AdventureFares.com

Startup finalists
AdventureFares.com
Springdale

President/Co-Founder: Darrell Potts
Year founded: 2022
Line of work: digital services travel membership
Website: adventurefares.com

AdventureFares.com was founded in 2022 by Darrell Potts, Sherri Dillard, Teena Potts and Payton Potts. It’s a digital travel membership company where customers pay a monthly or yearly fee to receive alerts about discounted flights from their local airports. Membership costs just $1 per week and provides access to exclusive fare alerts, with savings ranging from 30% to 80% off standard rates. The company’s mission is to make travel affordable for everyone.

In addition to fare alerts, AdventureFares.com offers Travel Resource Guides for over 800 destinations, ensuring members get the most out of their trips. To maintain the quality of their product, they do not accept advertising revenue from travel providers. The company started by monitoring flights at one airport but now monitors 22 airports across several states.

AdventureFares.com started strictly as a B2C (business to consumer) service company, but a new B2B (business to business) membership called SmartTimeOff will be launched soon. It will target human resources departments and companies looking to provide travel benefits to employees.

AdventureFares.com has experienced double-digit growth every quarter since its inception and has a high consumer renewal rate of 92%.

“As we continue to add airports and states, we are seeing the need to add customer service reps, sales agents and IT support here in Northwest Arkansas,” Darrell Potts said.

The company’s success is measured not only financially but also by the travel experiences it facilitates for its members. It aims to encourage people to explore new destinations and create lasting memories.

“We consider ‘going to the same place you went last year’ or ‘not traveling at all’ to be our primary competitors,” Potts said. “That’s the challenge: to get people thinking outside their usual box to consider exploring new places and making new memories. Once they start seeing how affordable travel can be, if you know how to find great flight deals and good lodging options, they start to see themselves having adventures. Then, when they take that leap and finally make that lifetime travel dream come true, they tell all their friends. That’s what we’re building our business on.”

AdventureFares.com plans to expand its reach nationally and triple its membership in Arkansas alone by the end of the year. They also offer free memberships to select education partners, recognizing the popularity of their product among educators.

“We learned early on that our product was popular with educators in Arkansas,” Potts said. Teachers love to explore and travel, but they have to be careful with their funds and need to know quickly when fares become available for their fixed travel dates.”