Flight prices might seem high, but cheap flights are out there if you know where to look – and our team at Thrifty Traveler does.
The past few months of flight deals have been nothing short of spectacular, meaning that travelers are going to be flying on the cheap all over the world in 2024. The deals have been hitting Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers' inboxes in rapid succession lately for everything from cheap domestic flights to lie-flat business – and even first! – class seats flying all over the globe.
How good are things out there right now? Well, the flight deals have been so good lately that we think we're in the midst of the best summer for travel ever.
Want a glimpse into what our members have been getting the past couple of months? These are the best flight deals we've found in 2024 so far.
Europe in the $300s, Hawaii under $493, and more!
At Thrifty Traveler Premium, cheap flights are our bread and butter. And this year, we've dug up some stunningly low fares to some of the best destinations on Earth.
Here's the perfect example for travelers looking to visit Iceland this year.
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These nonstop fares to Iceland in the $300s are cheaper than some domestic flights! You might see higher fares to Los Angeles (LAX) than you will to Reykjavik (KEF) from some of these cities.
Europe fares in the $300s are some of our favorite things, so you can imagine how excited our members were to see these fares from New York City (JFK, EWR).
If you love roundtrip flights to Europe in the $300s, you are probably also fond of roundtrip fares in the $200s. We found these fares to Barcelona (BCN) just a few days ago and we still can't stop thinking about it!
All of these LEVEL gateways in the U.S. benefitted from some of the cheapest Europe flights we've ever seen. We checked and double-checked that these fares were real for our members, many of whom are flying to Spain this fall for less than you'd pay to visit Mexico!
If you have $200ish dollars to spend, you might also consider booking that Costa Rica trip you've been putting off. In the last few weeks, we unearthed some unbelievably cheap Costa Rica roundtrip fares to do just that.
You know how I said you'd love Europe flights in the $200s better than $300? Well, somehow, it gets even better in 2024…
Mistake fare! We love it when airlines err, leading to shockingly low flights. In this case, Air France forgot to tack on a fuel surcharge to these fares from Minneapolis (MSP) and Chicago (ORD) to Dublin (DUB). The end result were peak summer flights to Dublin (DUB) for mesmerizing prices.
If you have $200ish dollars to spend, you might also consider booking that Costa Rica trip you've been putting off. In the last few weeks, we unearthed some unbelievably cheap Costa Rica roundtrip fares to do just that.
But if you're looking for those highly elusive double-digit roundtrip flights, they're usually best found with our friends at Southwest Airlines.
Just last week, we found sub-$100 roundtrip flights to Arizona, Colorado, Las Vegas, and all of these flights to and from Florida!
Finally, we hear again and again that there is a single favorite destination among our members: Hawaii.
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Luckily, our latest Hawaii deal offered half-off fares to the islands from more than 150 U.S. destinations! It's not unusual to see $1,000-plus fares to Hawaii, so our subscribers in Pocatello, Idaho (PIH), El Paso, Texas (ELP), and Regina, Saskatchewan (YQR) all must have been relieved to see fares in the $400s instead.
Europe from 24K Points RT, or Mexico from just 10K!
At Thrifty Traveler, we love giving our readers the inside scoop on the best ways to earn points and miles to fuel their travels. Because what's better than a cheap flight? A (nearly) free one.
So when we tell you to earn points, we're also going to give you tons of options to burn those points, too. If you earn American Airlines miles, these first two award deals are some of the best values in the sky.
Europe for just 38,000 miles roundtrip? It doesn't get much better than that. The best part: These fares all book into Main Cabin, meaning you get a free checked bag and the ability to select your seat. Plus, you can change or cancel these fares anytime and get your miles redeposited into your account and your taxes and fees refunded!
It's one of the reasons why we love American miles so much. Another reason? These flights to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America for just 10,000 AA miles roundtrip!
Whether you're booking an all-inclusive in Cancún (CUN), a bougie getaway to Aruba (AUA), or you're looking to cross anywhere else in American's network off your bucket list, these 10,000-mile roundtrips are as cheap as you'll find using points and miles.
But American miles holders don't get to have all the fun. These flights to Europe and some cities in North Africa were bookable for just 30,000 Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles roundtrip, too!
Don't think you have Flying Blue miles? Think again. If you've been earning points on cards from American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, or even Wells Fargo, you can transfer them to Flying Blue to book these flights. Plus if there's a transfer bonus, you can book these flights for as few as 24,000 points roundtrip.
Many of our subscribers have told us that they have Delta SkyMiles, and they're looking to use them. Fear not, Delta flyers. We've got you there, too. How does Tahiti (PPT) sound?
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Just 70,000 Delta SkyMiles (or less if you have a Delta SkyMiles credit card) can get you a roundtrip fare to Tahiti from all of these airports. Some of these flights were as low as 50,000 miles from the West Coast!
And for even fewer SkyMiles, you can tick Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada off your bucket list, too! This deal included peak summer availability from all cities as well.
It's been an embarrassment of riches for Delta SkyMiles deals this year. Here are some of the best ones we've sent in 2024:
- Maui (OGG) under 39,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Denver (DEN) from 7,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Santiago, Chile (SCL) under 69,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Anchorage, Alaska (ANC) under 39,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Europe under 48,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Asheville, North Carolina (AVL) under 20,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Cancún (CUN) under 29,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Miami (MIA) under 19,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- Sydney, Australia (SYD) under 78,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
- and more!
Lie-Flat to Europe, Hawaii, and the World's Best Biz Class
Booking a roundtrip flight in economy for as few as 10,000 points is great, but the best value in using points and miles is flying up front. And you might be surprised how few points you need to make it happen.
When it comes to lie-flat business class, our Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers are always clamoring for Delta One business class. So when we found a ton of Delta One seats bookable through Virgin Atlantic earlier this year, we sent our subscribers a Unicorn Alert – a text message alert for the rarest, most time-sensitive flight deals – so they could be the first to book.
The Minneapolis (MSP) to Dublin (DUB) route and the New York (JFK) to Munich (MUC) routes were outstanding because they featured Delta's new closed-door suites. But Delta's old business class offers plenty of comfort, especially for just 50,000 points each way. That's what we found on these routes.
You could transfer points from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, or Citi to Virgin to book these Delta business class seats.
But sometimes, all you need are Delta SkyMiles to snag these wonderful suites. It's rare, but it's possible. So when we found such ultra-rare availability flying Delta's new route to Taipei (TPE), we sent out a Unicorn Alert text message to our members.
This deal got all of our members buzzing, and for good reason!
These deals were a huge boon for our members, especially considering how hard it is to secure a Delta One seat for cheap. While most of our members are hung up on Delta, they're only fifth among the world's best business class seats. First place was awarded to Qatar Airways with its excellent QSuites.
We're searching every day for availability to book these business class suites with points and miles, and when we find it, we send it straight to our subscriber's inboxes.
Get alerts to fly the world's best business class using miles with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
This was another Unicorn Alert because of how rare it is to find award space to book Qatar Airways QSuites. Booking QSuites for just 70,000 British Airways Avios or Qatar Avios each way is an insane deal, especially because not only do you get access to the incredible lie-flat seat, but also to the swanky lounges in Doha (DOH) if you're connecting onwards to another destination.
While it's not quite the caliber of QSuites, Air France has really stepped up its business class game, too, just in time for France to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Because everyone seemingly wants to go to Paris this summer, we thought finding award space would be impossible. We were wrong…
We couldn't believe our eyes on this deal: Peak summer (including the Olympics) lie-flat seats flying nonstop to Paris (CDG) for just 50,000 miles each way. Especially considering economy rates were $1,200 roundtrip or more, this is easily the best way to get to the Olympics this summer.
Nearly every single Air France and KLM gateway was included in this sizzling deal, which we had no choice but to declare a Unicorn Alert, too.
Air France and KLM's award availability release was outstanding, but not unprecedented. Just a few weeks earlier, American Airlines did the same exact thing on its nonstop flights to Europe.
You never see an airline just open up all of its business class seats like this. We couldn't believe our eyes. It's the best summer ever to fly to Europe, and these deals all confirmed that.
Speaking of high-demand destinations, finding a lie-flat seat out to the Hawaiian Islands isn't a walk in the park, either. These brand-new suites from Hawaiian Airlines just rolled out this year, but we've already found some stellar deals to fly them.
Just 40,000 points (transferred to Hawaiian or Virgin) could put you in one of these seats for your flight to or from Hawaii. It's a pretty remarkable deal. But if you add a transfer bonus like recent 30% bonus from Capital One to Virgin Atlantic, then you're looking at just 31,000 points each way.
No Points, No Problem: Cheap Biz Class Fares to Europe
Flying business isn't just achievable for travelers with points and miles. Over the last few months, we've found cheap business class flights flying to some of the most tried-and-true destinations paying cash, too.
Buying a business class flight will almost always be more expensive than buying an economy ticket, but you might be surprised at just how close to the economy price some seats can get.
Take this JetBlue Mint Business class deal, for example.
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Flying nonstop from Boston (BOS) and New York (JFK) to Dublin (DUB), you can get a roundtrip, lie-flat fare for just $1993!
For our neighbors to the north, it was even better. Check out these low business class fares flying mainly Air France and KLM.
Some of these fares are unbeatably low, and it's rare to see so many connections throughout Europe for such cheap prices, too.
Your next lie-flat seat doesn't have to cost $5,000 roundtrip! With Thrifty Traveler Premium, you'll get an alert when prices dip.
Nerd Alerts: Our Weirdest, Coolest Flight Deals
We strive to find and send easy-to-book, useful, and valuable flight deal alerts to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members every day, but for our fellow aviation geeks, we have something we call Nerd Alerts.
Nerd alerts are tailor-made for those who travel…differently. These deals range from incredible last-minute award space to unique aircraft to some of the best seats in the world on routes wholly outside the U.S. and Canada.
Want to fly First Class to Australia? This nerd alert was an all-timer.
What makes this a nerd alert? This deal featured incredibly low rates to fly from Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney for just 70,000 points one-way, but there was no availability for return flights.
Another bucket-list worthy first class flight? ANA's The Suite First Class. We sent this as a Nerd Alert because it included availability for only one seat. But if you're traveling across the Pacific alone or you want to upgrade a friend or family member, this was the cheapest way to book these seats.
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Bottom Line
It's been a year to remember at Thrifty Traveler Premium, and we're only halfway through!
We've sent hundreds of cheap flight alerts, points and miles availability alerts, Unicorn Alerts, and Nerd Alerts to our members in 2024 and there's so much more to come.