Plan Spring and Summer Travel Now, and Stay Flexible to Get the Best Deals

By Yehudit Garmaise

It’s Rosh Chodesh Adar, and March 1 is just around the corner, so New Yorkers may be thinking about where they want to go this spring.

Spring and summer travel season can mean sky-high airline ticket prices, but with some insider knowledge, BoroPark24 readers who dream about getting away can get the best deals.

Compared to airline prices in 2019, before the pandemic, US domestic fares are only 4% higher right now, reported cnn.com.

Fares to Europe, however, have increased by 15% compared to 2019, and fares to Asian countries, which were among the last to lift Covid restrictions, are 50% higher than pre-pandemic.

Portugal, Ireland, Hawaii, and Florida have stood out as offering particularly cheap fares over the past few years, confided Scott Keyes, formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights and founder of the travel site Going.

One way international travelers can “beat the system” and travel for less is by staying flexible about where they arrive.

For instance, travelers with their hearts set on exploring Santorini, an island in Greece, might consider booking their tickets to Athens, where deals from US cities can drop below $500.

After landing in Athens, visitors can spend a day exploring the ancient city, and then take a more affordable regional flight or even a ferry to Santorini.

Similarly, travelers to Israel who want to explore other countries can head to the port of Haifa, where many affordable ferries dock to transport passengers to Greece and even Italy.

"Once travelers disembark off a ferry that crosses the Adriatic Sea to land in Brindisi, Italy, a port city located in the “heel” of the boot-shaped country of Italy, travelers can travel by train to see Europe," shared an adventurous frum traveler.

“By splitting up the trip from a single itinerary into two itineraries, you can save $1,000 or more on a big international trip, whether you’re traveling to the Greek Islands or anywhere far-flung,” said Keyes.

To get the absolute best airfares, checking prices and waiting is often the best strategy, says Keyes, who advised travelers to be ready to buy tickets when their prices steeply drop.

“Airfare is the most volatile thing people regularly purchase,” Keyes said. “Today’s expensive flight is tomorrow’s cheap flight, and vice versa,” said Keyes, who recently saw the same flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam rise and fall and rise in three consecutive days: from $800 to $300 to $1,300.

"To get the best deals, travelers should also stay flexible about when they want to depart and arrive," said Berg, who points out that flights that depart earlier in the week are always cheaper than flights that approach weekends. 

If you fly to Europe on a Monday, for instance, you can save an average of $140 per ticket: or about 20%, she says. Flying mid-week domestically can save you up to 33%.

Returning home a day earlier or later also can provide significant savings.

People who are both bargain-hunters and adventurous can simply choose their trips based on where they see that flights are cheap.

No matter what traveling tips you take, experts agree that to get the best airfare deals, travelers should buy their tickets far in advance.

If you want to travel this spring or summer, “You should really be booking that right now,” said Hayley Berg, an economist at Hopper's travel site.