Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or a rookie, you probably at least heard of companies that allow their subscribers to get cheaper flights. But did you ever come across a platform that helps you book the perfect flight according to your requirements and gives you rewards for sharing your feedback? Recently, we just discovered such a platform, its name is FareUpThere and in this FareUpThere review, we’ll share our experience of using this platform/app, teach you everything there is to know about it and explain how to use FareUpThere to cut down on your travel costs.
Let’s start from the beginning…
What is FareUpThere?
To put it simply, FareUpThere is a travel platform that allows travelers to
- Search for flights by filtering the amenities they expect to have;
- Customize their flight booking (i.e. choose the inches of leg space, what kind of movies to watch, what kind of food to eat, etc.);
- Get the lowest flight fare possible for the requested amenities;
- Get rewards for reviewing their travel experience- yes, with FareUpThere, you can earn free flight miles that can be used for booking any flight on their app or website in exchange for reviewing every flight you take. You can also win gift cards from Amazon, Starbucks, Nike, and many other brands.
On their website, FareUpThere is described as a restaurant-style menu of flight amenities that customers can choose from to make their flight more comfortable and I really like that analogy as it perfectly describes this travel platform. On their website, you can easily enrich your travel experience by hand-picking every cabin feature and amenity for your upcoming flight.
About FareUpThere
FareUpThere is a US-registered company with headquarters in Houston, Texas. It was founded back in 2019 by Malcolm Woods (CEO) and Sabrina Maeder (CMO). At the moment, the company is in its pre-seed funding round on the way to raising $500,000 USD. FareUpThere also has a mobile app available on both Google Play and App Store and a growing user base in many different countries.
How does it work?
As we mentioned above, FareUpThere allows you to check the ratings of flight amenities before booking and earn some miles in exchange for sharing your in-flight experience. It’s very simple, you book, you fly, you review, and you earn rewards for every review you make. But if you still don’t get it, don’t worry, we’ll share some more details within this article.
Why can it become an essential part of your travel planning?
Now, you might think that sounds great on paper but you still can’t understand what are the potential tangible benefits of using this platform, we’ll try to summarize it for you in this section.
The biggest tangible benefit you have from using FareUpThere are the savings. We all think that better flights are always more expensive but this platform proves that’s not the case. FareUpThere’s uses an algorithm that mines aircraft data in real-time allowing you to find the cheapest possible combination of amenities for your destination. That means FareUpThere is as cheap if not even cheaper than most other flight booking providers.
Another great benefit are the rewards. All you have to do is review your recent flight experience and in return, you’ll be rewarded with free miles you can use for booking on the platform or a gift card (you can choose from one of their 100+ partners, including Amazon, Nike, Starbucks, etc).
Another benefit that might remain overlooked is virtual interlining. In case you’re not familiar with this, virtual interlining is when airlines make agreements and alliances with other airlines and their passengers can fly with their interlined airline for their connecting flight, saving a lot of money in the process.
For example, Qatar Airways has an alliance with KLM, and let’s say you book an Qatar Airways flight from New York to Istanbul that transits through Amsterdam. You’d fly from New York to Istanbul with Qatar Airways while from Amsterdam to Istanbul, you’d fly with KLM.
With FareUpThere, you don’t have to worry about this. The platform connects different carrier flights even if they don’t have an agreement/alliance with each other.
One more obvious benefit is the comfort you get by using this platform. By booking with FareUpThere, you can customize your whole travel experience and make changes that will make your trip more comfortable (i.e. food choice, more leg space, types of entertainment, etc.).
And last but not least, let’s not forget about privacy. Did you ever search for flights or accommodation on other websites and all of a sudden, you start seeing travel ads related to your searched destination? This happens because the website you just used to search for travel deals likely sells your information to third-party advertisers. FareUpThere, on the other hand, keeps the booking information on its platform and never shares it with third-party websites.
FareUpThere review- how to search flights?
The sign-up process is very easy. All you have to do is click the sign-in button. You can sign in with your email, your Facebook profile, or even your Apple ID and this won’t take more than a few seconds. After you sign in, you can start browsing for flights. The interface is very straightforward and user-friendly.
First, you choose whether you need a round trip or a one-way ticket. Next, you choose your destination and your dates and the platform displays all available results for the given date. After this, on your left side, you’ll see a few filters that can help you find a flight that works for you.
The first field is for sorting the flights. You can sort flights based on their price (low-high), quality (budget airline or standard airlines, duration, and departure date.
In the second field, you can choose your preferred airline (if you have one) and in the cabin section below, you can choose economy, first-class, business, or economy premium.
You can also choose your preference regarding stops. You can filter only flights without any stops, flights with 1 stop, 2 stops, or 3 stops.
Some other things you can customize include:
-Price (you can set a minimum and maximum price range);
-Departure time (if you have a preference about it);
-Trip duration (you can adjust your preferred flight duration according to your needs);
-and last but not least you can also sort flights by rating. In this section, there are five criteria, including food, cleanliness, seats, Wi-Fi, and service. You can choose, for example, only to see flights with a minimum rating of cleanliness of 4 (5 is the maximum) and you can do that for all of the above-mentioned criteria. The ratings are based on the average grades given to the airline by other users in the past.
Once you’re done browsing and find a deal that you’re interested in, all you have to do is click the Book button and you’ll be redirected to a booking landing page where you can add your passenger information and complete the payment with your credit card or some of your reward points (if you have any in your balance).
A Few More Tips
First and foremost, note that FareUpThere won’t always be the cheapest option for all flights on all given dates but the potential savings from using this platform, in the long run, are high. One thing you should have in consideration is the carrier. If you choose to fly with a budget airline, for example, you can’t expect to achieve huge savings because their flights are already relatively cheap but if you’re using a standard or premium airline, you can definitely achieve some savings.
You should also keep in mind that the busier the airport (you’re flying to), the higher the potential savings can get. Therefore, our advice is to always search for flights that depart and arrive at larger airports.
Last but not least, be patient. Hunting for the best deals might take some time and this requires some patience. So, we suggest you start searching for flights a couple of months in advance (whenever possible, of course) and activate the email notifications in your settings to get email updates about the flights you want to keep an eye on.
Example
In this section of our FareUpThere review, I’ll share an example of a flight we recently booked from Dubai to New York and share a few screenshots to help you get a hold of how the platform works.
Here’s how to search for flights by choosing your destination and date. It’s very simple, you just enter your destination, choose the date, number of passengers, and click on search flights.
Here’s how to choose a preferred airline (if you have any). You just thick off the airlines you don’t want to use and search again.
Here’s how to filter flights with or without any stops on the way. You can choose to search only for direct flights without any stops, flights with no more than one stop, no more than 2 stops, or no more than 3 stops.
Here’s how to sort flights by their price (from lowest to highest and vice versa). You can also choose to sort flights by duration, quality, or date.
And last but not least, here’s how to filter flights based on the reviews they got from other passengers in the past. You can search based on food ratings, cleanliness ratings, seats ratings, wi-fi ratings, service ratings, or all of the above.
FareUpThere review- Frequently asked questions
What kind of subscriptions are there?
There aren’t any subscriptions. The platform is open to everyone without any additional costs. You just have to signup and you’re good to go.
Can I still get points from FareUpThere if I booked my ticket with another website?
Yes, you still can. Just go to the “airlines” tab and click on the boarding pass button where you can scan your boarding pass and share your flight experience and earn some points/rewards. Just make sure it hasn’t been more than 72 hours after your flight.
What’s the refund policy?
FareUpThere doesn’t issue flight tickets and therefore, can’t provide a refund. If you want a refund, you’d have to contact the airline.
Can I book with half money and half points?
Unfortunately, no. You have to pay by either using only cash or only extra reward points.
FareUpThere review summary
To summarize, when used right, FareUpThere can make your travel experience a lot more enjoyable and bring you a lot of savings through their reward points system. So, if your goal is to find a cheap flight (a one-time thing), FareUpThere might not have the best offer. But, if you’re a frequent flyer and are looking for a platform that can bring you a lot of savings in the long run, you can achieve huge savings by using FareUpThere and reviewing your flights. Hopefully, this review and all the tips discussed here show you the benefits of using this platform and help you travel cheaper and smarter.
Did you ever hear about FareUpThere? Do their services sound interesting? Was this FareUpThere review informative? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
