Neither. Portlark is an alert service — our fare desk watches routes around the clock and mails you the drop with a direct link. You finish the purchase with the airline or the site of your choosing, so your points, seat credits and fare rules stay exactly where they were.

That is the ideal moment, honestly. The steepest drops we send land four to nine months ahead of departure, and they rarely last a full day. Members who join with an open calendar book roughly twice as often as the ones chasing a fixed set of dates.

Three: Drift is free and sends a light weekly digest; Compass is $52 a year and unlocks every economy alert the moment it clears review; Meridian is $189 a year and adds premium cabins, award-seat finds and custom home-airport rules.

We currently track 214 origin airports across North America, Europe and Oceania, plus a handful of regional fields that keep surprising us. Pick up to four home airports and we only alert on the ones you chose.

Yes. Every paid plan carries region filters — set them to the Mediterranean, the Andes, coastal Japan, or leave them wide open. You can also mute a destination for six months after you have already been, which keeps the inbox honest.

Add a carrier preference in your profile and we will flag any alert flown or ticketed by that airline and its alliance partners. It does not hide the rest — a $312 transatlantic fare is still worth a look, whoever is operating it.

No. The median alert we sent last quarter departed 137 days out, and 71% of them were on full-service carriers with a checked bag included. Fares move quickly, so booking within a day or two matters — but the trip itself is usually months away.

Each alert lists the exact dates we found, the routing, the fare basis and a link straight to the booking page. Follow it, confirm the price still matches, and pay. If it has already moved, reply to the mail and our desk will hunt for the next window.