By Going.com
The average cost of airfare is cheaper now than it was before the pandemic, and adjusted for inflation, it’s near all-time lows.
Simply put: As most consumer goods have gotten exponentially more expensive, airfare has done the opposite. Compared to what it could be, airfares are quite cheap.
The Golden Age of Cheap Flights is here to stay
As we know, you can’t book average fares—you can only book available fares, which may fall above or below the average fare. At Going, we draw attention to those fares below—the deals—in the sea of average airfares. And what we’re seeing is that, even though average airfare has crept up over the past several months, the cheapest fares are getting cheaper.
According to Going data and the flight deals found by our Travel Experts:
- Average cost of deals to Europe in 2024: $512 roundtrip (4% cheaper than 2023)
- Average cost of deals to North America in 2024: $261 roundtrip (10% cheaper than 2023)
- Average cost of deals to Latin America in 2024: $343 roundtrip (11% cheaper than 2023)
Other regions have not been so lucky. Competition helps keep fares down, so in the absence of competition, you’re likely to see fewer and more expensive deals. Asia is a great example. It’s been slower to bounce back after the pandemic, meaning deals findable by our Travel Experts have lagged as well.
However, we still saw plenty of Asia deals in the $600–$700s roundtrip last year, and if Asia capacity is to improve in 2025 as we predict, more deals will follow.
So if you’re looking to buy a flight in 2025 and wondering about how much you should be spending, let the table below be a guide. Don’t forget: These are averages, so often we see fares even cheaper than what’s highlighted here.
Premium classes are getting more accessible
For a while following the pandemic, airlines saw the opportunity to capitalize on rising interest in premium-class fares. But now, the number of premium seats on planes is growing faster than economy seats.
More availability means more deals—and often cheaper deals to boot.
Travelers, even ones who are traveling for leisure, are in a unique position to take advantage of incredible premium-class deals to popular destinations:
- Places like Europe and Latin America often see premium economy deals in the $800–$1,200 range, occasionally dipping into the $600s roundtrip on select routes.
- In 2024, we even sent a few sub-$1,000 roundtrip business-class deals to Africa and South America.
Don’t sleep on hot award flights
If ever there was a time to listen up to what we have to say about points, it’s now. What we said in 2024 holds true: There are plenty of economy-class seats available for redemption if you act fast. However, quite a bit has changed in the world of points over the past year:
- There were a number of devaluations in 2024. Alaska hiked up award rates to Hawaiʻi and on several of its partner airlines; United raised rates to destinations in Europe and Asia; ANA raised rates on international flights; Qatar increased fees on awards flights; and the list goes on.
- Virgin Atlantic also switched to dynamic pricing, meaning award rates now vary based on demand rather than being fixed by destination as they were before. While this means some seats will be cheaper, other seats will be much more expensive. Basically, knowing the “sweet spot” when award rates are especially good becomes more difficult. Our prediction is that more airlines will follow suit with dynamic pricing.
Our advice: If you’re holding on to points and miles, it’s wiser to spend them than save them (as long as you spend them wisely). The likelihood your points and miles will lose value over time is quite high, so if you find a deal that works for you, book it as soon as possible.
