Travelore Tips: KAYAK Launches New Airfare Trends Dashboard To Track Flight Prices

New search data reveals how airfare is evolving across domestic and international travel.

KAYAK has launched a new Airfare Trends Dashboard, offering a weekly view of how flight prices are changing over time using KAYAK search data. With week-over-week and year-over-year insights across domestic and international destinations, the tool gives travelers a clear look at how factors like seasonality, fuel costs, and broader macro trends are shaping airfare, so travelers can plan and book with confidence.

The dashboard includes:

Weekly airfare trends: A comprehensive view of how average flight prices domestically and internationally are changing from week to week, updated every Tuesday

Year-over-year context: Comparisons to 2025 to help contextualize current pricing levels and how they compare to the same time last year

Destination-level data: A city-level view at how airfare varies across some of KAYAK’s popular domestic and international destinations and how each is evolving over time

The data tracks airfare trends starting from the first full week of January in 2026 and 2025, offering a clear view of both short-term fluctuations and longer-term patterns.

What KAYAK is Seeing

Domestic airfares are trending upward - but steadily. Prices have risen since January, with consistent week over week increases and no major volatility.

International airfare trends mimic 2025. Prices this year are moving in line with last year’s week-over-week patterns, pointing to familiar seasonal shifts in demand.

“Airfare trends are evolving differently across routes - while some are getting more expensive, others are seeing prices decline,” said Kayla DeLoache, KAYAK Travel Trends Expert. “For example, flights to destinations like Hilo, Hawaii, Palermo, Italy, and Georgetown, Cayman Islands are down as much as 18%. Looking at how prices are changing week to week can help travelers make more informed decisions about when and where to travel.”

KAYAK’s Tips to Save Money

As airfare trends continue to shift, travelers may be weighing different ways to get to their destination. KAYAK has updated its Trip Calculator with the latest gas prices and airfare data to help compare the cost of flying versus driving. Simply enter your route, travel month, and number of travelers to evaluate options. While rental car searches are rising, prices remain relatively stable, increasing between $2 and $5 compared to last month.

Beyond comparing travel modes, KAYAK also offers tools to help travelers find and secure the best prices:

Flexible Dates tool: Compare different departure and return days for flights and hotels to find cheaper options (e.g., midweek vs. weekend travel)

Price Alerts: Track fare changes across flights, hotels and rental cars and book when prices drop

Explore tool: Discover flight destinations that fit your budget

Layover filter: Exclude specific airports to customize itineraries, including routes through the Middle East

Travelore Tips: When Is The Best Time To Buy A Plane Ticket?

It's all about the strategy if you want to get yourself, not your ticket prices, sky high.     Photo:Ulrich Peters/Flickr

A:

On the Mount Rushmore of flight travel FAQs, this one sits between, “How do I get a free upgrade?” and “Where the blank is my luggage?”

Although far from an exact science, picking the right time to book is now less of a guessing game thanks to new metrics and services. This spring, the algorithmic Yodas at online travel agency CheapAir released a studythat analyzed a 2013 database of more than a billion domestic airfares.The results showed that the best time to buy a ticket is 54 days in advance, with the “prime booking window” being one to three-and-a-half months out. The study poked holes in both the buy-way-early and wait-until-the last-minute-to-jump-on price slashing strategy, arguing that the worst time to buy is one day to two weeks before flying.

Of course, that’s just one study—and one created by a for-profit enterprise—but it does beg some interesting questions. Namely, what day of the week is the best time to buy? Many travel agents still point their clients to Tuesday, which historically is when many carriers have released their screamin’ deals.

But in 2013, Texas A&M econ professor Steven Puller found that buying tickets on the weekend was actually a better strategy, with fares on Saturday and Sunday priced five percent cheaper than those on weekdays. Puller suggests that old-fashioned price discrimination explains the weekend drop. That is, airlines bank on business travelers purchasing higher-priced tickets during the week and budget-minded leisure travelers doing much of their trip planning on weekends.

Consumers also like to take chances. To cater to the gamblers, some online travel booking sites have added price forecasters that watch the market and predict the best time to buy, an idea spearheaded back in the mid-aughts by sites such as Farecast. Kayak analyzes its billion-plus annual user requests to predict when you should click “purchase.” The site includes a "confidence" rating next to its forecasted prices, essentially a percent accuracy rate that indicates whether to buy now or wait a week for prices to drop. A 79 percent, for example, means you should probably go ahead and click purchase because Kayak thinks the price will rise in seven days.

The moral of the story? None of the services suggested here are entirely accurate; they're all based on averages. It's all about getting the odds in your favor and then going for it. So, be sure to let us know how that purchase goes 54 days from now.

Contributed by Chris Clayton,www.Outsideonline.com

Followus on Twitter: @TraveloreReport

Frequent Fliers Check Travel Sites, Then Buy From Airline Sites

Frequent business travelers favor airline websites to book a flight but are open to using online travel agents' websites if they improve.

(Photo: Kayak.com)

 

Frequent business traveler Dennis Morris of Fox Island, Wash., uses a three-step process to book a flight online.

He finds a desired flight and a fare at an airline website, compares the fare with those cited by Expedia or Kayak and, if fares are comparable, returns to the airline website to book the flight.

"I prefer to work directly with the airline in case changes or issues come up," explains Morris, the CEO of a boat manufacturing company and a USA TODAY Road Warrior who volunteers travel information. "My experience dealing with non-airline sites is that, if issues arise, addressing them is much more difficult."

Many travelers like Morris favor airline websites, according to a survey released Monday by FlightView, which sells travel apps for mobile phones and daily travel information for airlines, airports and technology companies.

The survey — based on 2,066 people who used FlightView's mobile app in April — reveals that 36% "typically search for" airline tickets on airline websites.

Twenty-nine percent say they typically search for airline tickets on websites of online travel agents such as Expedia and Orbitz, and 22% say they use travel search engines such as Kayak and TripAdvisor.

Most survey respondents — 59% — say they usually buy their tickets from airlines. Nearly 30% buy them from online travel agents, 8% buy them from traditional travel agents and 3% say they don't book their own travel.

The survey also shows that —like Morris — travelers routinely go to non-airline websites to gather price or other flight information before using an airline to book a ticket.

Forty-one percent of respondents say they "sometimes" go to non-airline websites to get such information; 29% say they do that "most of the time," and 19% say they "always" do that.

For business travelers, the results show that they "are incredibly connected and have hundreds of travel tools, mobile apps and services at their disposal," says FlightView CEO Mike Benjamin.

"The choice to use one over another often comes down to the experience that the travel provider offers, and how well the provider keeps business travelers informed and engaged during their trip."

Road Warrior Ashok Adur of Parsippany, N.J., is one business traveler who uses various Internet tools.

"For work-related travel we have been asked to go to orbitzforbusiness.net," says Adur, who works in the plastics industry. "For other travel, I use different websites —airline, TripAdvisor, Expedia, CheapTickets, Bravofly or Kayak."

FlightView's survey shows that the most popular travel websites for "first searches" are Expedia and Kayak.

They were cited by 27% of respondents, followed by Travelocity (12.5%); Orbitz (11%); Priceline (5%) and TripAdvisor (4%).

Boston-based Road Warrior Tom Kelly says he uses Kayak or Google Flights first, then books a ticket on an airline's website.

"Sometimes Kayak will have better flight combinations that are not available on the carrier's site," says Kelly, a supply chain manager in the aerospace and defense industries. "I also like the trending charts and flexible date options on Google Flights. You can also search by airline marketing alliance or see prices for regions on a map."

FlightView's survey shows that 46% of respondents say they would be more willing to book a flight with an online travel agent if they were assured they would automatically be rebooked on another flight if their original flight was canceled. Forty-two percent say they would be more likely to book with an online agent if the agent made it easier to manage their travel itineraries on a mobile device or a website.

Adur says he never uses online travel agents' mobile apps, because some "are limited, especially for multiple flights and complicated travel itineraries."

He likes to use airlines' mobile apps, but they don't always work, and some have "limited capability."

Morris says he doesn't use airlines' mobile apps to book flights for several reasons, including problems with connectivity, speed and "readability for long or complex bookings."

He uses airlines' mobile apps "fairly regularly" after a booking is made, though, for changing a seat, flight status or check-in.

Find cheap fares

George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.com offers some tips for travelers searching online for low airfares.

• Many airlines have private sales, reserving their best fares for their own websites.

• Check the websites of online travel agencies.

• If your travel dates are flexible, try a flexible-date search. Kayak.com has a good flexible-date calendar that can be used when you register at the website.

• Search often, because fares fluctuate throughout the day, and the number of seats offered at the cheapest fares changes frequently.

• Sign up for airfare alert e-mails, which are provided by many travel websites.

Contributed by Gary Stoller, www.usatoday.com

Follow us on Twitter: @TraveloreReport

Travelore Tips: How To Save Money When Booking Travel Online

Websites like Expedia.com, Hotwire.com and Orbitz.com have all but eliminated the need for travel agents -- why pay someone to compare flight durations and room rates when you can do it yourself? The problem is, if you're not careful, you may end up paying more in the long run. Finding a good price online (especially during the holiday season) requires diligence and patience, not to mention a great deal of savvy. To help you get the most bang for your buck on your next DIY travel booking, we persuaded CheapAir.com CEO Jeff Klee,Getaroom.com and Hotels.com co-founder Bob Diener, and Airfarewatchdog creator George Hobica to divulge their own travel booking secrets.

wwarby / Flickr

1. Get Online

Though this may seem obvious, the only way to score the best rates is to spend a lot of time on the Internet. When looking for available flights and hotel rooms, the more research you do the better. "The most important thing is to check fares often," said Klee. He notes that airlines usually have 10 to 15 different price points for any flight, meaning that rates can change at any time. Start researching your trip well in advance to get a feel for the going rates -- that way, you'll know a good deal when it comes along. But be prepared to act fast. "While everyone wants to get a good deal, you can't obsess about finding rock-bottom prices," Klee said. "Once you see a good deal, grab it. If you see a good deal during the day, there's a very good chance that it will change by evening."

2. Check Your Email

Because it's impossible to stay on top of every rate change, Hobica recommends setting up email alerts on sites like Kayak.com or using tools like Hotwire.com's Trip Watcher, which will let you know when prices drop. "But you have to check your email," Hobica said. "Someone might be holding the last seat at the lowest fare and then not buy it, which puts that lower-priced seat back on the market." Meanwhile, tuning into airline, hotel and deal-centered Twitter feeds and following travel-focused Twitter chats can increase your chances of catching a flash sale, especially if it's not advertised. According to Diener, you can save up to 60 percent on hotel rooms should you happen to spot a flash sale. By following Airfarewatchdog, Getaroom.com or Hotels.com on Twitter, you'll have a better shot at catching a price drop as soon as it happens.

3. Be Realistic
If you start researching flights and hotel rates several months before you plan to travel, you'll be able to recognize reasonable prices. But all bets are off when it comes to peak travel times, like the holidays: Don't expect a flight to cost the same right before Christmas as it did back in April. "Holiday flights are more expensive than everyday flights," Klee warned. "Don't get sticker-shock and wait longer to book in hopes that the price will drop, since you could end up paying more." The same goes for winter trips to warm-weather destinations. Diener explained that because the majority of Americans live in colder climates, the demand for hotel rooms in warmer places like Miami or Phoenix skyrockets. But deals can be found as long as you start your room search early. "Popularity means the best deals at the best hotels will be picked up quickly," he said. "Don't wait until a few days before your trip to book a hotel."

4. Be Flexible

If you're willing to be a little loose with your travel plans, you'll have more flexibility when it comes to price ranges. This is particularly true around the holidays: A survey conducted by CheapAir.com shows that travelers saved an average of $249 per airline ticket simply by shifting their Thanksgiving travel dates to depart the Monday before the holiday and return the Tuesday after. However, conducting research on flexible travel dates isn't as easy as it used to be. "A lot of booking sites have eliminated flexible search," Hobica said, stressing that you should spend extra time looking at prices both on booking websites and directly on airline websites. It's more work, but Hobica insists that it's worth the effort. "It may be cheaper to fly United there and Virgin back, but the Virgin website wouldn't show you that," he explained.

Also, extending your trip by a day or two can yield significant savings on hotel rates. "Always check for a three-night stay because lots of hotels give much better rates when booking three or more nights, rather than a one- or two-night stay," Diener said. He also suggests aiming for a Sunday night check-in; room rates drop as weekend lodgers leave.

5. Forget the Rules

How many times have you heard that booking on a Tuesday night will result in lower airfare? Or that flight prices will not drop after a certain point? "It's all nonsense," Hobica said. "Look at it logically: If everyone followed the rules, the airlines would manipulate you." Klee noted that you will generally find the best rates between four and seven weeks before you plan to fly, but the day you book doesn't matter. "Airlines tend to offer sales on Tuesday, but most people aren't going to get those seats anyway," he said, noting that airlines only offer a select number of bookings at those sale prices. What does matter, however, is when you plan to fly. Klee advised taking off on a Tuesday or Wednesday, as Friday and weekend departures are in higher demand.

Being strategic when choosing your travel dates is especially crucial around the holidays. The key is to work around the normal travel times: CheapAir.com's survey shows that travelers saved $200 on Thanksgiving flights by booking a Monday-through-Friday flight instead of a coveted Wednesday-through-Sunday trip. And opting to fly on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day (when no one wants to travel) will no doubt slash your expenses.

6. Don't Assume It's Too Late

Yes, you will have better luck finding reasonable rates the earlier you book. But Hobica believes in not giving up, especially when it comes to holiday flights. "If a fare was way too high for your pocketbook, you should jump back into the pool a few weeks before Christmas," he said, noting that airlines may drop the cost of unsold seats in order to fill a plane. Just don't bank on convenient options, as the more desirable flights will surely be sold out. You're more likely to come across bargain airfare on red-eye flights or inconvenient departure times. "It's like shopping at Marshall's," Hobica said. "They may have what you're looking for in your price range, but only in an extra small. If you can make it work, then go for it."

7. Read the Fine Print

When booking flights and hotels online, reading the fine print is crucial -- whether it's the terms of your ticket or the terms of the website. You may book a flight on Spirit Airlines and plan on obtaining your boarding pass from the gate agent only to find that you'll be charged an extra $10 per ticket for not printing at home. Or you could end up reserving a hotel room only to find that the booking website doesn't include additional taxes or fees in the rate, like Expedia, and the price isn't quite the bargain you thought. Before you hit the "Purchase" button, make sure you know exactly what you're getting for your money.

8. Make Sure Someone's Got Your Back

The best advantage a travel agent offers is that he or she fights for your rights should something go awry with your travel plans. If you prefer to do things yourself, Klee said you need to make sure that you are using online services that provide reliable customer support. "That way, if you're in a bind, you can get help more easily." Sometimes, booking websites will absolve themselves of any responsibility should the unexpected happen (which is why you should pay attention to tip No. 7), which can lead to an unexpected, often lofty set of cancellation or change fees. Purchasing flights and hotel rooms through a reliable third-party booking site will grant you access to a customer service team that can negotiate with the airline or hotel on your behalf, saving you time and money.

--Contributed by Miriam B. Weiner