With everyone in the country trying to get to all the popular summer hot spots, finding an affordable flight becomes a part-time job. Scrolling through every website, figuring out which dates are the cheapest, and picking which airport to fly out of is all part of the game to play to enjoy your summer sun. When it comes to the flight, keep the plane tickets from wiping out your budget for the rest of the vacation by picking the most cost-effective airport to fly out of.
FinanceBuzz put together the least (and most) expensive airports to grab that summer flight through. They took information from 45 of the busiest domestic airports to rank the best ones for your budget, with the help of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s published data.
The airports with the most reasonably priced tickets
Before you buy, see if these airports are an option — they had the lowest average domestic airfares of the airports in the analysis.
Check for seats flying through these airports
- Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Paradise, Nevada — $264.24
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida — $271.78
- Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Orlando, Florida — $273.35
- Oakland International Airport (OAK) in Oakland, California — $288.23
- Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) in Chicago, Illinois — $303.05
Harry Reid International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport have duked it out for the top spot for years, with Harry Reid International winning as the airport with the cheapest average flights every year but one since 2018.
If you can’t find a flight through Fort Lauderdale and you live between the two, Orlando International Airport’s average is only a few dollars more.
One thing is for sure: If you’re looking to go someplace sunny and warm, you’ll definitely be able to find an affordable flight, no matter which coast you live closer to.
These airports saw a bump in cost over last year
While the top five most affordable airports will give you a great deal, they all experienced an increase in price from last year.
- Harry Reid International Airport went up by $16.71
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport went up by $38.42
- Orlando International Airport (MCO) went up by $32.34
- Oakland International Airport (OAK) went up by $9.08
- Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) went up by $31.21
Even though Chicago Midway is the only one breaking the $300 per ticket average, last year, all five were well under the $300 mark. Overall, there was a 14.1% increase in the national airfare cost (when adjusted for inflation).
If the prices of any of the airports still make you nervous, with proper planning and flexibility, you could bring your ticket price down even more. Whether you’re looking for a last-minute trip this summer or want to get a start on next year’s vacation plans, you should be able to find a good deal at these airports.
