We all deserve a nice vacay once in a while, and I don’t know about you, but I want to pay as little as possible for it.
WalletHub compiled its latest annual rankings of the best airlines by analyzing U.S. Department of Transportation flight data for the nine biggest national airlines and two regional carriers. The website ranked the most and least affordable airlines based on passenger revenue divided by available seat miles for each airline.
According to this calculation, the best rates equal 3 cents per available seat mile. Meanwhile, the worst was 17.02 cents per available seat mile. To keep things fair, WalletHub also considered costs related to in-flight amenities.
We’ve compiled a list of WalletHub’s findings, although we’ve excluded the regional carriers SkyWest and Envoy. But if included on our list, SkyWest would have taken the No. 3 spot for most affordable airline.
With that in mind, let’s see which national airlines are best for travelers on a budget.
1. Spirit Airlines
Overall affordability score: 8.89 out of 10 points
Cost per mile to fly: 4.56 cents
Spirit Airlines wasn’t always an airline, beginning as the Clippert Trucking Co. in Michigan in 1964. It didn’t shift its focus to the sky until 1980, when it ventured into air charter operations as Charter One.
Introducing jets to its fleet in 1992, the company was renamed Spirit Airlines and began a strategic shift to its low-cost, “no-frills” approach in 2007.
2. Frontier Airlines
Overall affordability score: 8.10 out of 10 points
Cost per mile to fly: 5.67 cents
Frontier Airlines, although a budget airline, has made it far on this list. Calling itself “America’s greenest airline,” it boasts that its cheaper flights and lower carbon emissions are thanks to having the “youngest fleet in the industry.” The average Frontier plane’s age is about four years.
3. Hawaiian Airlines
Overall affordability score: 3.69 out of 10 points
Cost per mile to fly: 11.85 cents
Hawaiian Airlines started as Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co. around the turn of the 20th century, providing the largest fleet of steamships serving the then-U.S. territory. A couple of decades later, convinced of the importance of flight service to the islands, it formed Inter-Island Airways.
In 1929, sightseeing was offered for $5 in a Bellanca monoplane — the original of which has been restored and regularly flies over Oahu.
Another couple of decades later, changing its name to Hawaiian Airlines, it offered the first scheduled air cargo service, earning the first U.S. Cargo Certificate.
How the other airlines fared
Here’s how the rest of the national airlines scored for affordability, along with their cost to fly per mile.
- Alaska Airlines: 3.67 affordability score (out of 10 points), 11.87 cents
- JetBlue: 3.49, 12.13 cents
- Southwest: 2.69, 13.25 cents
- American: 1.31, 15.19 cents
- United: 1.10, 15.48 cents
- Delta: 1.08, 15.50 cents
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