Cheap flights are the best, and it doesn’t get better than when you can get somewhere for less than $100 roundtrip.
We search for cheap flights all day, every day for our Thrifty Traveler Premium members and an undeniable trend has emerged lately: Sub-$100 roundtrip flights within the U.S. are back in a big way.
It’s a much-needed win for travelers looking to fly somewhere without breaking the bank. While sub-$100 roundtrip flights never disappeared entirely, we keep seeing more and more cheap flights popping up for destinations across the U.S. for this spring, especially.
Why? Because the airlines need to fill seats during one of their softest times of the year.
Why Are Domestic Flights Getting Cheaper?
As is typically the case in the summer months through the holidays, domestic airfare has been high over the last couple of months. To save, we’ve recommended travelers empty their bag of tricks, including using their credit card points, burning those SkyMiles, and even ditching the idea of domestic travel altogether and looking abroad for the best airfare.
Now that cheap domestic flights are back, you don’t have to work as hard to get a great deal when flying within the U.S. But why is this trend happening?
Part of it is just the ebbs and flows of the calendar. Demand to fly during the winter months is almost always lower for Americans. That means, in any given year, it’s typically cheaper to fly during January and February. But once you’re past spring break, it gets even more stark.
April and May are almost always the cheapest months to fly, no matter what. Travelers tied to the academic calendar either can’t or don’t think to travel over those months, usually saving up for their big summer trip. That leaves thousands of planes flying half-empty all over the country. And how do you fill a half-empty plane? With a $43 roundtrip flight….
Look folks, ask my coworkers and friends to line up everyone they know to execute one photoshop and they’d choose their dogs first. This is not photoshopped – this is a real fare Alaska Airlines will sell to you.
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But it wasn’t just a one-off. For the domestic routes that we search every day, we’re routinely seeing the lowest fares bottom out to double-digit prices. For destinations like Florida, Boston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Chicago, and more, double-digit fares have become more and more prevalent.
Here’s where we’re seeing the lowest fares right now.
Roundtrip Flights for Under $100
A great many examples of $99 flights or less can be found out there right now. Especially between two hubs, prices dip to lows like this all the time.
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Think about this fare for a second! Two free checked bags would cost you more than $100 on any other airline. Those bags are included in these Southwest fares. These rates are insane, especially considering you could find them from several different airports.
Over the past few years, Nashville, Tennessee (BNA) has become an up-and-coming hot spot for cheap flights, too. BNA was included in the Southwest deal above, but you can find a bargain flying to BNA on Delta, too. Take this deal we sent to our Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers, for example.
And if you thought Southwest and Delta had a stranglehold on cheap flights, JetBlue said, “Hold my beer” with this latest sale on flights on the eastern seaboard, too.
$48 roundtrip flights are bonkers! Book now and ask questions later if you see something like this.
And while these flights aren’t technically sub-$100, they’re simply too good for me not to show you…
Many of those same routes are on sale for just 1,400 JetBlue TrueBlue points…roundtrip! How could JetBlue possibly be making money on this? Who cares! When the airlines offer you something this good, just take the cheap flights and run.
On the West Coast, it’s more of the same low, low fares, but you can substitute Alaska for JetBlue.
Like the East Coast, Delta is competing hard for passengers on the West Coast. This new Delta route between Las Vegas (LAS) and San Diego (SAN) is a prime example.
And American wouldn’t be left out of the cheap fares bonanza either. We found this fare on a flight deal to Los Angeles (LAX) just a few days ago, too.
Any more examples would just be overkill at this point, right?
Wrong…it never gets old!
Bottom Line
Cheap domestic flights had all but disappeared for many months, but now, you can find a cheap flight to many destinations across the U.S., and for less than $100 roundtrip in some cases!
The airlines overextended themselves with high airfare over the last few months, and now they’re playing catch up by offering cheaper domestic flights for this spring. When airlines make mistakes like this, let them! Now’s the time to book your next domestic getaway.
