When you dream of traveling around the world, finding affordable airfare is essential.
There are some obvious factors that will influence how much you will pay for flights, such as whether you are traveling during peak vacation season and whether you travel on a weekend or a weekday.
But did you know that the airport you choose to fly from can also significantly impact how much you will pay for your flights?
The U.S. Government’s Bureau of Transportation has released a new report entitled “Average Domestic Airline Itinerary Fares By Origin City for 2022.”
This report demonstrated the huge disparity in airfares from city to city, with some airports having an average fare of less than $100 and others having an average of more than ten times that figure!
The average U.S. domestic flight cost $378 in 2022, but as you’ll see below, the numbers vary wildly across airports.
Here’s everything you need to know about the cheapest airports to fly out of in the U.S:
The 10 Airports With the Lowest Average Fares
There are many factors that will impact airfare charges from each airport.
Cities with multiple airports tend to have more affordable fare deals, for example, because they compete with each other for passengers, which helps keep costs low.
If you live in a location where there is only one airport within a several hundred-mile radius, then that airport will have a monopoly and free reign to charge much higher prices.
With this in mind, according to the average airfare paid by passengers in 2022, these are the ten cheapest airports to fly from:
- San Bernardino, CA, where the average airfare per traveler was $104.03.
- Santa Maria, CA, where the average airfare per traveler was $123.81.
- Provo, UT, where the average airfare per traveler was $134.84.
- Trenton, NJ, where the average airfare per traveler was $144.32.
- Concord, NC, where the average airfare per traveler was $145.04.
- Latrobe, PA, where the average airfare per traveler was $145.53.
- Newburgh/Poughkeepsie, NY, where the average airfare per traveler was $153.32.
- Sanford, FL, where the average airfare per traveler was $156.91.
- St Petersburg, FL, where the average airfare per traveler was $157.96.
- Punta Gorda, FL, where the average airfare per traveler was $159.83.
Why Is This Important?
While this might look like a lot of very dry statistics, this report is important because it shows just how much airfares can vary and reminds travelers to be savvier.
It’s important to shop around when looking for airfare: you could find that there are big savings to be had just by traveling an extra couple of miles.
The average airfare from Los Angeles LAX is a whopping $438.87, for example, but if you’re hiring a car anyway, or don’t mind traveling the 76 miles by train, taxi, or any other kind of public transport, then you could fly into San Bernardino airport instead. Average prices are just $104.03 here, saving you just over $330.
Another popular example is for those hoping to soak up the sun in Florida this summer.
Orlando International Airport is just 34 miles from Sanford Airport, but average flight prices are almost $120 more. You will pay, on average, $156.91 to fly from Sanford and $272.39 to fly from Orlando.
Not only is Sanford cheaper, but it is also generally a quieter airport. Highlighting that there are more than just financial benefits of traveling to smaller airports you might not necessarily have used or even heard of before.
No matter where you’re planning to travel to this summer, if you’re sticking to a tight budget or just want to save some cash, don’t search for flights to just one airport. Search for flights to all of the hub airports near your final destination to find the best possible price.
