Here at Thrifty Traveler, we love nothing more than a cheap flight deal. Lucky for us (and for you!), cheap domestic flights have been in steady supply for months.
But ask our Thrifty Traveler Premium members who get every deal we find straight to their inboxes, and they'll tell you: Those fares have reached a new peak this week … with two of the best deals we've ever found.
Thanks to competition between Alaska Airlines and Delta, nonstop flights to Seattle (SEA) from a half-dozen cities dropped below $100 … roundtrip. And that paved the way for one of the cheapest fares to Hawaii travelers in Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) have ever seen: Just $284 to fly to Maui (OGG) or Kauai (LIH) and back.
Take a look and see for yourself.
Seattle for $96 Roundtrip (Yes, Really)
Depending on where you live, flights to Seattle typically clock in at $300 or more roundtrip. Seeing prices north of $400 isn't unusual, either.
That changed this week with the cheapest nonstop fares we've ever found to the Emerald City. Check this out.
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No, you're not seeing things. That's really a trip to Seattle and back this fall for $96. And while our Thrifty Traveler Premium members got first dibs on this outstanding deal, there are still sub-$100 fares to Seattle out there for a trip this fall!
At just $96 roundtrip, these prices are a fraction of what Alaska Airlines typically charges for its nonstop flights to Seattle. So fire up a Google Flights search like this one and see what you can find!
When we first unearthed this gem of a deal, you could book dirt-cheap flights to Seattle from Las Vegas (LAS), Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), Phoenix (PHX), San Diego (SAN), and Tucson (TUS).
But the real beauty of this deal wasn't just a cheap fare to Seattle itself. It also made one of the best-ever fare deals from Minnesota to Hawaii possible.
Minneapolis to Hawaii for Just $284!
Minnesotans looking to flee the cold and escape to Hawaii know it all too well: Here's what a flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to any of the Hawaiian islands will typically cost you.
Close to $1,000 roundtrip … with a nasty long connection, too? Hard pass. Here's what our Thrifty Traveler Premium members got in their inboxes earlier this week.
Yes, really: Just $284 for a roundtrip flight from Minneapolis to either Kauai (LIH) or Maui (OGG) – two fan-favorite Hawaiian islands – with a quick stop in Seattle on the way. Those Alaska fares paved the way for one of the best deals we've ever found from the Midwest out to paradise.
This deal was so good, in fact, Thrifty Traveler Premium members like Anna F. gobbled up almost every fare within a matter of hours. In fact, Anna booked a trip for her family of four for just over $1,000 total – less than the normal cost of one ticket!
“Deals like this make travel for our family a possibility. We honestly never dreamed of a trip like this for the entire family, let alone this soon,” she said.
These dirt-cheap fares from Minneapolis to Maui are almost gone – get the next alert with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Unfortunately, this deal was bookable from Minneapolis and Minneapolis alone. But that is still worth celebrating.
We're always scouring the internet for deals to fly to the Hawaiian islands – travelers love it for a reason, after all. But while cheap flights to Hawaii are fairly easy to come by from the West Coast, anything under $600 or $700 roundtrip from the Midwest or East Coast can be a bargain.
So when we find flights from Minnesota for less than half that cost, it's big news.
Bottom Line
Once is random and twice is coincidence. But these two recent deals have us banking on more: yet another new trend in airfare.
A $96 roundtrip fare to Seattle (SEA) is noteworthy on its own – these flights typically cost $300 or more, after all. But when that also triggers an unbelievable, $284 fare from Minneapolis to Maui and Kauai in Hawaii, you know something good is happening.
That's what our Thrifty Traveler Premium members are seeing: Some of the cheapest fares to Seattle and Hawaii we've ever found. What comes next? We're on the lookout as we speak.