Summer savings? New analysis shows that air tickets have dropped significantly

It’s a savings summer.

For the first time in years, we have seen a wealth of transactions using cash or points and miles. And it’s not too late to find the bargain – even booking at the last minute.

Usually, we tell people to book domestic flights one to two months in advance and international flights three to five months in advance. Obviously, we have passed the cheapest windows for summer 2025.

Traditionally, those who wait until the last minute to book a summer trip. But this did not happen this year. Instead, we see a lot of last-minute deals.

There are only a few examples: How much is a one-way flight in American Airlines Business Class (including brand new suite products) for only 55,000 Alaska Airlines miles planned, or how about a round trip to Europe for $399?

TPG cooperates with the points path for deep data diving about airline pricing. Point Path is a free web browser extension that shows points and miles rewards on Google flights as well as cash fares.

Related: How to find cheap tickets on Google flights using point path extension

Average 2025 summer planes

This summer, we found some great news for the flyer.

The point-path data for summer 2025 showed that domestic air tickets fell by nearly 5% on average to just $441.22. International fares also fell on average, although not as steep, but rose 1.6% year-on-year to $1,006.72.

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But that’s just the overall average. On the most popular routes we tracked, domestic air tickets actually fell 11.28%, while international prices fell 6.2%.

This summer, mileage costs are also less expensive, with the average mileage of comprehensive domestic and international seats reduced by about 0.5%. That doesn’t tell the whole story, as we’ve seen regular mileage redemptions over the past few years at totally unheard of prices.

Which day should you travel in summer 2025?

Confirm our long-term recommendations at TPG, data from Points Path suggests that the cheapest travel day of the week is Wednesday, followed by Tuesday. The average domestic air tickets were $405.24 on Wednesday and $409.94 on Tuesday.

What is the most expensive day for travel in China? Sunday is the time when many people come home from vacation. Therefore, the average flight ticket for flights within the United States is $501.

The same goes for international travel, with the cheapest travel day being Wednesday at $979. The most expensive day for international travel was Friday, when the average air ticket spread to $1,040, followed by Sunday.

As you would expect, points and mileage costs follow a similar pattern.

Remember that although you may have heard of it, it doesn’t matter which day you book a trip (you won’t get the best deal until midnight on Tuesday). It’s just that what day you’re traveling is important.

Most popular search destinations this summer

Dianlu also shares where people are looking for summer travel.

Searches for Maui increased by nearly 166% in the year. I think Maui is once again thought of as Maui continues to recover from the horrible Lahaina fires in 2023.

Related: Why is Now a Good Time to Visit Maui

However, Hawaii is generally hot. Searches for Lihue Airport (LIH) in Kauai grew by more than 193% in searches, and searches for Honolulu were over 60%.

Have you suddenly received a lot of love? Portland, Oregon (16% increase) and Seattle (14% increase).

Search data shows that some destinations did not receive much interest this year. Destinations such as Renault, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Nashville and Detroit have all seen search volumes increase by more than 20% year-on-year.

Searches in Edinburgh, Tokyo, Athens, Johannesburg, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Sydney all soared 50% or more. Meanwhile, almost all airports in Mexico City and Canada have seen a decline in searching for the year.

Domestic routes see the biggest savings in 2025

We conducted the points pathway to study some of the country’s most popular routes in summer and considered the prices of the year. What we found was eye-opening.

Prices have dropped, but we have found some particularly distinct examples below.

One destination I’ve been closely monitoring is Las Vegas, and the prices have been on the rooftops for the past few years. We finally saw some rationality back to that leisure market, where we found prices in cities like Harry Reed International Airport (LAS) to Denver fell by 19% in cash year. Prices to and from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) also fell by about 13% year-on-year. (Mileage prices also fell by as much as 12%.)

The last route that caught my eye was a very popular flight from John Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles International Airport. Prices fell 14%-16% in cash, and use rewards fell 14%.

Source: Concurrent pricing comparison between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.

International routes see the biggest savings in summer 2025

Here are some of the more engaging data on international routes, with average tickets drastically falling in some major markets, such as flights from the New York area to Europe:

• Flights from Kennedy International Airport to Rome’s Fimicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO) fell 21% in the year, while points or mileage fell 18%.
• Flights to Heathrow Airport (LHR) are also declining year by year, with cash using awards as high as 20% and up to 16%.

Source: Concurrent pricing comparison between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.

You can still save on booking summer trips

Normally, if you are waiting until June to book a summer trip, you will pay for the last minute trip through your nose.

This is not the case with the last minute deal of this year. I’ve written extensive articles on how to save money, but my main tips remain the same:

I hope our friends’ data at Point Path can help you get some deals and realize it’s not too late to book a “Fun in the Sun” trip in 2025.

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