Memphis transplant Ashling Petersen Woolley is on a mission to get Memphians traveling. 

“I’m just trying to get the word out that Memphis (International) Airport is better than people give it credit for,” said Woolley, who founded 901 Flights to help fellow Memphians access the lowest fares and most desirable flight options. 

About two years ago she launched 901 Flights, an online service offering travel tips, destination recommendations and education around traveling on a budget via Memphis International.

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Today, she reaches more than 7,600 followers through Instagram, and 1,200 subscribers through her newsletter.

“Adventure runs through my veins,” said Woolley, 32, who moved to Memphis with her husband three years ago from her native Utah. 

She was raised by an Irish mother — a journalist who left her native Wicklow in southeast Ireland at 18 after she eloped with Woolley’s American father.

The couple settled in Utah, where they owned and operated community newspapers. 

“Having my mom be from Ireland, I grew up with her constantly saying to my dad, ‘I didn’t move halfway across the Earth for me to only see one part,’ ” Woolley said. 

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“So, we traveled a lot as kids, but we had six kids in my family and we were not well off by any means,” she said. “It just meant I grew with my mom showing me that it’s doable. It’s important, and it’s something that can actually fill your cup.”

But when Woolley relocated to Memphis, she quickly learned many locals view travel as unattainable because of the expense and logistical challenges they associated with using the city’s airport. 

“When I first moved here, I started asking my co-workers about fun places they’ve traveled and their favorite places to travel,” said Woolley, who works as a behavior analyst for children with autism.

“I had a really hard time getting anything from my co-workers, and my field requires a master’s degree, so these are well-educated people making a good living.” 

Woolley says cheap flights are available, if you know how to search for them. 

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“In Memphis, we don’t have as many direct flights as the big airports, but I think that if you’re willing to do one layover, you can get anywhere in the world pretty cheap,” she said. 

Like many travelers, she registered for subscription services like Scott’s Cheap Flights and downloaded travel apps like Skyscanner, but rarely found deals relevant to Memphians. 

“And they weren’t to places I really wanted to go,” Woolley said. “When I’d do my own research, I found them way cheaper on my own.”

She regularly finds flights originating in Memphis to popular international destinations like Rome and Barcelona for less than $600 roundtrip and with one connection. She recently booked a $500 flight to Dublin for the spring of 2024. 

Through 901 Flights, Woolley shares these deals with her fellow Memphians. 

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“These aren’t just your random cheap flights that require you to change airports to connect to your next flight,” she said. “I’m finding the really good ones that are cheap and convenient.”

Woolley never posts a flight she wouldn’t be willing to take. 

“If you were to do a search, your cheapest flights are probably going to have really weird layovers, and that’s where 901 Flights comes in,” she said. “I filter those out, then find the best ones. I have the time and I’m willing to do it. The more I look for flights, the more patterns I see and the more I understand.” 

Woolley relies on that personal knowledge and human pattern recognition rather than software designed to filter flights. 

“As I looked into that, I realized doing it myself might actually be a lot less work,” Woolley said. “And if that’s what the big guys are using, they’re not finding any flights out of Memphis.” 

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When she’s looking for flights to share with followers, time is one of her biggest considerations, since the average American worker receives 11 paid vacation days annually. 

“A huge piece of feedback I got from my Instagram followers was that they’re so sick of using their PTO just for the actual act of traveling to where they’re going,” Woolley said. 

901 Flights’ paid subscriptions are $7 a month or $70 a year, and include access to weekend deals for those who want to maximize their time off by taking direct flights over long weekends.

Woolley looks for flights with three-hour layovers, which she considers the ideal amount of time for travelers to transfer to the next flight without eating away at their vacation time. 

For domestic flights, she prefers budget airlines. 

“A huge piece of feedback I got from my Instagram followers was that they’re so sick of using their PTO just for the actual act of traveling to where they’re going.”

Ashling Woolley
901 Flights

“I think budget airlines get a bad rap from people who haven’t actually tried them,” Woolley said. “I’ve had some major issues on the fancy airlines, and my budget airlines — they’ve yet to fail me.” 

And she never pays for checked bags or seat selection on domestic flights. 

Woolley frequently finds deals from Memphis to numerous U.S. cities, including Denver, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, for $40 to $80 roundtrip. 

“Even when you’re adding luggage or seat selection, it’s still way lower than what the big guys charge,” she said. 

And Woolley often lets prices determine where she travels.

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“Oftentimes, my husband will say, ‘Let’s go to Europe in the spring,’ and we wait until we find the right flight that works with our schedules, the right layovers, the right price,” she said.

“And once you let the cheap flights determine where you go, you’ll actually find yourself traveling a lot more. Obviously that’s not the solution for everyone, since not everyone can be that flexible, like around kids’ school schedules.” 

Woolley has received tremendous feedback from grateful Memphians — many new to travel — who have embarked on adventures that originated in Memphis. 

Among the deals they’ve lauded: $80 roundtrip flights to Orlando, $190 to Seattle and $600 to Honolulu. 

A subscriber named Valerie left a 901 Flights testimonial saying she was able to visit Paris thanks to a $300 flight to London, where she caught a train to the City of Lights. 

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“Because we got such a great deal, we were able to plan some other things that cost money in Paris that we wouldn’t have done otherwise,” she said. 

Another subscriber, Jean Paul, praised 901 Flights for a discount deal to New York City, saying the service “made this possible by finding me a good price on dates that were available for me. It saved me the hassle of looking for deals on shady websites while also saving me actual money.” 

Woolley enjoys helping Memphians find cheaper and better ways to travel through 901 Flights. And she hopes more Memphians using the city’s airport will translate to more flight options in the future. 

“It’s been a really fun place for me,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of like-minded people — other travelers who appreciate the resource, and a lot of people whose minds have just been blown because they didn’t know they could travel for this cheap.”