It's the best summer we can ever remember to find cheap flights within the U.S., and even though we're already into June, low fares over the next three months are sticking around.
In a normal year, the best fares for summer travel are usually found in the last two weeks of August, when most school calendars resume and travel demand softens. But this year, many of the airlines are pricing their fares for June and July in the same way.
If you want to take a Fourth of July trip somewhere, book a cheap flight to visit the U.S. national parks, or even hit up Disney World while school's out for the summer, 2024 is the year to do it.
Here's why.
Why are Domestic Flight Prices So Cheap This Summer?
Two summers ago, fresh out of the pandemic, the airlines braced for the busiest summer ever of travel demand within the U.S. Most Americans weren't totally ready for that big international trip, but they were willing to travel somewhere closer to home.
To meet that demand, the airlines bolstered the number of seats and flights flying around the country daily. Despite that increased capacity, the summer of 2022 was still one of the most expensive summers of flying in years.
Now, all of that capacity is sticking around, but fewer travelers have booked domestic trips for summer 2024. The result: The airlines are slashing domestic fares to try and fill all these planes on their schedules.
Nearly every U.S. airline is doing this, but Alaska Airlines is the perfect example. A few months ago, Alaska Airlines was charging an arm and a leg for flights to and from its hubs in Seattle (SEA) and Anchorage (ANC) – two amazing places to visit in the summer.
I know this because I have had a Google Flights price alert for Anchorage (ANC) flights for many months. Here's how the price history looks for the cheapest flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Anchorage (ANC) this August.
As you can see, something changed a few months ago – namely, Alaska Airlines and their competitors on this route realized that summer travel demand wasn't going to be what they thought it would, and therefore slashed prices down to $210 one-way for this August date.
And Alaska didn't stop there.
Alaska led the way last week by cutting its nonstop flights to Anchorage (ANC) down to the $300s roundtrip from many U.S. gateways, forcing its competitor, Delta, to follow suit.
Sign up now to start getting cheap flight deals sent to your inbox for free!
When you see fares this cheap for flights that depart in just a few weeks, you're typically going to find seat maps that look like this.
The airlines are not happy with this much blue on the seat map. They were hoping for more gray Xs because that means they can start jacking up fares into the $600s and $700s roundtrip. That's how the airline makes money – not with $300 roundtrip flights.
Where are Domestic Flight Prices Cheap This Summer?
Anchorage isn't the only destination benefitting from this trend. Some of the best summer destinations in the U.S. are seeing half-off typical flight prices for June, July, and August travel.
Alaska Airlines' other main hub – Seattle (SEA) – is another prime candidate for this.
Nonstop fares to Seattle (SEA) for peak summer travel dipped under $200 roundtrip from most of the cities on this list, for instance.
If the mountains are calling, Denver (DEN) is another locale seeing cheap fares thanks to tons of competition from nearly every airline and too much capacity.
Again, these fares aren't unusual for Denver…if you're traveling in October or November.
But for travel in June, July, or August, these fares are all outstanding opportunities for travelers to plan a trip to the Rockies.
Rocky Mountain National Park, just outside of Denver (DEN), is one of those destinations you might plan a trip around. But you can find cheap flights to many of the other national parks from all over this summer.
Sign up here to get cheap flight deals sent to your inbox for free!
This roundup of nonstop flights to the national parks was a huge hit among our Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers who thought they'd be facing down $500 or $600 roundtrips to Glacier, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, or Yosemite.
Read our guide to visiting the U.S. national parks!
Just north of Yosemite is Lake Tahoe, another picturesque mountain destination. And wouldn't you know it: Cheap flights to Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) are hanging on for July and August travel, too.
It's not just the big hubs that can snag these fares either. As you can see, the smallest regional airports in Arkansas and Iowa can also snag sub-$250 roundtrip fares to Lake Tahoe this year.
Don't sleep on the East Coast, though! Maine is home to Acadia National Park, one of the nation's prettiest national parks. And between Acadia and Portland, Maine (PWM) is one of the finest coastlines in the country.
These cheap flights to Portland included – you guessed it – summer availability from almost every one of the cities below.
Like Anchorage, cheap flights to Hawaii are rarely found in the $100s roundtrip, but if you can snag a fare in the $300s or $400s to the islands, you're making out like a bandit.
This nationwide roundup of cheap flights to the Hawaiian Islands also included July and August travel dates, which we always assumed were too scarce. Not this year.
Plus, Alaska Airlines did it again with some of its Hawaii flights, offering sub-$200 roundtrip fares from the west coast this summer, too!
Big cities don't have to mean big fares. For the likes of Chicago and New York City – both dreamy summertime cities home to major international airports – intense competition is driving down fares.
For Chicago flights, both O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) are seeing some awesome sub-$100 roundtrip fares for June, July, August, and September this year.
And when you look out to New York (JFK, LGA, EWR), you can fly there from almost anywhere in the country for sub-$200 roundtrip at the moment.
That's the beauty of planning a trip to the big cities this summer. You can reach them from almost anywhere in the U.S. – and even small airports are getting in on these cheap flights.
Sign-up now to get cheap flight deals sent to your inbox for free!
From the Big Apple to Maui, up to Anchorage or any of our national parks, it's the summer of cheap flights in the U.S.
Bottom Line
It's the best summer to find cheap flights within the U.S. in years, and even though we're already into June, low fares over the next three peak summer months are sticking around.
The airlines are flying more seats than ever, and travelers haven't bought them at the rate the airlines hoped. And now, fares are dropping just in time for the peak summer travel season in the U.S.
