Everyone wants to travel in the summer, and while flight prices rise precipitously during those peak summer months, there are some destinations where you can find great deals to book a summer trip in 2024.
The three months of the year when everyone is off school and the weather is the nicest is when the airlines know people want to fly. Flight prices often reflect that, getting up to three or four times the price of shoulder season or off-season travel.
That demand can make booking cheap flights for a trip in peak summer tough, especially for sought-after destinations like Europe. While there's an easy trick to circumvent high flight prices, some spots in Europe are just flat-out cheap for travel this summer if you know where to look.
Our team of flight deal analysts at Thrifty Traveler Premium searches airfare every day, and we've found a few things to almost also be true when it comes to summer travel. August is typically a sweet spot for cheap summer flights, no matter where you want to go. For Europe in particular, flying business class might actually be the best deal if you're planning a trip during the peak summer months, whether you're using cash or points. And domestic flight prices can stay low when demand is highest abroad.
All of those trends are alive and well in 2024. Here's what we're seeing out there for travel this summer.
Don't Give Up on Your Europe Trip!
Finding a cheap cash flight to Europe in peak summer can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, but it doesn't have to. In just the past few weeks, we've seen more and more cheap flights to Europe pop up – like these fares to Paris (CDG), for instance.
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All of those fares listed are for August travel! The same goes for this deal we found last week with cheap flights to Dublin, Ireland (DUB).
Finally, earlier this week, we also unearthed a ton of sweet fares to Croatia and Greece with this flight deal.
But the highlight was the wide-open August availability to Zagreb (ZAG) from Chicago (ORD, MDW).
Summer flight deals to places like Croatia and France are rare, but Portugal regularly tops the list of destinations as one of the cheapest places in Europe to fly to.
The beautiful islands of Madeira (FNC), Ponta Delgada (PDL), and Terceira (TER) in Portugal were all included in this nonstop deal flying Azores Airlines.
Further north in the Atlantic Ocean is perhaps my favorite island on Earth: Iceland. Its dramatic scenery is seemingly endless, and there's no better time to see it than in the summer when the sun seemingly never sets.
Luckily, Iceland flag carrier Icelandair offers big savings for travelers looking to head there, leading to Reykjavik (KEF) flight deals like this one.
Most importantly, Icelandair's cheap fares put a lot of pressure on other airlines, too. That's why Air Canada, Delta, United, and WestJet had to slash their own prices to keep up with the plucky Icelandic airline on these routes. And when airlines compete, travelers win!
Travelers with home bases near more than 150 U.S. airports big and small all got in on this deal with Iceland fares ranging from $400 to $645 roundtrip.
Big cash savings are crucial if you want to travel to Europe, but there's an even better way: Saving your cash and booking your flights using your points and miles to book flights nearly for free (you're still on the hook for any taxes and fees). This flight deal booking nonstop Delta flights was the perfect example.
Instead of spending thousands of dollars on these pricey nonstop routes, or burning upwards of 100,000 Delta SkyMiles, just 30,000 Virgin Atlantic miles each way could put you in these seats instead. And best of all, Virgin bookings put you into Main Cabin on Delta! That means you can select your seat, get a free checked bag, and cancel for your points back plus a $50 fee. It's the single best way to book Delta flights with points!
If flying back in economy seems a little cramped to you, but you can't envision springing for business class, premium economy is your answer. Luckily, we recently found a great premium economy deal with plenty of August availability flying to Europe!
Flying Air France or KLM premium economy (pictured above), you can snag these seats from just 70,000 Air France/KLM points roundtrip. I took that photo of KLM's fancy premium economy seats when I flew them this winter. It's a lovely experience from takeoff to landing.
Lie-Flat Business Class to Europe
This is one of the most exciting airfare trends I can remember: Lie-flat seats to Europe this summer are easier to book than we've ever seen.
The words “summer,” “business class,” and “cheap” don't often go hand-in-hand. But something amazing is happening in 2024. Over the past few weeks, we've sent our Thrifty Traveler Premium members multiple business class deals with peak summer availability to the places seemingly everyone wants to visit.
A few weeks ago, American Airlines released a stunning number of business class seats bookable with points to some of the hottest European destinations.
There were some unprecedented summer options on these routes.
You could use American Airlines AAdvantage miles or Alaska miles to snag these seats. And your Alaska miles can help you get to Dublin (DUB) in business class, too!
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Both deals offered tremendous value to travelers with points who want to ride in style to Europe and back this year, but they're just the latest entries into this awesome trend.
It all started with this Emirates Business Class deal flying nonstop from New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP). Our team dug up this incredible deal with dates in June, July, and August all bookable with points. And there was availability for up to seven passengers, too!
Read our review of Emirates Business Class from New York to Milan!
For just 87,000 Emirates miles (or transferable points from American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, or Citi) each way, you could make one of these seats yours! That includes access to the sweet onboard bar on Emirates' A380, too!
But the fun didn't stop there. American Airlines also runs a nonstop flight to Italy from JFK, but this one is to Rome (FCO). If you have a stash of American miles, you could fly lie-flat with American, too!
Plus, for this deal, you could snag one of these seats using American miles, Alaska miles, or by transferring points to one of American's other airline partners like Cathay Pacific.
It can't get any better than that, right? How about American Airlines Flagship First Class for just a few thousand points more?
There were plenty of these first class seats bookable with points for June and July travel dates. And, like the business class deal above, there were plenty of different ways to book them.
Flying lie-flat on that long trip across the Atlantic to Italy is well within reach if you have the right miles, and it sure beats spending more than $1,100 to fly in economy!
Delta One Business Class to Asia
This was the trend we never saw coming…
Delta One Business Class Suites to Asia during the peak summer travel season aren't ever bookable at reasonable rates. But thanks to a new route on Delta from Seattle (SEA) to Taipei (TPE), thousands of our subscribers were notified about this unicorn fare to Taiwan this summer.
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Plus, you could use your Delta SkyMiles on these seats, which typically cost 300,000 SkyMiles or more to get to Asia and back in the front of the plane. What made the deal so incredible was that we found similar rates to Seoul, South Korea (ICN) just a few days earlier, too.
While slightly more expensive, these rates were also nearly half-off the usual SkyMiles pricing on long-haul Delta One Business Class suites.
It's too early to tell if this is a trend, but we'd love it if more Delta One sales to Asia popped up this summer and next.
Domestic Flights
The best part about living in the U.S. is you never have to leave to get unbelievable travel experiences if you don't want to. And the way domestic airfare is going this summer, you might not want to!
Take this nonstop flight deal to New York City for example. All three NYC airports (EWR, JFK, LGA) were included in this one, featuring a few dozen nonstop, roundtrip fares ranging between $99 roundtrip and $249 roundtrip.
Any of them would make for a sweet summer getaway to the big city, but if you want to get off the beaten path a little bit, one of our recent deals flying to Martha's Vineyard (MVY) may pique your interest, too.
The last deal we sent featured a few dozen U.S. cities flying to MVY for less than $250 roundtrip, highlighted by this incredibly cheap Fourth of July flight from Washington, D.C. (DCA) for just $130 roundtrip!
For travelers with a more adventurous spirit, flights to the mountains out west have also been beyond reasonable for this summer, starting with Denver, Colorado (DEN).
This deal could put you at the doorstep of the Rockies under $249 roundtrip during peak summer.
If you want some similarly stunning landscapes, just this month, we found these flights to Bozeman, Montana (BZN) and a handful of other Montana airports on sale, too.
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Bozeman is just about 90 minutes from the gates of Yellowstone National Park and Kalispell (FCA) is just about 30 minutes from Glacier, giving travelers a quick gateway into some of the biggest, most stunning parks in the country. The deal also included airports like Great Falls (GTF), Missoula (MSO), and Billings (BIL) as well.
Read next: Cheap Flights We've Found to the National Parks This Summer
Finally, if you want a truly wild adventure, snag one of these cheap fares to the Gulf of Alaska. The towns of Ketchikan and Sitka sit on the long tail of Alaska that goes from Anchorage almost all the way down the coast. Those cities are tough to get to if you're not on a cruise, but with fares like these, they don't have to be!
From New York City to Alaska, domestic U.S. airfare is staying cheap for summer travel this year.
Bottom Line
While summer travel can be expensive, it doesn't have to be if you know where to look. Some destinations (or cabins!) are cheaper than others – especially in 2024.
Thrifty Traveler Premium members have been getting summer 2024 flight deals for months now, and we are searching every day to find more so you can book that summer getaway this year.