We like to think we’re pretty good at finding the lowest airfare for any trip. But it’s complicated and usually makes us want to pull our hair out. Plus, it seems there’s a new third-party airfare booking app just about every five days…how to know which ones to search through?
Enter FlyLine, a wholesale flight club with exclusive fares and zero markup. Instead of using a third-party booking site, with FlyLine, you pay for a membership subscription and book directly through their own booking engine…no more getting redirected like you do from third-party apps. Basically, FlyLine hops from airline to airline to obtain the lowest price, allowing you to skip the fees and markup and save up to 60 percent.
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How does FlyLine work?
I wanted to find out, so I signed up with a trial membership and gave it a whirl. I have a spring break trip coming up, and wanted to get separate airfare for my college-aged son, out of his college city instead of our hometown. I did an active search on FlyLine just like one would on any of the booking sites: I plugged in the departure and destination airports, the dates, and preferred airlines.
FlyLine claims to specialize in international economy flight savings, and they did indeed deliver during my search, screenshotted below. When I booked a similar flight for myself and my other son, the cost was about $100 more, much farther in advance. This may be because they use virtual interlining (mashing one-way flights from different carriers into one itinerary) to get you the best deal.
What you get with FlyLine:
- Huge International Economy Flight Savings (with any given flight search they typically come in $150+ less than the best flight available on Kayak)
- Deal alerts. They scour the internet and are also able to share their exclusive fares on top of the ones the other companies offer
- Their custom-built booking engine
- Time-saving tools like automatic check-in
- Use of their iOS or Android app
Not all savings on flights are in the hundreds or thousands of dollars, and when I search for a domestic flight, plus a flight from my west coast city to Baja, Mexico, I didn’t see a savings. FlyLine agrees that you won’t see a discount every time, but with the basic membership, you can book six trips per year, and if even a few of those offer significant savings, the others are worth it simply for the ease of booking. (Usually, I have to scour third-party sites then migrate to airline sites, which takes more time.)
Note: Remember that you can book as many ADDITIONAL passengers as your membership level allows. For instance, for my membership that allows me to book six trips, I can book two for myself (maybe work trips) and an additional trip for four people (myself and my kids for a getaway, perhaps). As long as you stay at six bookings total, you can configure it any way you need.
An example of another online search, with the FlyLine savings possible:
Depart Dallas 4/16/20 for Dublin and return 4/24/20:
FlyLine’s Best Price: $745
The Internet’s Best Price (Kayak): $764
FlyLine Savings: $18
Return on Basic Membership: .36X
Membership options:
As mentioned above, the Basic plan is $49 per year, for one user (allowed six bookings). The Premium plan is $79 and includes two users and unlimited bookings per year. Both include automatic check-in and deal alerts. Learn more about your options here.
Bottom line:
FlyLine offers virtually interlined flights. By combining multiple routes into a singular fare they create a seamless transaction for members that guarantees their connection and baggage transfers, while offering an unmatched rate.
They offer the rate straight from the GDS (wholesale rate with zero markup.
You pay for a membership so you can passively monitor their prices with deal alerts and actively hunt for deals with their booking engine. They are not always the cheapest, but they are competitive on domestic flights and often cheapest on international flights (about 70 percent of the time).
Have more questions? Check out FlyLine’s FAQ page and try a membership at no risk for 14 days!
Disclosure: I was invited by FlyLine to explore their website and review their membership as part of a partnership. All opinion remains my own.
