Since FlyLine debuted in December 2019, there has been plenty of online talk about the flight subscription membership for budget travel. Is it worth the cost and does it save money on plane tickets? In a word, yes. Here’s why I consider FlyLine the new (and best) way to book flights.
If you’ve visited the site before (thank you!), you know I’m all about saving money on travel. Hands down, if looking online for the best possible travel deals allows me to travel more, I’m all about it. But, when it comes to booking flights, it can get a bit fractured looking at several websites and comparing numbers.
I’m happy to put that task in the hands of someone else, especially if it will save time and money. And, when I heard about the benefits of FlyLine, I wanted to do delve into how it works and check pricing for myself. Here’s what I found out and why you’ll want to consider using the service.
What Is FlyLine?
In a nutshell, FlyLine is a wholesale flight booking company. Using its own booking system with a membership subscription, it offers ZERO MARKUP AIRFARE on over 250 airlines (including legacy airlines) through the Global Distribution System (GDS), making the idea of cheap flights (and a less-expensive vacation) possible.
Truthfully, there’s not a traveler that I know of that doesn’t want to spend less and travel more, and FlyLine is all about that motto.
As a whole, the FlyLine comes in, on average, $150 less than the lowest available flight rates. It also looks across the internet, like other booking engines, to get the best rates but also offers its own exclusive fares on plane tickets. FlyLine is its own booking engine, so you won’t be redirected to another site. I have to mention, sometimes the rates, especially for domestic flights, can be the same or a higher cost.
Lastly, you can search for deals on FlyLine on your own via the website or free app (that were only available for travel agents previously) or it can send you deals it’s found. Full disclosure, you still have to be a travel agent to access the deals on your own, but FlyLine cuts the markup and offers those same prices to its members.
Another perk: automatic check-in with every flight booked on FlyLine.
It suggests that you should book at least two weeks out if possible for the best savings. Last-minute flights tend to be much higher, so book as far in advance as possible.
Also, use larger airports as departure and return destinations as they tend to offer lower pricing -top 25 airports are the best choices.
Clarifying Some Terms
Just in case you needed a refresher on some of the terms used above, here’s the scoop:
Legacy Airline- An airline that has been around since before the Airline Degregulation Act of 1978. These airlines offer more perks of flying including first class and business seating, frequent flyer programs, and airport lounges. Legacy airlines include Alaska, American, Delta, United, etc.
The opposite of a legacy carrier is a low-cost carrier.
Global Distribution System (GDS) – A Network system that enables transactions between airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and travel agencies. These companies (including third party online sites like Priceline and Hotwire) use real time inventory and then add their markup and fees to the total cost of flights.
How Much Does FlyLine Cost?
There are two FlyLine tiers for membership. Here’s the lowdown on both.
FlyLine Basic Membership is $49.99 per year and includes:
- Flight Searching & Booking
- Maximum of 6 bookings per annual membership
- Access to FlyLine Portal
- Deal Alerts via email
Just to avoid confusion, I want to explain the six bookings maximum feature of the basic membership. Say you’re planning a trip with you and five additional passengers and use your FlyLine membership.
That would count as six total bookings, so you would use your maximum allowance for your membership year. Or, you can book six, one person flights, two flights with three passengers, etc.
FlyLine Premium Membership is $79.99 per year and includes:
- Flight Searching & Booking
- Unlimited bookings per membership year
- Access to FlyLine Portal
- Deal Alerts via email
With FlyLine Premium Membership, you can book as many flights, with as many passengers, as you wish per membership year.
So, it narrows down to how many flights you take per year, and how many people will be flying with you, as to what you’ll pay for membership.
Deal Alerts with FlyLine
Say you want to book a flight, but you don’t want to (or don’t have time) to plug in dates and times. With a FlyLine membership, you can set a destination and the top price you want to pay. Then, pick the airlines you’d like to use and, if the dates and prices match, you’ll get an email notifying you of a preference fit.
What’s a Virtually Interlined Flight?
If you’ve been researching FlyLine, you may have come across the term “Virtually Interlined Flight”. What that means is that the service looks for the best prices across all of the carriers they book with so a lower price may include multiple carriers.
So, you may be flying one airline to get there and a different one to get back.
Testing FlyLine
Pittsburgh International Airport is the airport my family uses most often, so I checked both international and domestic flights using FlyLine. Here’s what I found for both international and domestic flights including taxes and fees.
International Flight Comparison
Using the same dates for both FlyLine and Kayak, I tested a return flight March 3-8. Knowing that midweek flights tend to be the least expensive, I plugged in a Tuesday-Sunday trip to get both ends of the spectrum. For Kayak, the cheapest flight was via Air Canada for $1547. For FlyLine, the same dates came in at $583: $964 less. Yeah.
Alright, I expected that since FlyLine mentions that you’ll probably save more on international flights than domestic ones.
Domestic Flight Comparison
Next, was a test from PIT to MCO (Pittsburgh to Orlando) round trip using the same dates. I had to use this test as a default as we travel to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort at least three times a year. It’s worth noting that FlyLine does have access to low-cost airlines like Spirit or Frontier but the pricing will be very similar.
This comparison reflects no checked bags as that will increase the pricing. I was simply looking for the cheapest airfare available for both sites.
For this particular search, Kayak actually came in with cheapest airfare at $95 round trip.
FlyLine had a price of $121.
Again, I wasn’t surprised as the company did mention that the savings is much more for international flights and it doesn’t have access to low-cost airlines.
As a general rule, FlyLine offers a better price on domestic travel about 1/3 of the time, on international travel about 4/5 of the time.
FlyLine in a Nutshell
Here’s my take. If you book international flights frequently, it’s a no-brainer idea to purchase a membership with FlyLine. I checked plenty of searches and the big savings are definitely on overseas travel.
I have to add, please don’t expect to save thousands on every flight (sometimes it’s $20 as opposed to $900). Having written that, if you can save even $1 over the membership cost, it’s worth it.
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