Exclusive: Summer Airfare Price Drop on Many U.S. Routes

Always on the lookout for value-oriented travel, Senior Editor Patricia Magaña has trekked throughout the States, Latin America, and Europe. Follow her on Instagram @PatiTravels.

Since joining the editorial crew in 2005, Magaña has pounced on incredible deals to Amsterdam, Madrid, and San Pedro Sula—each for less than $300. Her favorite travel experiences involve discovering street art while meandering a city, chatting up locals, and day drinking.

Her stories have appeared on USA Today, Huffington Post, Yahoo!, TripAdvisor, AirfareWatchdog, and other publications.

Email Patricia at editor@smartertravel.com.

See recent posts by Patricia Magaña

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With fuel costs skyrocketing and demand rising as we get closer to summer, it goes against logic that fares would still be affordable, but guess what—savings on domestic summer travel can still be had.

The Good News

An astounding 71 percent of the domestic routes I’ve been tracking since the start of the year have decreased month-over-month, though primarily on East Coast routes. Since we know demand and fuel costs aren’t the driving force behind the savings, reasons for fare drops are routes with new service, as is the case between Chicago and Los Angeles. Ultra-low cost carrier Spirit began service on said market on April 1, sending other airlines scrambling to compete, and subsequently lowering fares a needle-moving 40 percent since last month.

The So-So News

The week-over-week news isn’t as grand as the month-over-month reported above. 58 percent of the routes I’m tracking are cheaper than this time last week. Still nothing to sneeze at, but at least fares aren’t moving in the opposite direction.

Get some help with the above airport codes here.

How to Find Your Own Low Fares

Don’t see your route in our chart? Check fares for your itinerary using SmarterTravel’s price comparison tool, another metasearch site, or an online travel agency.

Resources

Stay up-to-date with last month’s domestic summer fares blog post.
Find an airline-by-airline breakdown of additional charges in our SmarterTravel Ultimate Guide to Airline Fees.
Check out SmarterTravel’s U.S. destinations travel guides for general tips such as when to go.

(Editor’s note: Because of its user-friendly flexible search tool, I’ve used Orbitz for researching the fare data in all benchmarking blogs. Note that the metasearch site doesn’t offer American Airline fares.)

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