Mistake fares – when airlines mess up and accidentally sell flights for a fraction of the normal cost – are the holy grail of flight deals. But there are other, equally fantastic and hard-to-find fares, too:
- Ultra-rare first class seats to Tokyo or lie-flat seats to Australia bookable with miles
- Deeply discounted business class deals
- Too-good-to-be-true economy fares like sub-$100 flights to the U.S. Virgin Islands
We call all of them Unicorn Fares. When booking these deals, every second matters because they can disappear within hours, if not minutes. That's why our Thrifty Traveler Premium members can get instant text alerts for all mistake fares and unicorn fares so they never miss an amazing deal!
Thrifty Traveler Premium members can simply log into their accounts and opt-in for these text alerts – whether it's a dirt-cheap cash fare or an ultra-rare award space alert to use your points and miles.
Here's a look at some of the amazing unicorn fares we've found lately.
Unicorn Fares: Mistake Fares, Massive Discounts & Rare Award Space
Mistake Fares
Nothing beats the rush of booking a mistake fare. Over the years, we've seen unbelievable $63 fares to Santiago (SCL) in Chile, a $238 roundtrip to Croatia, and even business class mistake fares like a $600ish roundtrip in lie-flat seats to Southeast Asia.
But the steady stream of two to three mistake fares a year has slowed down in recent years. Airlines have wised up, tightening their backend systems to root out these errors before many (if any) eager travelers can gobble them up. But mistake fares still happen.
Here's the best – and latest – example.
Get instant alerts for crazy deals with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Seeing $135 roundtrip fares to Dublin (DUB) stopped us in our tracks. As soon as we found this deal, we triple-checked to make sure it was real … then immediately sent a text alert to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members so they could book this unreal fare ASAP, just in case it disappeared.
We always follow up with our usual email alerts, providing additional details and instructions.
We heard from hundreds of happy Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers who are all heading to Dublin this summer after snapping up one of these deals in seconds thanks to our mistake fare text alert.
One of the last great mistake fares we've seen was last spring, when Virgin Atlantic briefly sold its excellent Upper Class suites from New York City (JFK) to London-Heathrow (LHR) for under $900 roundtrip – closer to the normal cost of economy seats. That fare was one of the craziest deals we found all year, so go figure it disappeared within just two hours.
All mistake fares are unicorn fares … but not all unicorn fares are mistake fares.
There are far more frequent (yet equally time-sensitive) deals where it can pay to get a split-second alert, even if the airline hasn't explicitly screwed up.
Deeply Discounted Business & Economy Fares
Just because it's not a mistake fare doesn't mean it's not a good deal.
How about this one: Another deeply discounted business class ticket to London, this time flying from Boston (BOS) in British Airways' brand new Club Suites … and during the middle of summer 2022, to boot! This one clocked in at just over $1,000 (or $800 after using the British Airways AARP discount).
This dirt-cheap business class fare is long gone now – get a text alert to book the next one with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
While it wasn't clear if this one was the result of a mistake by the airline, it was obvious that booking quickly before these deals disappeared was critical.
The same was true for a trip to Chile and back last year, where lie-flat seats can make all the difference on that nine-hour flight far down south in the Southern Hemisphere. When airlines sell these business class fares for $1,200 roundtrip, they sell out fast.
How about flying premium economy to Europe with a wider seat, far more legroom, and better meals … for far less than your typical cramped economy seat? Just a few months back, we found the unicorn of all premium economy deals: Roundtrip fares from almost anywhere in the U.S. to more than a dozen European cities for as low as $516 roundtrip, flying Delta Premium Select or with Air France.
Even some standard economy flights occasionally fall into unicorn fare territory, too. When airlines typically charge $900 or more to get to Scandinavia, you know you're getting the deal of a lifetime when you can book roundtrip flights for less than $250 … and you know you have to book those seats fast before they disappear.
Ultra-Rare Points & Miles Alerts
It doesn't matter if you have all the points and miles in the world. They won't do you any good if you can't find the award availability to actually book a flight with your miles. Some routes and airlines are fairly easy to book, but others can feel nearly impossible.
That's where Thrifty Traveler Premium really shines. We find both cheap cash fares and deals to use your points and miles, too. And lately, we've been uncovering some of the rarest, hardest-to-find award space out there, helping travelers lock in a dream trip using fewer points and miles.
This latest Unicorn Alert was for mid-summer business class award availability to Paris (CDG) and Amsterdam (AMS) for just 50,000 miles each way – including availability during the Paris Olympics! Yet again, our Thrifty Traveler Premium members got a text alert before anything (and anyone) else.
This deal featured those amazing 50,000-mile rates bookable from nearly every Air France airport the carrier serves in North America. The depth of this deal was stunning for availability in June, July and August, when it's typically impossible to book a business class seat overseas.
Booking Delta One to Europe for just 50,000 points is one of the best deals in the world of points and miles … and one of the hardest to find the award availability to actually book it. So when we stumbled upon some wide-open availability to book flights between New York City (JFK) to Munich (MUC) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Dublin (DUB), we knew we had to send a text to let Thrifty Traveler Premium members know ASAP.
If you know Delta SkyMiles, you know just how expensive it can be to book business class. So this was the ultimate unicorn fare: Instead of forking over 400,000-plus SkyMiles to get to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) in Delta One Suites, our text alert could have gotten you there for just 85,000 SkyMiles each way!
That was one of several SkyMiles unicorn fare alerts we've sent in recent months.
In the case of these excellent fares on Delta's new route to Taipei (TPE), it wasn't just the nonstop from Seattle (SEA) bookable for a quarter as many SkyMiles as normal. It was bookable from almost every single airport with Delta service in the country!
After going more than a year without a single seat available, we unearthed a goldmine of availability last year to book ANA's latest-and-greatest first class suites from San Francisco (SFO) for two or more passengers all spring, summer, and even into the fall. And our instant text to Thrifty Traveler Premium members meant they could book long before other travel sites and bloggers caught wind.
These first class seats to Tokyo got gobbled up within hours – get the next rare award alert with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Booking flights to Australia or New Zealand using miles is another one of the hardest redemptions to pull off, especially in business or first class. So when we find award space to get to the land down under in a lie-flat seat, you want to know about it ASAP.
It happened again just a few months back – and on a route we've never previously found award availability booking with points: nonstop from New York City (JFK) to Auckland (AKL)!
For one of the longest flights in the world, you'll need a seat that is this comfortable. And while these rates are on the higher side, it's so rare that we had to send it to our subscribers right away.
Nothing's more comfortable than flying Qatar Airways Qsuites to the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. They're the best business class seats in the world, so go figure they're also practically impossible to book with points these days. When we found wide-open availability during peak season next year, we sent a quick text to members to go book ASAP.
We followed that up with a full email minutes later, providing all the information Thrifty Traveler Premium members needed to get booked on a bucket-list trip for 2025.
The 70-95,000-point rates, mixed with Qatar's unbelievable network of flights and beautiful airport lounges makes this deal a no-brainer for travelers with Avios.
How to Get Text Alerts for Unicorn Fares
You'll find about 10 unicorn fares we've found within the past year on this list. And that's what Thrifty Traveler Premium members should expect: 10 incredibly rare alerts each year – maybe more, if we (and you!) get lucky.
Don't want to get a text alert for deals like these? No problem: You'll keep getting them in your email inbox. But if you want to opt-in to get an alert via text before an email can hit your inbox, it couldn't be easier.
So long as you're subscribed to Thrifty Traveler Premium, just sign into your account. From your main account dashboard, you'll see all of your recent deals listed and a tab in the top right that says “Settings.”
Then, click “Profile” and enter your cell phone number in the “Mobile Phone” field at the bottom of the page.
Tap in your cell number, hit update, and voila: You're signed up! Within a minute or so, you should get a confirmation text from us that you've signed up to receive Thrifty Traveler Premium unicorn fare alerts.
If you previously signed up for mistake fare text alerts (or your cell phone number is already entered in your dashboard), you should be all set!
The next time we find one of these unbelievable unicorn fares, you'll be the first to know with a text describing the deal and how to book. If it's a cash fare, we'll include a Google Flights link so you can book with just a few clicks.
Here's a look at just some of the text alerts we've sent over just the past few months!
Then it's up to you. Book now and ask questions later before these jaw-dropping deals disappear … or wait for the next alert.
Bottom Line
We're just a bit biased, but we're confident that Thrifty Traveler Premium is the best flight deal alert service on the planet. Getting text alerts for the best deals just makes it even better.
Whether it's an unbelievable mistake fare, a deeply discounted business or first class ticket, or an incredibly rare award space alert to use your points and miles, get an instant alert via text for these unicorn fare deals so you never miss them.
Sign into your Thrifty Traveler Premium account now to opt-in!
Lead photo courtesy of All Nippon Airways (ANA)