functions as a top-of-funnel acquisition channel for Going.
- Premium Membership Annual subscription at $49/year (or $4.08/month) providing members with full access to all domestic (including Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories) and international economy class flight deals, mistake fares, points and miles deals, customizable watchlists, and the weekly travel newsletter; includes a 14-day free trial.
- Elite Membership Top-tier annual subscription at $199/year (or $16.58/month) combining all Premium features with deals in premium economy, business class, and first class (cash and points), plus customizable premium cabin alerts; targets price-sensitive luxury travelers.
- Going Mobile App Native mobile application for iOS and Android that delivers real-time push notifications for flight deals and mistake fares, enables on-the-go deal browsing, and integrates with member watchlists; available via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
- Going Gift Cards Gift cards redeemable for Going Premium ($49) or Elite ($199) membership, available as a travel-focused gift option with no expiration or fees.
- On the Fly Travel Guides Educational content hub covering airlines, airports, destinations, flight booking strategies, points and miles, holiday travel, and travel tips across categories including Reports, Airlines, Airports, Business & Premium Classes, Destinations, Flight Booking, Food, Holiday Travel, Layovers, News, and Points/Miles/Credit Cards.
- Going Gear Shop Online merchandise store selling travel-related gear and apparel for Going members and travelers.
- Going Abroad Scholarship Study abroad scholarship awarding $1,500 to two students each spring and fall semester, supporting higher education students pursuing international study programs.
Quantifiable outcome
- Members save up to 90% on flights; average savings of $550 per international economy flight and $2,000 per business class ticket
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Going
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Going technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Going partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Airlines (Delta, United, American, JetBlue, Air France-KLM, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, etc.)coreGoing's platform aggregates and surfaces deals from major airlines including Delta, United, American, JetBlue, Air France-KLM, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, and other legacy carriers. Going does not send deals on budget airlines with poor ratings. Members can filter deals by airline and alliance.
- TalkSpace and TeladocminorGoing partners with TalkSpace and Teladoc to provide therapy and telehealth services to all employees as part of its mental health benefits package under its Work, Wisdom, and Wellness perk program.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Going competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Travelzoo: Deals-driven travel marketplace publishing curated flight, hotel, and vacation offers to subscribers — a broader incumbent competing with Going's curated-deal model.
- Skyscanner: Global flight meta-search engine offering price alerts and 'Cheapest Flights' deal discovery, comparable to Going's core feature with much broader geographic coverage.
- Kayak: Major meta-search travel platform with price tracking, fare alerts, and deal discovery across flights — overlaps with Going's monitoring-and-alert feature set at much larger scale.
- Google Flights: Free flight search and price-tracking tool from Google that Going explicitly positions as a complementary tool — a free substitute capping Going's willingness-to-pay.
Emerging players
- FareDrop: Subscription flight deal alert service targeting US travelers with curated domestic and international fare alerts — narrower-scale but directly overlapping subscription offering.
Direct peers
- Hopper: AI-driven travel app offering flight deal predictions, price freezing, and direct booking — a direct competitor to Going's core deal-alert subscription value proposition.
- Holiday Pirates: European-based travel deal newsletter covering flight and hotel offers — runs a subscription/community model comparable to Going, with stronger European origin coverage.
- The Flight Deal: Long-running flight deal newsletter/alerts service covering deals from US and international airports, directly comparable to Going's subscription deal-alert product.
- Secret Flying: Newsletter and community focused on mistake fares and heavily discounted airfares — directly competes with Going's mistake-fare and curated-deal offering.
- Airfarewatchdog: Flight deal alert platform owned by SmarterTravel/Tripadvisor that surfaces airfare deals and fare-drop alerts — overlapping directly with Going's Premium tier.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Going social profiles
Digital presenceGoing financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Going leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Going funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Going M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Going
What does Going do?
Going operates a subscription-based flight deals discovery platform that continuously monitors airfares to over 900 destinations across 169 countries and territories from 186 US airports, alerting members via email and mobile push notifications when prices drop or rare mistake fares appear. The company sells tiered memberships—a free Limited tier, a $49/year Premium subscription for economy class deals including mistake fares and points deals, and a $199/year Elite subscription for premium cabin deals—delivered through its website and native iOS/Android apps.
Is Going a public or private company?
Going is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Going founded?
Going was founded in 2015. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Going based?
Going is headquartered in Boulder, United States, in the North America region.
How does Going make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Premium Membership Subscription is the primary driver. The others are elite Membership Subscription, limited Free Tier and referral & Affiliate Revenue.
Who are Going's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Travelzoo, Skyscanner, Kayak and Google Flights. FareDrop is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Hopper, Holiday Pirates, The Flight Deal, Secret Flying and Airfarewatchdog.
Does Going have an API?
No public API is recorded for Going.
What industry is Going in?
Going's product category is Travel Deal Subscription Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAAAL, Travel Subscription, Membership & Deal Clubs, with a secondary code of BPAMAIAM, Travel Deal, Loyalty & Subscription Platforms. Its NAICS code is 561510.