Summer Fares Creep Skyward, but Some Good News

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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The kids will be out of school. You deserve a vacation. You need to work on your tan. Whatever the reason, you want some time off this summer. Tracking peak-season travel as we do for Caribbean and Europe rates, we’re seeing a week-over- week increase for domestic summer airfares. The routes that saw a decrease in price, however, show a considerable dip; and as a whole, the combined routes lowered by a significant $147.

Book Now or Wait?

The latest industry-wide airfare sales are mostly for spring travel. The big summer sales haven’t yet begun, so I’d say there’s still time to scope out the scene and lay low. Just don’t get too cozy because come spring, the airlines will begin their summer sales, and that’s when you’ll need to be ready to book. In the meantime, start comparing prices to get a point of reference for prices to your destination.

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. Be aware that Orbitz and Expedia exclude American fares from their search results, and also keep in mind that you’ll need to go straight to Southwest’s site to see its fares.

Resources

While soaking in our 10 Best Beach Destinations for 2011 photo gallery isn’t like catching some rays on the sand, you may find some shining inspiration just the same.
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.
Here’s more on why American fares aren’t listed in Expedia and Orbitz. (Editor’s note: Because of its user-friendly flexible search tool, I’ve used Orbitz for researching the fare data in all benchmarking blogs.)

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