August 23rd is officially National Cheap Flight Day. The day covers cheap flights for American travelers looking to fly domestic or around the world. Why today you ask? Fair question. This is the day most domestic carriers officially call the end of the summer travel season #RIPSummer2017. Between now and Thanksgiving, travel will be in low season as kids go back to school and adults go back to work. So the airlines start to discount fares in order to sell tickets. Sometimes dramatically.
Okay, some hard and fast rules still apply: You’re going to need to shop around. Amazing deals aren’t going to fall directly into your lap. Forbes notes that a lot of the cheap fares that are featured today are actually just the beginning of sales that’ll carry on into September and throughout the season. So, pace yourself.
All of that being said, here are the best places to snag yourself a cheap ticket this coming autumn and winter. There’s nothing like watching the leaves turn in Prague with a nice beer in your hand after all. Or, maybe, you can squeeze in one last Summer 2017 trip before those leaves start to turn.
CheapOAir
CheapOAir.com has crunched the numbers for us. Starting today flights to Los Angeles will be discounted by up to 27 percent. Next on the list is Chicago with discounts of up to 15 percent.
If you’re looking to go further afield, CheapOAir cites discounts to Europe and Asia as well. Flights to Madrid and Barcelona are going to be 37 and 33 percent cheaper today, respectively. Flights to Manila and Bangkok should be discounted by 32 and 30 percent. That’s some serious discounting we can get behind. One-third off your flight could mean a little better hotel experience, a meal in a dope restaurant or two, or even an extra side trip while you’re in-country.
Southwest
Right now you can grab some heavily discounted one-way fares at Southwest.com. You’ll have to act fast on this one. Their sale ends tomorrow.
Prices from Atlanta to several domestic destinations are as low as $49 each way. Another great fare is a one-way ticket to Cancun for $160. You can’t beat that price! Southwest is also offering steep discounts from smaller domestic airports around the country. So if you’re in Los Angeles, try searching for flights from Burbank instead of LAX. Rules and black out dates apply, so shop carefully.
Delta
Delta tends to have great last minute deals on their website every day. Today, those deals will be a scoosh cheaper for domestic travel. Delta lists their prices as each way, based on a roundtrip fare — so pay close attention before you buy.
It’s best to peruse Delta’s last minute deals page and see which cities are popping up.
United
United has a US Fare Sale from now until August 31st. You can book flights between September and winter 2018 right now.
Discounted fares are each way, based on roundtrip fares. You’ll be able to fly from a handful of major airports around the country. Prices range from $64 to fly from Chicago to Cincinnati, $94 to fly from Houston to Memphis, and $87 to fly from Washington, DC to Atlanta.
WOWair
Icelandic super discount airline WOWair is also getting in on the action by slicing and dicing prices today. You can find a long list of one-way flights to all over Europe from all over America starting $99 each way. Which is a cheap price to pay if you want to chase down some Game of Thrones locales.
Some stand out fares are Pittsburgh to Lyon, France for $99 each way, Boston to Milan, Italy for $99 each way, and Detriot to Berlin, Germany for $149 each way. Europe is calling!
