Summer of savings? New analysis shows airfare has dropped significantly

It's shaping up to be a summer of savings.

We are seeing plentiful deals using cash or points and miles for the first time in years. And it's not too late to find some bargains — even booking at the last minute.

Usually, we tell people to book domestic flights one to two months ahead of time and international flights three to five months ahead of time. Obviously, we are past that cheapest-fare window for summer 2025.

Traditionally, those who wait until the last minute to book summer trips paid through the nose. But that isn't happening this year. Instead, we're seeing a ton of last-minute deals.

Just a few examples: Check out one-way flights in American Airlines business class (including in the brand-new suite product) for as few as 55,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles — or how about round-trip flights to Europe for as little as $399?

TPG teamed up with Points Path for deep data dives on airline pricing. Points Path is a free web browser extension that shows points and miles award prices in Google Flights, along with the cash fares.

Related: How to use the Points Path extension to find cheap airfare on Google Flights

Average summer 2025 airfares

We've found some fantastic news for flyers this summer.

Points Path data for summer 2025 versus last summer shows domestic airfare is down nearly 5% on average to just $441.22. International fares are also down on average, though not as steeply, off 1.6% year over year to $1,006.72.

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But that's just an overall average. On the most popular routes we tracked, domestic airfares are actually down a whopping 11.28% year over year, and international prices are down 6.2%.

It's also costing a bit less this summer to use miles, with average miles cost down about .5% for both domestic and international seats across the board. And that doesn't tell the whole story, since we are seeing regular miles redemptions at rates entirely unheard of in the past several years.

What day of the week should you travel in summer 2025?

Confirming our long-held advice at TPG, the data from Points Path suggests the cheapest day of the week to travel is Wednesday, followed closely by Tuesday. Average domestic airfare on Wednesday clocks in at $405.24, and at $409.94 on Tuesday.

The most expensive day for domestic travel? Sundays are when many people head home from vacation; thus, average airfare for flights within the U.S. comes in at $501.

Similar trends hold true for international journeys, where the cheapest day to travel is Wednesday at $979. The most expensive day for international travel is Friday, when average airfare creeps up to $1,040, followed closely by Sunday.

As you'd expect, points and miles costs follow a similar pattern.

And remember, despite what you may have heard, it doesn't matter what day you book your trip (no waiting until midnight on a Tuesday for the best deals). It only matters what day you are traveling.

The most popular search destinations this summer

Points Path also shared where people are searching for summer trips.

Searches for Maui are up almost 166% year over year. I assume that as Maui continues to recover from the terrible Lahaina fire in 2023, people again have Maui on their minds.

Related: Why it's a great time to visit Maui

Hawaii overall is hot, though. Searches for Kauai's Lihue Airport (LIH) are up more than 193% year over year, and searches for Honolulu are up more than 60%.

Also suddenly getting a lot of love? Portland, Oregon (up 16%), and Seattle (up 14%).

Search data shows that some destinations aren't getting as much interest this year. Destinations like Reno, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Nashville and Detroit all saw search volume down more than 20% year over year.

On the international front, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Athens, Johannesburg, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Sydney have all surged 50% or more year over year in search volume. Meanwhile, Mexico City and pretty much all airports in Canada have seen drops in searches year over year.

Domestic routes seeing the biggest savings in 2025

We had Points Path research some of the country's most popular routes for the summer and look at year-over-year prices. What we found was pretty eye-opening.

Prices are down across the board, but there are some especially stark examples we found below.

One destination I've been monitoring closely is Las Vegas, where prices have been through the roof for the past several years. We are finally seeing some rationality returning to that leisure market, where we found prices from Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to cities like Denver are down a whopping 19% in cash year over year. Prices to and from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) have also dropped about 13% year over year. (Miles prices have dropped, too, down as much as 12%.)

One final route that caught my eye was the very popular flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to LAX. Prices are down 14%-16% year over year in cash, and down 14% using awards.

Source: Points Path year-over-year pricing comparisons between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.

International routes seeing the biggest savings in summer 2025

Here's some more fascinating data on international routes, where average airfares are down substantially in some major markets, such as flights from the New York area to Europe:

• Flights from JFK to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO) are 21% less year over year when paying cash, and down 18% when using points or miles.
• Flights to Heathrow Airport (LHR) are down year over year as well, dropping as much as 20% in cash and as much as 16% using awards.

Source: Points Path year-over-year pricing comparisons between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.

How you can still save booking summer travel

It's normally the case that if you'd waited until June to book your summer trips, you'd pay through the nose for last-minute travel.

That's not the case this year with plentiful last-minute deals. I've written extensively about how to save money, but my top tips remain the same:

• Book vacation packages with companies like American Airlines Vacations.
• Use Google Flights Explore to find the cheapest destinations from your home airport.
• Set price alerts on Google Flights and track prices.
• Book now and rebook later if the prices drop (don't try this with basic economy fares).
• Use award booking tools (like Points Path).
• Be flexible with your dates.

I hope this data from our friends at Points Path can help you score some deals and realize it's not too late to book that "fun in the sun" trip in 2025.

Related reading:

• The best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare
• Best airline credit cards
• What exactly are airline miles, anyway?
• 6 real-life strategies you can use when your flight is canceled or delayed
• The best credit cards to reach elite status