> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jetsetteralerts.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Membership Tutorial - Jetsetter Alerts - URL: https://www.jetsetteralerts.com/understanding-alerts/ - Published: 2023-08-11T11:27:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-16T04:54:53.000Z - Description: This guide gives you everything you need to understand each alert from Jetsetter Alerts, making it easy to quickly book your flights. - Author: Jetsetter Alerts - Tags: Membership Turorials, Cheap Flights ## Tutorial Overview This tutorial will walk you through the following topics so you can understand each alert and what you’re seeing: - **Available Dates/Date Range** — How to interpret the dates included in an alert. - **Departure Airports** — Which airports are covered in alerts. - **Alert Card** — A card showing all the alert details for a specific departure airport, with a direct link to view the deal online. - **Searching for Flights** — Where to search for flights and the difference between a flight aggregator and an OTA (Online Travel Agency). - **Locating Dates at the Alerted Price** — How to find all the available dates matching the price in the alert. - **Finding Your Preferred Airline** — How to identify dates when your preferred airline is available at the alerted price if multiple carriers are included. - **Stopover Programs** — What stopover programs are and how to understand them when they’re listed in an alert. - **Booking Tools** — Recommended websites to use for booking flights and other travel needs. --- Below are examples of the information you’ll see in our airfare alerts, along with explanations of what each part means and how to use it. Since every member’s alerts are personalized based on their chosen departure areas, the first thing you’ll notice in your alert is the **“Departure Airports”** section. For example, if you selected Pennsylvania Departures as one of your departure areas, your alerts will show details like the departure airports, their airport codes, and an alert card with the deal information. **Departure Airports Example** ✈️ Departure Airports ✈️ - Philadelphia (PHL) - Pittsburgh (PIT) - Allentown (ABE) --- The **alert card for Pittsburgh** is shown below. In a real alert, you would also see alert cards for the other two departing airports mentioned as well, but to keep things simple, let's focus on the one example below. ### Alert Card Pittsburgh (PIT) - **Destination:** Cabo San Lucas (SJD) - **Airline:** American, United - **Date Range:** Aug - Dec 2026 - **Price:** $282 - **Price may last 2 days** [View On Google Flights ](https://www.jetsetteralerts.com/understanding-alerts/#alert-card) --- ## Date Range/Dates Available Example: **Date Range: Aug-Dec 2026** This means the alerted price can be found on **one or more dates** in each of the following months: **August, September, October, November, and December** of 2026. If it said **Oct, Dec 2026; Jan-Feb, May 2027** This means this deal is available on **one or more dates** for the months of **October** and **December** of 2026, as well as **January, February,** and **May** of 2027. **However,** if it says **specific dates** such as **Dec 7th - Dec 18th**, this would mean that this particular alert only has one date available that departs on December 7th and returns on the 18th. --- ## **Searching For Flights On Your Own** We always include a linked example of the deal on the alert card for each departure airport—like the “View Deal on Google Flights” link shown above. If this were a live alert (and not just an example), clicking the link would take you directly to that deal. This makes it easy to check the price yourself and book right away if you’d like. You can also use it as a starting point since all the key details are already entered—then simply adjust the dates to fit your schedule. While the linked example is handy for confirming the price, most alerts actually include many more date combinations (unless the alert specifically mentions limited availability). So, how do you find them? - **Flight Aggregators vs Online Travel Agencies (OTA's)** > **What Is A flight Aggregator?** What **Google** and **Yahoo** are for searching information across billions of websites, **flight aggregators** are for finding prices for **flights** (and hotels) across all the websites where you can book them. Flight aggregators allow you to compare prices quickly and efficiently. Examples of popular flight aggregators include **Google Flights**, **Skyscanner**, and **Kayak**. > **What Is An Online Travel Agency (OTA)?** An **OTA (Online Travel Agency)** you are most familiar with. Examples of OTAs include **Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, and Booking.com**. Believe it or not, they are **registered travel agents** and earn **commissions on all bookings** made on their websites. **99% of the time**, each alert card will contain a link to view the deal on **Google Flights** or **Skyscanner** because these two **aggregators (search engines)** are automatically checking the prices for all the travel agencies like **Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline** automatically. Simply click **“View the deal on Google Flights”**, you will see a live example of the alert, but then you can use the information in the **alert card** as a guide to search for your preferred **dates/airline** you would like to book (**more on airlines below**). The **exception** could be if a **mistake fare** is an **OTA glitch** directly vs. an issue with the **airline** itself. If a mistake fare is only showing on a particular website, we will of course provide a **direct link** to view the price directly on that website. ## Airline Options Mentioned Many times, you’ll see **more than one airline** included as available at the **alerted price** for a particular departure airport. However, after clicking on **"View this Deal Online"** from the alert card, you might only see **one airline** at the alerted price, with others showing much higher fares. **Did the price change?** It’s possible, but more often than not, the price **hasn’t changed**. The reason you’re not seeing that price for all airlines mentioned is that, while each airline may have the alerted price available, they are **not always available on the exact same date**. Take a look at the **screenshot of the Google Flights search below** to see this in action. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b2/5a/b25ae1cc-57ff-42d2-b189-680f1dd95ffc/content/images/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-11-at-4.58.11-AM.png) ****This is the Pittsburgh Alert Contained From The Alert Card Above** As you can see, **American Airlines** is showing at the **alerted price of $282**, while **United Airlines** is displaying **$334**. This just means that **United is not available at the alerted price** on our the pre-selected dates. To locate the dates where **United** offers the alerted price, you will need to change the dates to locate them. From there, you can easily adjust the dates by clicking on the **departure date**, and a **calendar with all the prices** will pop up, allowing you to quickly find the available dates, that show the alerted prices. ![Google Flights Rate Calendar View](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b2/5a/b25ae1cc-57ff-42d2-b189-680f1dd95ffc/content/images/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-11-at-5.10.05-AM.png) ****Google Flights Calendar Fares View** The first prices you see are the **cheapest departure date prices** available for that date. Once you select are date for departure, it will **only then** show you what options you have as a return date for the total to be the same. If you have a preference for a particular airline you **don't have to click** through all the dates showing the alerted price to find when **United** is available at the alerted price. You can simply use the **airline filter** as demonstrated below. ## Airline Filters ![Screen shot of google flights search result using airline filter](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b2/5a/b25ae1cc-57ff-42d2-b189-680f1dd95ffc/content/images/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-11-at-5.24.39-AM-2.png) Airline Filter On Google Flights We selected **United Only**, and now if you look at the prices for each day and compare this photo with the previous one, you'll notice that the prices on some of the dates have **changed**. This allows us to **easily see**—without needing to do any further searching—**which dates are available to book with United at the alerted price.** ![Google Flights Rate Calendar View](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b2/5a/b25ae1cc-57ff-42d2-b189-680f1dd95ffc/content/images/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-11-at-5.39.42-AM.png) Google Flights Rate Calendar View Now, in the photo below you can see that United is showing the alerted price of $282\. ![Google flights search results](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b2/5a/b25ae1cc-57ff-42d2-b189-680f1dd95ffc/content/images/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-11-at-5.42.17-AM.png) ### **Airline Filter Warning** One thing to keep in mind is that many airlines sell and book flights for each other through what’s known as **“codeshare”** or **partner-operated flights**. If you select a **specific airline** in the filter and suddenly the flights disappear—or the price no longer matches the alerted price—this is usually the reason. The easy fix is to select the **airline alliance** instead of just the airline, and the flight options will reappear. **Example:** - **Oneworld Alliance** includes **American, British Airways, Alaska, Finnair, Iberia**, and many more. - **SkyTeam Alliance** covers **Delta** and its partners. - **Star Alliance** covers **United** and its partners. ## Airline Stopover Programs If an alert mentions that an airline has a [**stopover program**](https://www.jetsetteralerts.com/list-of-airlines-who-have-a-stop-over-program/), this means you can turn a **layover into a second vacation destination** at **no additional charge** on your flight. The idea is simple—you get to **stamp your passport** and explore a new country without paying a penny more for airfare. Airlines allow you to turn your connection city into a **second vacation stop** before continuing on to your final destination. You can usually do this **on your way there, on your return, or even both ways** if you’d like to spend more time in that stopover destination. This is one of our **favorite travel hacks**, and something we take advantage of often. Some of the airlines that offer stopover programs include: - [**Icelandair**](https://www.jetsetteralerts.com/airfare-travel-hacks-icelandairs-stop-over-program/) - **Destination**: Reykjavik, Iceland - **Stopover Duration**: 1 to 6 nights - **Iberia** - **Destination**: Madrid, Spain - **Stopover Duration**: 1 to 6 nights - [**TAP Air Portugal**](https://www.jetsetteralerts.com/2-for-1-vacation-hack-tap-air-portugals-stop-over-program/) - **Destination**: Lisbon or Porto, Portugal - **Stopover Duration**: 1 to 9 nights - **Copa Airlines** - **Destination**: Panama City, Panama - **Stopover Duration**: 1 to 6 nights - **Finnair** - **Destination**: Helsinki, Finland - **Stopover Duration**: 1 to 6 nights However, you **don’t need to remember** which airlines offer a **stopover program** every time you receive an alert. When an airline mentioned in the alert **has a stopover option**, it will be **clearly indicated** on the alert card, or mentioned in the alert as shown below. ### Depart: Chicago (ORD) - **Destination:** Dublin - **Airline:** TAP - **Available Dates:** Oct-Dec 2024; Jan-Mar 2025 - **Price:** $360 - **Stop-Over Option:** Lisbon 1-9 Nights - **Price may last 3-4 days** [View On Google Flights ](https://www.jetsetteralerts.com/understanding-alerts/) The **key point** to remember for **stopover options** is that you must **book it during your initial booking**, and it must be done **directly through the airline** offering the stopover. Since we provide a link to view the deal on Google Flights, you will see the option to always book direct with the airline, or with a 3rd party like Expedia because again, it's a flight aggregator that pulls prices from all websites including the airline directly and isn't actually involved in your booking process. ## Other Vacation Planning Tools #### Tours & Attractions In our alerts, you will see an **"Activities & Attractions"** section that looks like this: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b2/5a/b25ae1cc-57ff-42d2-b189-680f1dd95ffc/content/images/2025/07/image-10--1-.png) #### Chania Activities & Tours ****Plan your vacation stress-free by pre-booking your activities with** [****GetYourGuide.com**](https://www.getyourguide.com/) **— one of the top platforms for tours and experiences worldwide.** ****✔️ Save time and money by planning ahead** ****✔️ Skip the hassle of figuring things out after you arrive** ****✔️ No need to enter your payment info abroad** ****✔️ Enjoy 24-hour free cancellation on most bookings** Make the most of your trip — book before you go. [View Activities](https://www.getyourguide.com/chania-l1807/?partner%5Fid=0FXS3OC&utm%5Fmedium=online%5Fpublisher) We’ve partnered with **GetYourGuide.com** and **Viator.com**—industry leaders offering tours, activities, transfers/shuttles, and attraction tickets in **10,000 cities across 180 countries worldwide**. With them, you can **pre-book all your vacation activities, tours, and excursions at the lowest prices**—and our favorite reason—you’ll **never need to pull out your credit or debit card while on vacation**. That means **no risk of card fraud** at the worst possible time, when getting a replacement might not be possible until you’re back home. (We’ve been there—it’s not fun!) Another big reason we chose to partner with them is their **flexible cancellation policy**. You can **cancel anything—no explanation needed—up to 24 hours before your scheduled activity**. This lets you secure all your tours, passes, and tickets in advance, saving time and avoiding the hassle (and scams) of trying to book after you arrive. And if plans change? **No worries—cancel in time and it won’t cost you a penny.** --- **This concludes our tutorial!** You’re now ready to start checking off your bucket list and turning dream trips into real memories instead of leaving them as “someday.” Thanks for being part of **Jetsetter Alerts**—we’re excited to help you make it happen! You can sit back and wait for alerts to arrive to your inbox.