That dream trip you thought was out of reach might be on sale.
In a welcome twist for travel-starved Americans, the post-pandemic surge in airfare is finally showing signs of cooling down. A combination of increased airline capacity and stabilizing fuel prices has led to a noticeable drop in flight costs to several popular domestic and international destinations for the latter half of 2025. This has created a golden window of opportunity for savvy travelers.
For those willing to be a bit flexible, a fantastic and affordable getaway is more attainable now than it has been in years.
1. Target the “shoulder season” months of September and October.
The absolute best way to take advantage of the current price drop is to plan your travel for the “shoulder season.” The months of September and October, right after the summer rush and before the holiday chaos, are the sweet spot for travel deals. Airlines and hotels have lower demand and slash their prices to fill seats and rooms, yet the weather in most Northern Hemisphere destinations is still fantastic.
By shifting your vacation from August to September, you can often save hundreds of dollars on the exact same trip and enjoy your destination with far fewer crowds, a true win-win.
2. Use Google Flights’ “explore” feature to find the deal.
Instead of deciding on a destination and then searching for a flight, flip the script. Google Flights has a powerful but underutilized “Explore” tool that allows you to input your home airport and your desired travel dates, and it will show you a map of the world with the cheapest fares to dozens of different cities. This is a perfect tool for discovering a new destination you hadn’t considered.
This approach lets the deal guide your decision-making. It’s a fantastic way to be spontaneous and to find a surprisingly affordable getaway you might have otherwise overlooked.
3. Fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday.
This is one of the oldest travel hacks in the book, and it still holds true. The cheapest days of the week to fly are almost always Tuesday and Wednesday. These are the least popular days for both business and leisure travel, which means the demand is lower and airlines are more likely to offer lower fares to fill the planes. Fridays and Sundays are consistently the most expensive days.
If your travel schedule has any flexibility at all, simply shifting your departure and return dates to the middle of the week can result in significant savings.
4. Embrace budget airlines, but pack light.
For shorter, domestic trips, budget airlines like Spirit and Frontier can offer incredibly low base fares. A flight from here in Southern California to Las Vegas or Denver can be a fraction of the cost of a major carrier. The catch, of course, is that they will charge you extra for everything, from a carry-on bag to a printed boarding pass.
The key to making these airlines work for you is to pack extremely light, ideally with just a single personal item that fits under the seat in front of you. If you can master the art of minimalist packing, you can save a fortune.
5. Set up price alerts and be ready to act fast.
Airline prices are incredibly volatile and can change by the minute. The best way to catch a great deal is to let technology do the work for you. Use a service like Google Flights or Hopper to set up price alerts for a specific route you are interested in. You will then get an instant email or notification the moment the price drops.
These flash sales and fare drops often don’t last long, so you need to be ready to book quickly when the alert comes through. It’s a simple, passive way to ensure you don’t miss out on a great deal.
6. Book two one-way tickets instead of a round-trip.
It seems counterintuitive, but sometimes booking two separate one-way tickets, often on different airlines, can be cheaper than booking a single round-trip ticket. This is particularly true if you are flying with budget carriers, as they price all of their flights as one-way segments anyway. This strategy allows you to mix and match the cheapest possible departure and return flights.
It takes a little extra work to search for the flights separately, but it’s always worth checking, as it can sometimes unlock a combination that the big search engines might miss, leading to surprising savings.
7. Leverage your credit card points during the sale.
A drop in cash fares also means it’s a great time to use your credit card points or frequent flyer miles. When the cash price of a ticket goes down, the number of points required to book that same ticket through your credit card’s travel portal also goes down. This means that your hard-earned points can stretch much further than they could a few months ago.
This is the perfect time to cash in your rewards for a trip that might have previously been out of reach in your points budget. It’s a fantastic way to maximize the value of your loyalty.