Airfare Is Down Over the Past Year — 3 Ways To Take Advantage
Written by
John Csiszar
Edited by
Levi Leidy
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Inflation has wreaked havoc on the budget of most Americans since the pandemic. From the price of eggs and other grocery staples to the cost of a new car, prices seem to have spiraled out of control.
Fortunately, there’s one cherished category in most Americans’ budgets that has actually fallen in price over the past year — domestic airfare. In fact, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, flights in the U.S. have fallen 7.9% in price on a year-over-year basis since last April.
If you haven’t yet planned out your travel for the coming months, here are some ways you can take advantage of the cheaper prices.
What’s Causing the Drop?
Perhaps even more than with other industries, airlines are particularly sensitive to changes in supply and demand. Soft travel demand translates into more empty seats on airplanes, severely hurting earnings in an industry already operating on razor-thin margins.
In 2025, uncertainty regarding the economy has been fueled by the Trump administration’s travel policy. As many Americans are unsure as to whether or not the economy is heading for a recession, air travel has softened.
As Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, recently said on a company earnings call, “Nobody really relishes uncertainty when they’re talking about what they could do on a vacation and spend hard-earned dollars.”
As a result, airlines have had to cut fares to fill seats. While a problematic sign for the economy, it creates opportunities for travelers.
How To Take Advantage of Lower Airfares
While prices for domestic flights are down on average, this doesn’t mean that all fares in America are lower. But with some careful planning — and a bit of flexibility — you might be able to save hundreds of dollars flying around the country in 2025. Here are some tips to help.
Use Search Engines Like Google Flights
Google Flights is an immensely helpful planning tool for travelers because it can show you prices across a range of dates — and locations.
Imagine, for example, that you want to take a cross-country trip from Los Angeles to Miami in September. Google flights can show you not only the prices for your preferred dates but also the prices for the entire month that you want to fly. In some cases, choosing to fly a day earlier or later can result in large savings.
You can also use the search engine to look up different, nearby city pairs. If you want to fly from Chicago to Washington D.C., for example, you could choose to fly into Reagan National Airport (DCA), Dulles Airport (IAD) or even Baltimore/Washington Airport (BWI). Each of those options will give you a range of airlines — and prices — to choose from.
Be Flexible
One of the best ways to find cheap airfare, even when prices are up, is to be flexible. But this is particularly true when prices are falling. To some degree, airlines still have pricing power over popular routes on high-demand days. If you’re looking to fly to a beach destination over the Fourth of July holiday, for example, you’re not nearly as likely to score a deal as if you could fly to the Northeast on a Wednesday in mid-winter.
This is obviously an extreme example, but there are plenty of ways to be flexible without having to change your whole travel plan. In addition to flying midweek or considering alternate airports, such as Burbank (BUR), Long Beach (LGB) or Ontario (ONT) instead of LAX, get creative with your destination. For example, if you’re flying to Rochester, Minnesota, it might be cheaper to fly to nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul and rent a car instead.
Another good idea is to have a list of various trips written down rather than being set on a particular flight at a particular time. Then, when it’s time for your vacation, you can search which city pair offers the best deal and go with that one. For example, imagine that you want to visit Charleston, New York City, Nashville and Orlando. When you’re planning your trip, search all of those flights and go with the one that’s the cheapest in any given year.
Plan Ahead and Subscribe To Airfare Alerts
In any environment, one of the best ways to take advantage of cheap fares is to plan ahead. Long before you plan to travel, search the trips that you are interested in taking and subscribe to price alerts with a service like Google Flights. Then, you’ll automatically be notified if there are any changes in the airfare.
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