Suddenly, vacationing is a lot more affordable

Kayak says that the average price for a domestic flight this fall is $359, which is 19% less than what it was in the summer, when it was $444. The average price of an international flight is now $856, down from $1,078 at the height of the summer travel season.

According to Expedia data, if you’re going to the West Coast, the average price of a domestic flight is going down the most. Flights to Seattle are 45% less expensive than they were in the summer. Flights to Los Angeles have dropped 35%, flights to Portland have dropped 35%, and flights to San Francisco have dropped 25%. Just a few weeks ago, a plane ticket to Chicago cost, on average, 20% more than it does now.

Need wheels? Kayak says that the average price of a rental car in the United States is $77 per day in the fall, down from $97 per day in the summer. This fall, it will be even cheaper to get around abroad.

A look at Europe

European vacations haven’t been this cheap in a long time. The last time the euro and the dollar were equal was in 2022. This means that your travel money will go further than it did a decade, a year, or even a few months ago. Even better, the British pound is worth $1.16 U.S. dollars right now, which is a price that hasn’t been seen since 1985.

Expedia says that flights to Barcelona are 30% cheaper than they were during the summer. Flights to London are 20% cheaper, and on average, tickets to Rome and Paris are 15% cheaper.

Kayak found that renting a car outside of the U.S. costs an average of $70 per day, which is 31% less than what it costs in the summer.

Time is everything

If you have extra vacation days, it makes sense to plan a trip for when plane tickets are the cheapest. Expedia Travel found that the best week for domestic flights will be the week of September 26. On average, flights will be almost 45% cheaper than they were in the summer. For trips abroad, try to go the week of October 10, when the average price of an international ticket will be 20% less than it was in the summer.

Still, the best way to make sure you get a good deal is to not wait until the last minute.

Last month, Google released new information about flights based on data from the past five years of Google Flights. The study found that prices for domestic flights in the U.S. were usually at their lowest between three weeks and two months before departure, with the average price being 44 days before departure.

Other top booking sites also agree that travellers should book their trips at least 21 days before they leave. According to analysts at the site Hopper, which helps people find deals, “Prices will be lowest three to six weeks before your trip, and they will go up quickly in the last three weeks before you leave,” say prices at the site.