The ‘golden summer of cheap flights': Now's the time for last-minute deals

CNN

2 days ago

Still haven't pressed 'purchase' on your summer vacation? There's some good news for procrastinators this hectic travel season.
If you have yet to book peak summer airfare to popular destinations in Europe, among other places, you can expect to find lower prices and more award availability than the norm for this typically busy time of year, travel experts say.
The indications of a slowdown in global travel, paired with ongoing economic uncertainty, are resulting in some bargain international and domestic airfares.
And now might be the sweet spot for finding a last-minute summer travel deal.
Travel expert Katy Nastro, with airfare tracking site Going, says that while it's hardly an exact science, there's typically a 'Goldilocks' window for booking flights during peak travel times, such as summer.
It's usually recommended to lock in peak-season domestic airfare at least three to seven months out from the date you plan to travel. For international flights, the experts at Going suggest booking four to ten months out for peak dates.
But this summer has 'sort of flipped itself on its head,' Nastro says, adding that even for close-in travel dates to destinations near and far, there are still summer airfare deals to be had for people booking just one to three months out.
For non-peak travel periods, the Goldilocks window is one to three months in advance for domestic fares and two to eight months out for international flights.
It's not only domestic destinations with deals, says Nastro, calling this summer 'the golden summer of cheap flights.'
'Typically, at this point, you'd be hard-pressed to find something over to Europe in the $400s, round-trip, from major cities in the US … We're still seeing that, which is really incredible,' says Nastro.
She cited a deal spotted on May 28 showing mid-July round-trip airfare from New York to Dublin for $392 on Aer Lingus, and select July and August dates for round-trip airfare from Los Angeles to Paris for $579 on French Bee.
On May 29, round-trip domestic airfare deals spotted by Going included Miami to Las Vegas in August for $175; Cincinnati to Charleston for $78 (June-August availability); and New York City to Nashville for $127 (July and August availability).
This summer is unique, Nastro says, because there's still 'abundance and availability' for flights to destinations in Europe, as well as Canada and Mexico, and Latin American destinations such as Brazil and Peru.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, data collected from third-party sources (primarily online travel agencies) indicates bookings from major US cities to major European cities made between the end of January and mid-May are down by about 10% for travel this June, July and August.
Bookings made in the opposite direction, from the Europe to the US, are down 12%.
The drop in international arrivals into the US appears to be having a bigger impact more broadly for airfares on European carriers than US carriers, Nastro says.
She suggests looking for deals on airlines such as Aer Lingus, SAS, Lufthansa, Norse Atlantic Airways and Icelandair.
'That doesn't mean that you can't find something on Delta, United, etcetera. (But) what we've noticed is more so the deals are coming from these European carriers,' she says.
For the best deals to Europe this summer, staying flexible is the key to success, says Hayley Berg, lead economist at the travel platform Hopper.
Berg says airfare to Europe from major US hubs this summer is comparable to what it was during the summer of 2019, which was one of the cheapest summers in recent memory for travel to Europe thanks to low fuel prices, competition and the entry of new lower-cost airlines.
Hopper's 2025 International Travel Guide reports airfare from the US to Europe is averaging $817 per ticket this summer — down 10% from last summer's prices, despite the fact that, overall, more international flights are scheduled to depart from US airports to global international destinations this summer than in 2024.
Consumers who can stay flexible about where they fly and when they go to Europe can expect to get the best deals, Berg says. That means traveling on weekdays and taking the deal-seeking approach.
'Where I most frequently see low prices are Dublin, Stockholm, Copenhagen. And then … depending on when in the summer you go, the trifecta of London, Paris and Rome,' Berg says. 'Just because there's so much volume that flies into those (three) destinations, you are likely to find a deal if you kind of do your homework.'
When it comes to the best travel dates for cheaper fares to Europe, the last two weeks of August is the sweet spot for savings, she says.
'The average airfare is $300 cheaper if you travel in the last two weeks of August versus the peak in June and July,' she says.
As an added bonus, once you're there, you can also expect fewer crowds, cheaper accommodations and shorter lines at major European attractions like the Vatican at that time of year, Berg says.
Domestic airfare within the US is down about 3% for bookings this summer over last summer, she adds, in particular to big US city hubs like New York City, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles.
But travelers who shop around and aren't locked into specific dates can find significantly more savings.
'If you use some of our advice around being flexible, you can shave a couple hundred dollars off of a domestic trip for a family of four, or even a couple,' Berg says.
Jack Ezon, founder of EMBARK Beyond travel agency, says Europe's summer of savings goes beyond airfare. He points to Greece, in particular, as being full of relative summer bargains right now.
'Mykonos, Santorini, there's opportunity on the mainland, pretty much everywhere. We're seeing guaranteed room upgrades and lots of great programs at hotels trying to promote it,' he says.
While this summer's surprise season of cheaper airfares might make it tempting to roll the dice and wait before booking anything, dragging your feet too much longer into June isn't likely to pay off if you're looking to score a deal, says Nastro.
People who were hesitant to book anything because of uncertainties surrounding travel and the markets are likely to start making plans sooner rather than later, she says. As a result, airfares are expected to go up.
'I don't want people to get in the thinking that, 'Oh, I could just book something for July 4th at the end of June, and I should be safe,'' she says. 'Our age-old wisdom, and just knowing what we know about airfare, that's not going to be the case — even in this unique summer that we are in.'
Frequent travelers and credit card holders sitting on a pile of loyalty points and miles should tap them for unexpected summer deals, says Tiffany Funk, co-founder of award flight search tool, point.me.
'How award seats work is they are distressed inventory,' she says. 'For the most part, these are seats that airlines have acknowledged they're probably not going to sell. Those are the ones that they really let their loyalty programs leverage.'
And while there's not exactly a 'glut of award seats' available this summer, Funk says there are more options for redeeming awards now compared to last summer.
Being open — to award options that pop up last-minute and to flying in the back of the plane — is one way to score a deal.
'For people who, like myself, have not put together their summer travel plans yet and are able to be opportunistic, that's always a good way to use your points,' says Funk, adding that the best awards pricing point.me has seen for travel this summer has been in economy class.
'Prior to 2021, pretty reliably, airlines did not really sell a lot of their premium cabin seats. Now they sell the majority of them,' she says, leading to more award inventory available in economy class.
Recent one-way economy class award airfares booked on point.me include New York to Paris in August on Virgin Atlantic for 9,600 miles plus $75 per person and Phoenix to London in August on American Airlines for 15,000 miles plus $6 per person.
Points also have the advantage of being much more flexible than cash when it comes to changes and cancellations, says Funk — something travelers might particularly appreciate in more uncertain times.
'So if you see something, book it. You can always change it later. For most of these programs, there's not a fee to do that,' Funk says.
The time to strike is now.
'I think we've all been holding our breath, but really, what the population is showing us is they want to go on vacation and they're willing to pay for it. And if there are great deals, they're going to find them so that they can get more for that budget.'
Terry Ward is a Florida-based travel writer and freelance journalist in Tampa who is guilty of hoarding her Star Alliance miles.