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Thrifty Traveler is my favorite cheap flight and award availability subscription service. Of all the flight deal services I'm subscribed to (and it's a lot), I've easily gotten the most value out of Thrifty Traveler Premium. From cheap Europe flights to unicorn-level award availability, Thrifty Traveler Premium alerts you to it all — including the option to get text message alerts.
If you aren't already a Thrifty Traveler Premium subscriber, now's the time to consider signing up. Thrifty Traveler is celebrating Black Friday by offering a 50% discount to new Premium members now through 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December 2, 2025.
Key Terms of Thrifty Traveler Premium Sale
- Get 50% off Thrifty Traveler Premium subscriptions using promo code AWARDWALLET. That's $49.99 for your first year of Thrifty Traveler Premium — or $74.99 for Premium+, which includes Thrifty Traveler Hotel Alerts.
- The promotion will end at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December 2, 2025.
- Not valid for current Premium subscribers.
- The discount is only valid for the first subscription year.
- You'll still lock in the current subscription price ($99.99/year) for future years — protecting you against price increases.
Thrifty Traveler Subscription Options
Thrifty Traveler offers two membership tiers:
- Free membership — get 1-2 economy deals per week
- Thrifty Traveler Premium: $99.99 per year — economy, business, and first class flight deals and award availability, tailored to the airports you select. Includes mistake fares and text message alerts.
- Thrifty Traveler Premium+: $149.99 per year — economy, business, and first class flight deals and award availability, tailored to the airports you select. Includes mistake fares and text message alerts. Plus, get hotel alerts and hotel suggestions in flight deals.
Afraid of making that much commitment to a service you don't know? I get it. Thankfully, Thrifty Traveler offers an impressively long 100-day money-back guarantee. That means you can bail out if the service doesn't live up to your expectations — even more than three months after signing up.
Thrifty Traveler Hotel Alerts
In 2024, Thrifty Traveler added a Hotel Alerts option for Thrifty Traveler Premium members. Note that this service is an add-on currently costing $50 per year. Check out our full review of Thrifty Traveler Hotel Alerts.
Is Thrifty Traveler Premium Worth It?
Many flight deal subscription services have popped up over the past few years. But arguably, no service does a better job of alerting travelers to deals than Thrifty Traveler Premium.
As a frequent traveler myself, I'm a member of several paid flight deal services. (Like, I might be addicted to cheap flights and award availability alerts.) Each service has its pros and cons, but I find that Thrifty Traveler Premium does an excellent job of alerting subscribers to both cheap cash fares and points/miles deals.
Out of the services I subscribe to, Thrifty Traveler is often the first to find deals. When another subscription service finds a deal first, Thrifty Traveler quickly alerts its members to the same deal. While that might ruffle feathers with those competitors, this makes Thrifty Traveler Premium the one flight deal subscription service I'd keep if I ever pared down to just one.
After being a free Thrifty Traveler member for years, I finally upgraded in May 2021. Since then, I've been so impressed with the service that it's a no-brainer to renew my Premium membership year after year.
Just one recent award alert this fall was incredible enough to justify my paying another year (or two) of Thrifty Traveler Premium. Thrifty Traveler was the first service to alert me to extremely rare Cathay Pacific business class availability bookable with American Airlines AAdvantage miles! My wife and I will get to enjoy flying across the world — more than 17 hours in business class — for just 70k AAdvantage miles.
What Sets Thrifty Traveler Premium Apart
Lots of deals (but not too many)
Some flight deal subscription services pepper you with so many (often mediocre) options that it becomes easy to ignore their alerts. Other subscription services only send out a few alerts per month.
I find that Thrifty Traveler finds the Goldilocks sweet spot in the middle. You'll get enough alerts that you'll have options, but not many that you don't open each email. And remember that you can adjust your settings to only receive alerts from airports you're interested in.
Examples of award alerts sent to me in just the past three weeks include:
- 15,000-mile business class awards on China Airlines
- 15,000-mile round-trip awards to Costa Rica
- 16,000-mile round-trip awards to the Caribbean
- 21,000-point business class awards to London
- 24,000-mile round-trip awards to Mexico City
- 26,000-mile round-trip awards to Europe
- 29,000-mile round-trip awards to Taipei
- 32,000-mile round-trip awards to Hawaii
- 33,000-point business class awards to Peru
- 34,000-point business class awards to Spain
- 35,000-mile round-trip awards to Europe
- 38,000-mile round-trip awards to Northern Africa
- 40,000-point business class awards to Ireland
- 45,000-mile round-trip awards to Seoul
- 45,000-mile business class awards to Europe
- 50,000-mile round-trip awards to Thailand, Phillipines, and Hong Kong
- 50,000-mile round-trip awards to Tokyo, Shanghai, and Seoul
- 59,000-point Qatar Qsuite business class awards to the Maldives, Africa, or the Middle East
- 60,000-point business class awards to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile
- 65,000-point business class awards to Seoul
- 68,000-mile round-trip awards to Japan
- 70,000-mile business class awards to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia
- 75,000-mile business class awards to Taipei
- 83,000-point business class awards to Tahiti
- 109,000-point Qantas business class awards to Australia
- 160,000-mile Etihad first class awards to Abu Dhabi
100-day money-back guarantee
Thrifty Traveler offers a full refund of your subscription price within 100 days of subscribing. While this isn't quite as simple as a free trial, it's a sign that the Thrifty Traveler team is so confident that you'll love their service that they're willing to offer a generous refund period.
Text message alerts
Don't miss out on an incredible deal just because you don't have your email inbox open. Premium members can add their cell phone number to their profile to get text messages about rare and time-sensitive deals.
How to Sign Up for Thrifty Traveler Premium
Here are the steps if you want to take advantage of this deal. First, click on this link. Next, click “send me flight deals” to shortcut yourself to the subscription options.
Next, create a new account — or log in if you have a free membership. Finally, enter promo code AWARDWALLET for 50% off.
According to AwardWallet's Merchant Category Lookup Tool, Thrifty Traveler Premium codes as travel. That means you'll want to charge your subscription to a card that rewards general travel spending, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card :
Bottom Line
For just three days, Thrifty Traveler is offering 50% off Premium subscriptions to new members. You'll want to sign up by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December 2, 2025 to take advantage of this deal.
Considering how much value I've gotten from being a Premium member, I can easily recommend signing up for Thrifty Traveler Premium. Paying $49.99 for a year of cheap flights and award availability — tailored to your airport — is an excellent deal.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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