Going.com, a travel site that notifies its subscribers of deals on airfares, recently identified 10 U.S. destinations that it finds are the cheapest to travel to.
Going.com found these cities by looking back over the past year of economy class deals it found to destination metros with at least 300,000 residents. From those deals it found the destinations with the most frequent deals.
Metros that commanded the most deals tend to be:
- Major leisure destinations
- Served by many airlines
- Locations where there’s stiff travel competition, which helps keep airfares lower
Read on to see which destinations attract the most airfare deals.
10. Denver
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 51
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $184
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $58
Denver International Airport is the third-busiest airport in the world.
Only Atlanta (No. 1) and Dallas-Fort Worth (No. 2) have more passenger traffic.
9. Orlando, Florida
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 62
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $179
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $48
Orlando International Airport, gateway to theme parks like Disney World, is a wildly popular destination — the 17th-busiest in the world, according to Airports Council International.
It’s been hard for Orlando International Airport to keep up with the demand for parking. Three new surface lots with a total of 700 new parking spaces will become available this fall.
At the same time, parking charges will rise, to as much as $35 per day depending on location, reports Fox 35 Orlando.
8. Las Vegas
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 62
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $162
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $48
Harry Reid International Airport serves as another huge magnet for visitors and travelers.
Between June 2022 and the same time in 2023, Vegas attracted 3.4 million visitors (a 3.1% increase over the previous year), the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority finds.
7. Chicago
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 67
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $174
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $78
Chicago O’Hare International Airport is the fourth-busiest destination for fliers worldwide, Airports Council International finds.
“You can get to Chicago from just about anywhere in the U.S. on a direct or one-stop flight,” says Going.com’s ranking of cheapest U.S. destinations.
6. Washington, D.C.
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 69
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $152
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $58
Understandably, the nation’s capital has some of the busiest airports. Washington’s three major airports are:
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
- Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
“No matter where you are in the U.S., you can likely get to D.C. with one stop or less, no matter which airline you prefer or which airport in D.C. you’d rather fly into,” Going.com says.
5. New York City
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 73
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $157
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $62
Three major airports serve the New York City region:
- John F. Kennedy International Airport
- LaGuardia Airport
- Newark Liberty International Airport
JFK International was the 11th-busiest airport in the world in 2022, according to ACI.
4. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 78
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $147
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $58
Miami International Airport was the 14th-busiest in the world for 2022, ACI reports.
Fliers looking for good deals for traveling to or from South Florida can benefit from the fact that the region is served by two busy, competitive airports located less than an hour apart — Miami’s and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
These factors help keep airfare deals frequent and the prices low in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, Going.com says.
3. San Francisco Bay Area
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 89
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $174
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $68
San Francisco International Airport isn’t on ACI’s list of busiest airports in the world.
And yet it rose to nearly the top of Going’s list, no doubt at least in part because of the magnetic city of San Francisco. Its “iconic landmarks, cultural richness, artistic innovation, and culinary delights” are complemented by the city’s “scenic beauty, vibrant neighborhoods, and welcoming spirit,” according to Patch.
The larger San Francisco Bay Area comprises nine California counties ringing San Francisco Bay. It includes San Francisco, the wine growing regions in Sonoma and Napa Counties and the technological innovation that is Silicon Valley, on the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula.
2. Greater Los Angeles
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 121
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $165
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $58
Los Angeles International Airport, the fifth-busiest airport in the world in 2022, is a cultural mecca, a melting pot of immense population (3.8 million people live in the city alone) and among the most important places to the global entertainment industry.
You may know about L.A.’s beaches, movie lots and great restaurants. But did you know that Los Angeles also is defined by its aerospace, fashion, bioscience and transportation industries?
1. Hawaii
Number of deals spotted in the past year: 209
Average roundtrip price among deal airfares: $349
Lowest roundtrip price deal found in the past year: $57
Going.com finds that the Hawaiian Islands generated the greatest number of its airfare deals in the last year.
The tropical islands comprise a small and fragile ecosystem, with a rich local culture.
Some Hawaiians urge travelers to refrain from visiting the island of Maui as it recovers from the wildfires that broke out in August, writes The New York Times. USA Today reports that Fodors Travel, for one, recommends visitors stay away from Maui for the rest of 2023.
Others, though, counter that the state is economically dependent on tourism and that visitors’ dollars are badly needed.
If you are looking for a way to help, The American Red Cross is accepting donations; Maui Nui Strong, a Maui County resource, has other ways to offer your support.
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