7 Cheap Flights Finding Service Business Success Stories [2024]

Updated: November 19th, 2023
Start A Cheap Flights Finding Service

A cheap flight-finding service is a business that helps people discover and book affordable airfares for their travel needs.

This service employs advanced search algorithms and partnerships with various airlines to find the best deals on flights. Customers can use the service’s user-friendly platform to input their travel details, such as destination and dates, and receive a list of budget-friendly flight options.

The goal is to make air travel more accessible and cost-effective for individuals by providing a convenient and efficient way to locate and book inexpensive flights.

The cheap flight-finding business thrives on offering a valuable solution for those seeking affordable travel options, making it easier for customers to explore the world without breaking the bank.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a cheap flights finding service:

1. BuyLo ($120/year)

Ju Li, co-founder of GetBuyLo.com, came up with the idea for their business while working in the insurtech industry and noticing increased polarization in society due to social media use. Believing that travel can bring people together, Ju Li and their team developed a browser extension that scans flight booking sites for lower prices, aiming to make travel more affordable, convenient, and time-saving. Despite launching during the COVID pandemic, GetBuyLo.com has garnered positive feedback from early users and gained recognition from YCombinator's Startup School newsletter and popular subreddits.

How much they make: $120/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
Current team size: 1

article

Pivoting From A Cheap Flights Website To A Money Saving Browser Extension

GetBuyLo.com co-founder Ju Li discusses the pivots their team had to make to build a browser extension that scrapes flight prices in real-time and finds users a lower price on the same flight, including lessons learned about moving forward with a customer-first mentality.

About
Ju started BuyLo about 3 years ago
Revenue
Ju grew the business to $10/month
Costs
It cost Ju $2000 to start the business
Read by 4,598 founders

2. Flight Expert Bangladesh ($18M/year)

Salman Rashid, Founder & CEO of Flight Expert, came up with the idea for his business after realizing the potential of online travel agencies in Bangladesh. Seeing the decline in revenue in his family's offline-based travel agency, Salman suggested starting an OTA to his father. Despite initial skepticism, Salman recognized the need for better technology, service culture, and the value of brand trust in the industry, leading to the launch of Flight Expert in 2017.

How much they make: $18M/year
How much did it cost to start: $80K
Current team size: 60

article

I Started The First Online Travel Agency In Bangladesh And It Now Makes $18M/Year

How a first-time founder grew the first-ever online travel agency in Bangladesh to 700+ airlines and one million-plus hotels worldwide, with a 50% increase in revenue in October 2021 compared to pre-Covid sales and aiming to hit break-even by March 2022.

About
SALMAN started Flight Expert Bangladesh about 7 years ago
Revenue
SALMAN grew the business to $1.5M/month
Costs
It cost SALMAN $80000 to start the business
Read by 5,571 founders

So... can you actually make money with a cheap flights finding service?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

3. I Want That Flight ($360K/year)

How much they make: $360K/year
Current team size:

IWTF: Turning a Script into a +$110,000/Month Site

Case study of an entrepreneur who built a flight comparison script and has grown profit margins to $110,000 per month.

Revenue
Garth grew the business to $30K/month
Read by 690 founders

So... can you actually make money with a cheap flights finding service?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

4. AirTrackBot ($84K/year)

The idea came to the founder because he was tired of the tedious and time-consuming process task of manually checking airline websites daily, to see if fares dropped.

To solve this, he decided to create a chatbot that could automatically tracked flight prices and sent him notifications on Telegram when prices change. He was confident that many people like him could benefit from this. After a month of development, the first iteration of the product was released.

How much they make: $84K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
Current team size: 0

article

How I Built And Grew A Telegram Bot With 1M Users

AirTrack, a Telegram chatbot that tracks flight prices, has over 900,000 subscribers, generates $7,000 per month and grew from 0 to 10,000 users in its first week by strategically using chatbot catalogs, press coverage and product launch platforms like Product Hunt, Reddit, Betalist, Indie Hackers, and Hacker News.

About
Niki started AirTrackBot over 6 years ago
Revenue
Niki grew the business to $7K/month
Read by 3,842 founders