Tired of Hunting for Cheap Flights? So Were They, So They Created a Tool to Do It for Them

Sydney, Australia, as seen from an airplane window (Photo: Leio McLaren, Unsplash)

One of the largest barriers to travel — especially if a destination is outside of what might be considered reasonable driving distance — is the high cost of airline tickets. Unless you live near a major hub, such as those located in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, or another large urban area, trying to find flights that are cheap (and which don’t charge you for your first bag or saddle you with ridiculously long layovers) can be about as difficult as locating Waldo among a sea of pedestrians clad in red and white-striped clothing.

If you’re tired of searching far and wide for flight deals that fit your budget, I’ve got some good news for you. A few years back, a couple that loves traveling just as much as you do felt the same way: they wanted to keep checking items off their travel bucket list, but felt they were spending way too much time hunting down deals. So, instead of grumbling about it, they decided to put together a system that would do the work for them. The end result of their efforts: Next Vacay.

Launched in April 2016, Next Vacay is the brainchild of Naveen and Shaylee Dittakavi, two travel junkies that love good deals and telling all their friends about them. And by friends, I mean the wise travelers who sign up on Next Vacay and begin realizing their travel dreams within months — sometimes even weeks. The couple initially created the system for their own personal use, but after sharing photos and details from their many travels online, others started to take notice and wanted to get a piece of the action themselves.

“We started planning trip after Instagram-worthy trip, and pretty soon our friends began to notice and wanted in on the deals too, so they could start checking off their bucket-lists,” Naveen and Shaylee write on Next Vacay’s Facebook page. “We helped our friends take advantage of amazing deals and now we’d like to help YOU check off your bucket-list, too. Faster and for LESS!”

The couple says it’s their mission to make regular travel more accessible and affordable for everyone. The way it works is you sign up on Next Vacay, let them know which airport should be considered your “home airport”, and then the system will send flight deals directly to your inbox. From there, you can snag the ones you like and swat away the ones you don’t. A one-year membership to use the service normally costs $99, but if you follow this link — the one right here — and scroll about halfway down the page, you’ll see an offer to sign up for just $25, and they’ll throw in the month-long free trial, as well.

The key thing here is that the membership fee is literally the only way Naveen and Shaylee are making any moolah. Why is that important? Because it means they aren’t accepting commissions from airlines or booking agencies or anyone else to push certain flights in your direction. It means they are only sending you flight deals that are actually deals, without super-long layovers or silly baggage fees. They put the deals in front of you, and then the ball is in your court, because all of the flights are booked directly with the airlines themselves.

What’s more: your year-long membership also comes with a six-month money back guarantee, no questions asked. So what is there to lose, really? The only question left is why did it take me so long to tell you about Next Vacay, and the answer to that is that I sadly only recently found out about it myself. If I’d known about this useful tool all this time and only shared it with you now, what kind of a travel blogger would I be anyway? Not a very good one, I can assure you.

And no, Naveen and Shaylee did not pay me to write this, but if they happen to be reading these words: what’s the value of free publicity such as a blog post like this provides? Maybe a free, one-year membership at Next Vacay? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t hurt to find out, right guys?

-LTH