Airfares are famously opaque, but the experts at Going.com unveiled new rankings that can help you feel assured you’re getting a good deal the next time you fly.
In their first-ever Flight Deal Awards, the airfare booking and deals site released a list of the top airports and airlines for value airfares.
“The reason why I really love these awards is because a lot of the focus has been looking at airlines by quality, looking at how much they’re flying, what’s the biggest airport, or very easily quantifiable categories,” Scott Keyes, the founder and chief flight expert at Going.com, told USA TODAY in an interview. “What matters (to consumers) is how much the ticket costs, that’s what matters at the end of the day.”
With these awards, Keyes said, Going was able to put that cost principle front and center.
According to Going, the rankings were compiled using “proprietary deal data across thousands of routes.”
Here’s what the results show.
According to Going.com, these are the top three airports for domestic travel deals:
And these are the departure points for the best international fares:
According to Keyes, the average prices at each airport represent airfares that Going members book through the site. The percentage “off” means how much less those prices are than the overall average for airfares out of that airport.
Going.com also examined airlines and their likelihood of offering flight deals. Here were the rankings:
According to Going, these airline rankings are based on the company’s proprietary data which factors in deal frequency, quality and average savings compared to typical market fares.
Keyes acknowledged that airfares can be hard to predict, but said there are some good rules of thumb for general booking.
“It’s the million-dollar question because airfare is the most volatile purchase that people regularly make,” he said. “We have this misconception that there’s a singular price, but in reality, that price is constantly changing, not just by the week, but it’s changing by the day, sometimes by the hour, so it’s no surprise that it’s extremely difficult.”
Typically, travelers should expect to spend about $550 for a round-trip flight to Europe in economy, and slightly more to Asia, so long as they’re not planning to travel during a peak period, for example. Anything less than that, Keyes said, is usually a pretty good deal.
Keyes said for travelers with some planning flexibility, the best idea is to search for airfare first.
“The way that most people plan their vacations, they do a three-step process, they decide where they want to go, they decide when they want to go there, and then only in step three do they look at flights. Take that same three-step process and just flip it on its head,” he said. “By setting price as the top priority rather than the last priority, that’s how people are able to get really cheap flights for their vacations and take three or four trips for the price of what they used to pay for one.”
Keyes added that the cheapest fares are usually available 1-3 months before departure for domestic flights and a little bit longer ahead of international flights, though it’s best to book even earlier for peak travel periods.
It also helps to be flexible in your travel plans. If you’re not married to a particular time of day or day of the week for your departure, you may be able to unlock lower airfares. Traveling during off-peak seasons can help you find deals as well.
Being willing to try secondary airports can be a good way to find lower airfares, too.
“The only other thing that I would say is we talk about keeping an eye on nearby airports. I think people’s initial tendency is to think of that as a sacrifice,” he said. “For some trips, it can actually end up not just saving you a lot of money, it can actually save you time.”

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