FAQ
Common questions. Can't find what you're looking for? Email hello@mail.fareduck.io.
- What is Fareduck?
- Fareduck is a personalised AI-curated flight-deal digest. Every week we surface 5–8 hand-picked deals from your home airports to destinations that match your travel persona — the cities, vibes, and trip shape you tell us about during onboarding.
- How is Fareduck different from Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights), Hopper, or Google Flights?
- Going sends the same picks to everyone on their list. Hopper is a booking app focused on price prediction. Google Flights is a search tool — you have to know what you want. Fareduck pushes a small batch of personalised deals to you weekly, ranked by both heuristic and AI scoring, with the destination and travel style filtered to what you actually like.
- How much does it cost?
- The basic weekly digest is free forever. Plus ($7/mo or $70/yr) launches once we have ~100 active users — it adds ad-free emails, daily digests, target-price alerts, and unlimited watchlists. We don't require a credit card to sign up.
- How do you make money?
- Three streams: (1) affiliate commissions when you book through a partner link, (2) Plus subscriptions when those launch, and (3) sponsored placements clearly labelled as sponsored. Our ranking algorithm is architecturally walled off from monetization — the deal we recommend first is not the one that pays us most.
- Will my ranking change based on what pays you?
- No. Our ranking module is structurally forbidden from importing from the affiliate or ad modules — enforced by an ESLint rule. If someone tries to add "boost partner deals," the build fails. This is the only way to make trust real.
- What data do you collect?
- Your email, your travel preferences (airports, destinations, trip shape, vibe), and engagement events (clicks, email opens). We never store raw IP addresses — only a salted daily hash. We don't track you off-site. We don't share with ad networks. See our Privacy page for details.
- How do I unsubscribe?
- Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link. You can also pause for 30 days or hard-unsubscribe from your /preferences page. We honour requests within minutes.
- How many flight deals will I get per week?
- Usually 5–8. Some weeks fewer if we can't find anything that scores above our threshold — we'd rather send a short digest than pad with mediocre picks. Empty digests are skipped entirely.
- What if I have airline loyalty status?
- Tell us in /preferences/flights and we'll heavily favour your loyalty carrier in ranking, even when they're not the cheapest. We treat loyalty status as a stronger signal than just "preferred airline" because status is asymmetric — it's worth real money to the person who has it.
- Where do your fares come from?
- Duffel — a flight-data API that aggregates airline inventory. Each card shows when the fare was quoted so you know how fresh the number is. Prices can shift between our quote and your booking; we always recommend verifying on the airline's site before paying.
- Do you book flights?
- No. We're an information service, not a booking engine. The "Search this fare" button on every deal routes through a partner (Skyscanner, Google Flights, or the airline) where the actual purchase happens. We earn a commission if you book.
- Do you sell hotel bookings?
- No. Fareduck is a product of BlueDuck LLC, which also operates a hospitality consulting business — selling hotel bookings would be a conflict of interest. We may revisit when there's a clean way to do it.
- How do I change my home airport or travel preferences?
- Go to /preferences. Every section is editable — airports, airlines (including loyalty status), destinations, trip shape, vibe. Changes take effect on your next daily search.
- Why is my digest delayed?
- Digests go out Sunday mornings UTC. If you signed up recently and haven't received one yet, your account probably hit the weekly cron at most a few days after signup — your first digest may take up to a week. You can always check /deals for the latest picks in the meantime.
- Can I refer friends?
- We're launching a referral program soon — both you and your referred friend will get a month of Plus free when it ships. For now, just sharing the link helps.
- I'm a flight-deal blogger / podcaster — can I write about Fareduck?
- Please do. Email hello@mail.fareduck.io with any questions or to request a press kit.
- I'm an affiliate network or travel partner — how do we work together?
- Email hello@mail.fareduck.io with subject "Partnership." We accept commission-based affiliate integrations and direct sponsorships (clearly labelled).