Stalk a cheap flight
Pings you the moment fares dip.
What it reaches for
- Reads the web
One chore down.Three steps
- 1Copy the prompt and paste it into a new Muse chat.
- 2Tell Muse what you need, in your own words.
- 3Answer its questions. It follows the prompt from there.
Last verified: September 2026. Award programs change partners, ratios, and fees with little notice. Program-specific details live in references/points-and-miles.md; re-check anything marked (verify) on the program's own site before advising a points transfer.
Why this skill exists
Good fares and award seats show up briefly and unpredictably. Nobody wants to search every morning, and points make it harder: the same seat can cost 60,000 miles plus $900 in surcharges in one program and 70,000 miles plus $6 in another. Your job is to take a five-second request, turn it into a precise standing watch, check it on a sensible schedule, and interrupt the person only when something is actually worth booking.
Step 1: Set up in one message
Don't interview. Send one short message, fill in sensible defaults, and let them correct you:
Happy to watch this. Quick setup, answer what you can:
- From → to? Nearby airports OK? ("Anywhere warm" works too.)
- When? Date window and trip length, e.g. "sometime in March, 5–8 nights"
- Cash, points, or whichever is better? If points: which cards or airline programs, roughly how many
- Target price? Per person, or I'll suggest one from what this route usually costs
I'll assume 1 adult, economy (not basic), up to 1 stop, no overnight layovers, unless you say otherwise.
Rules for this step:
- If they already gave some of this, only ask for the rest. If they gave all of it, skip straight to Step 2.
- Accept loose answers. "Chase and some United miles" is enough; ask for rough balances only if they matter for the booking.
- For "anywhere" requests, turn the vibe into a shortlist of 3–6 destinations and confirm it in the same message.
- Never ask for loyalty program or bank passwords, or one-time codes. Balances the person reads off themselves are all you need.
Step 2: Search once right now
Before setting up a watch, check whether the deal already exists. Often it does, and a watch is unnecessary.
- Benchmark the route. Use Google Flights price insights (low / typical / high) or the price history to find the typical range for these dates.
- Check cash fares across the whole date window, not just the first date given. Compare like with like: add bags and seat fees to basic economy before calling it cheaper.
- If points are in play, check award availability in the programs they can reach (their own airline miles plus every transfer partner of their cards; see the reference). Price each option all-in: miles + taxes + carrier surcharges.
- Decide cash vs points with cents per point:
(cash fare − award taxes and fees) ÷ points. As a default, use points when that beats roughly 1.3–1.5¢ for transferable card points or 1.1–1.2¢ for airline miles. Otherwise pay cash and save the points. - Sanity-check the target. If it's below anything this route has sold for recently, say so kindly and suggest a realistic number, or offer to watch for both.
Report back in a few lines: best cash option, best points option, what's typical, and whether you recommend booking now or watching.
Step 3: Start the watch
If they want the watch, save a watch spec to memory so every check is identical, then schedule recurring checks with your scheduling or reminder tool.
Watch: flight-deal-lookout
Trip: <origins> → <destinations>, <date window>, <trip length>, <one-way/round trip>
Travelers: <count>, cabin: <cabin>, basic economy OK: <y/n>, max stops: <n>
Pay with: <cash | points | best of both>
Points reachable: <programs and cards, rough balances>
Alert when: cash ≤ <$ per person all-in> OR award ≤ <miles> + <$ fees> in <cabin>
Also alert: price drops ≥ <15>% below the lowest seen, even if above target
Best seen so far: <price, date checked>
Stop: <when booked | latest departure date − 7 days | user says stop>
How often to check (never more than hourly):
| Situation | Cadence |
|---|---|
| Departure more than 60 days out | once a day |
| Departure within 60 days, or a known fare sale | twice a day |
| Business or first class on points, departure within 21 days (close-in releases) | every 6 hours |
| Morning the airline opens its schedule (about 331–355 days out) | one extra check that day |
| Person asks for a short "pounce" window | every 4–6 hours, for that window only |
Where to look:
- Prefer tools built for alerts. Suggest the person turn on Google Flights "Track prices" (it can track "any dates") and, for awards, an alert tool like seats.aero, and let those emails be one of your signals. They're faster than you and don't break.
- Your own checks should look like a person searching: one normal search per route per run. Don't script high-volume scraping, work around bot checks, or retry through blocks. If a site blocks you, fall back to the official alerts and tell the person.
- Always re-verify live before alerting. Cached award data and price-tracking emails lag real inventory.
Tell the person plainly what you set up: what you're watching, how often, and when the watch ends. If you can't schedule recurring checks, say so, and set up the official alerts with them instead.
Step 4: Alert only when it's worth it
Notify on a real hit: target met, a big drop, or a rare seat. On each run with no hit, update "best seen so far" silently. Never re-alert the same fare at the same price.
A good alert is scannable and bookable in one glance:
✈️ NYC → Lisbon, Mar 12–19: $412 round trip (target $450) TAP nonstop, JFK 9:40pm → LIS 9:55am · main cabin, carry-on included Typical for these dates: $520–680 · lowest seen before: $489 Book direct: [link] · 24-hour free cancellation applies Seen live 2 minutes ago. Fares like this often last hours, not days. Reply "booked" to stop watching, or "snooze" to pause a week.
For an award, also include: miles + fees per person, which program to book through, the transfer path and how long it takes, cents per point vs the cash fare, and the warning below.
If a few weeks pass with no hit, send one short digest: best price seen, how it compares with the target, and whether to adjust the target or dates.
Step 5: Help them book safely
When they say go:
- Points: confirm the seat before any transfer. Transfers from card programs to airlines are permanent and can't be reversed. The seat must show in the booking program's own search, ideally through to the payment page, before a single point moves. Tools show "phantom" space that can't actually be ticketed.
- Check each segment's cabin. A "business" award can include an economy leg.
- Book direct with the airline when possible. Changes, refunds, and the DOT 24-hour rule are simpler.
- Use the 24-hour rule. For US flights booked 7+ days before departure, airlines must allow a free cancellation or hold within 24 hours (verify for the airline). That turns "should I?" into "book now, decide tomorrow."
- Keep watching after booking if it's cheap to rebook. Main cabin fares on major US airlines have no change fees, so a later drop can be rebooked for travel credit. Most US award tickets can be cancelled and the miles redeposited. Offer to keep the watch running for a price drop.
- Before entering payment details or booking anything, follow the
safe-purchasingskill. Never book or transfer points without the person's explicit go-ahead for that exact itinerary and price. - If a flight they book later gets cancelled or delayed, the
flight-disruption-claimsskill covers refunds and compensation.
Don't
- Don't recommend hidden-city ticketing or throwaway legs. Airlines cancel onward flights, seize miles, and close accounts.
- Don't present separately ticketed connections without saying clearly that a missed connection is the traveler's problem, and allow a long buffer.
- Don't treat an obvious error fare as a sure thing. Airlines may cancel it with a refund. Say so, and advise against non-refundable hotel plans until it tickets and holds for about a week.
- Don't alert on basic economy as the "deal" without showing the cost with bags and seats.
- Don't keep a watch running forever. End it when they book, when the dates pass, or after they stop responding to digests.
---
name: flight-deal-lookout
description: Keep watch on a trip someone wants to take and ping them when a cash fare or an award seat bookable with their points hits their target. Use this whenever someone says "tell me when flights to X get cheap", "watch fares for me", "let me know if business class opens up on points", wants to use miles or credit card points for a trip, has flexible dates or "anywhere warm" plans, or asks whether to pay cash or points, even if they never say "alert" or "track".
---
# Flight Deal Lookout
Last verified: September 2026. Award programs change partners, ratios, and fees with little notice. Program-specific details live in `references/points-and-miles.md`; re-check anything marked **(verify)** on the program's own site before advising a points transfer.
## Why this skill exists
Good fares and award seats show up briefly and unpredictably. Nobody wants to search every morning, and points make it harder: the same seat can cost 60,000 miles plus $900 in surcharges in one program and 70,000 miles plus $6 in another. Your job is to take a five-second request, turn it into a precise standing watch, check it on a sensible schedule, and interrupt the person only when something is actually worth booking.
## Step 1: Set up in one message
Don't interview. Send one short message, fill in sensible defaults, and let them correct you:
> Happy to watch this. Quick setup, answer what you can:
> 1. **From → to?** Nearby airports OK? ("Anywhere warm" works too.)
> 2. **When?** Date window and trip length, e.g. "sometime in March, 5–8 nights"
> 3. **Cash, points, or whichever is better?** If points: which cards or airline programs, roughly how many
> 4. **Target price?** Per person, or I'll suggest one from what this route usually costs
>
> I'll assume 1 adult, economy (not basic), up to 1 stop, no overnight layovers, unless you say otherwise.
Rules for this step:
- If they already gave some of this, only ask for the rest. If they gave all of it, skip straight to Step 2.
- Accept loose answers. "Chase and some United miles" is enough; ask for rough balances only if they matter for the booking.
- For "anywhere" requests, turn the vibe into a shortlist of 3–6 destinations and confirm it in the same message.
- **Never ask for loyalty program or bank passwords, or one-time codes.** Balances the person reads off themselves are all you need.
## Step 2: Search once right now
Before setting up a watch, check whether the deal already exists. Often it does, and a watch is unnecessary.
1. **Benchmark the route.** Use Google Flights price insights (low / typical / high) or the price history to find the typical range for these dates.
2. **Check cash fares** across the whole date window, not just the first date given. Compare like with like: add bags and seat fees to basic economy before calling it cheaper.
3. **If points are in play**, check award availability in the programs they can reach (their own airline miles plus every transfer partner of their cards; see the reference). Price each option all-in: miles + taxes + carrier surcharges.
4. **Decide cash vs points** with cents per point: `(cash fare − award taxes and fees) ÷ points`. As a default, use points when that beats roughly 1.3–1.5¢ for transferable card points or 1.1–1.2¢ for airline miles. Otherwise pay cash and save the points.
5. **Sanity-check the target.** If it's below anything this route has sold for recently, say so kindly and suggest a realistic number, or offer to watch for both.
Report back in a few lines: best cash option, best points option, what's typical, and whether you recommend booking now or watching.
## Step 3: Start the watch
If they want the watch, save a **watch spec** to memory so every check is identical, then schedule recurring checks with your scheduling or reminder tool.
```
Watch: flight-deal-lookout
Trip: <origins> → <destinations>, <date window>, <trip length>, <one-way/round trip>
Travelers: <count>, cabin: <cabin>, basic economy OK: <y/n>, max stops: <n>
Pay with: <cash | points | best of both>
Points reachable: <programs and cards, rough balances>
Alert when: cash ≤ <$ per person all-in> OR award ≤ <miles> + <$ fees> in <cabin>
Also alert: price drops ≥ <15>% below the lowest seen, even if above target
Best seen so far: <price, date checked>
Stop: <when booked | latest departure date − 7 days | user says stop>
```
**How often to check** (never more than hourly):
| Situation | Cadence |
|---|---|
| Departure more than 60 days out | once a day |
| Departure within 60 days, or a known fare sale | twice a day |
| Business or first class on points, departure within 21 days (close-in releases) | every 6 hours |
| Morning the airline opens its schedule (about 331–355 days out) | one extra check that day |
| Person asks for a short "pounce" window | every 4–6 hours, for that window only |
**Where to look:**
- **Prefer tools built for alerts.** Suggest the person turn on Google Flights "Track prices" (it can track "any dates") and, for awards, an alert tool like seats.aero, and let those emails be one of your signals. They're faster than you and don't break.
- **Your own checks** should look like a person searching: one normal search per route per run. Don't script high-volume scraping, work around bot checks, or retry through blocks. If a site blocks you, fall back to the official alerts and tell the person.
- **Always re-verify live** before alerting. Cached award data and price-tracking emails lag real inventory.
Tell the person plainly what you set up: what you're watching, how often, and when the watch ends. If you can't schedule recurring checks, say so, and set up the official alerts with them instead.
## Step 4: Alert only when it's worth it
Notify on a real hit: target met, a big drop, or a rare seat. On each run with no hit, update "best seen so far" silently. Never re-alert the same fare at the same price.
A good alert is scannable and bookable in one glance:
> ✈️ **NYC → Lisbon, Mar 12–19: $412 round trip** (target $450)
> TAP nonstop, JFK 9:40pm → LIS 9:55am · main cabin, carry-on included
> Typical for these dates: $520–680 · lowest seen before: $489
> **Book direct:** [link] · 24-hour free cancellation applies
> Seen live 2 minutes ago. Fares like this often last hours, not days.
> Reply "booked" to stop watching, or "snooze" to pause a week.
For an award, also include: miles + fees per person, which program to book through, the transfer path and how long it takes, cents per point vs the cash fare, and the warning below.
If a few weeks pass with no hit, send one short digest: best price seen, how it compares with the target, and whether to adjust the target or dates.
## Step 5: Help them book safely
When they say go:
- **Points: confirm the seat before any transfer.** Transfers from card programs to airlines are **permanent and can't be reversed**. The seat must show in the booking program's own search, ideally through to the payment page, before a single point moves. Tools show "phantom" space that can't actually be ticketed.
- **Check each segment's cabin.** A "business" award can include an economy leg.
- **Book direct** with the airline when possible. Changes, refunds, and the DOT 24-hour rule are simpler.
- **Use the 24-hour rule.** For US flights booked 7+ days before departure, airlines must allow a free cancellation or hold within 24 hours **(verify for the airline)**. That turns "should I?" into "book now, decide tomorrow."
- **Keep watching after booking if it's cheap to rebook.** Main cabin fares on major US airlines have no change fees, so a later drop can be rebooked for travel credit. Most US award tickets can be cancelled and the miles redeposited. Offer to keep the watch running for a price drop.
- Before entering payment details or booking anything, follow the `safe-purchasing` skill. Never book or transfer points without the person's explicit go-ahead for that exact itinerary and price.
- If a flight they book later gets cancelled or delayed, the `flight-disruption-claims` skill covers refunds and compensation.
## Don't
- Don't recommend hidden-city ticketing or throwaway legs. Airlines cancel onward flights, seize miles, and close accounts.
- Don't present separately ticketed connections without saying clearly that a missed connection is the traveler's problem, and allow a long buffer.
- Don't treat an obvious error fare as a sure thing. Airlines may cancel it with a refund. Say so, and advise against non-refundable hotel plans until it tickets and holds for about a week.
- Don't alert on basic economy as the "deal" without showing the cost with bags and seats.
- Don't keep a watch running forever. End it when they book, when the dates pass, or after they stop responding to digests.
References
Loaded by the agent only when the prompt needs them.