The 25 Best Flight Deals of 2025: Our Best Year Ever!

We've been searching for cheap flights and hard-to-find award availability for more than 10 years here at Thrifty Traveler, sending more than 1,200 flight deals alerts a year to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members. But now that we're 11 months into the calendar year, I'm officially declaring 2025 as the best year of flight deals in company history. 

This week, I took on the Herculean task of whittling down the more than 1,100 flight deals we've sent so far in 2025 to just the 25 best ones. That meant cutting out $76 roundtrip flights to Chicago, nonstop flights to Tokyo in the $700s roundtrip, and peak summer business class flights to Europe from just 26,000 points each way. 

So what cracks the list of the best flight deals so far this year? There are not one, not two, not three, but four separate mistake fares to Europe with fares in the $200s roundtrip in economy, $600s roundtrip in premium economy, and even one in business class for just over $1,000 roundtrip!

There are plenty of point deals, such as roundtrips to Asia or Europe for 25,000 Delta SkyMiles, and domestic redemptions for under 2,000 points. We found Delta One Suites flights to Europe, Africa, and Asia using your points and miles, too. And then there were all of our  Unicorn alerts – the rarest of the rare flight deals – such as Qantas First Class to Sydney (SYD) or First Class with either Emirates to Italy. 

All that is to say: It's been a year of abundant flight deals (so far!) … and we see no signs of things slowing down. So let's take a look back at the best deals our Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alert subscribers received in their inboxes so far this year, and rank them 1-25. 

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25. Delta One to Morocco from 170K SkyMiles RT

We found an incredible deal on Delta's brand-new flight to Marrakech (RAK) in Morocco for just 170,000 SkyMiles roundtrip. Better yet, it was available at that rate from nearly 200 airports, big and small, all across the country!

 

 

This kind of deal to Marrakech was so rare that it merited our famous “Unicorn Alert” moniker (and corresponding emoji!) to help our members book ASAP, thanks to a text message alert. A Delta One flight to Africa can be almost impossible to book using points and miles, but not if you have text alerts that let you know when it's time.

 

24. Nonstop to Amsterdam & Paris from $379 RT

The nonstop Delta, Air France, and KLM flights to Amsterdam (AMS) and Paris (CDG) go on sale only a few times a year … and usually that means fares in the $500s roundtrip. But this time, the trio of SkyTeam airlines went bonkers …

 

 

Fares in the $300s to get to Europe are the best, but when they're on nonstop flights like these … that's almost unheard of! 

 

23. Costa Rica under $289 RT

A cheap flight down to Costa Rica is one of the best winter or spring escapes I can imagine. But so can everyone else, meaning all that demand usually leads to high prices. I said, “usually…”

 

 

Whether you want to fly to San Jose (SJO) or Liberia (LIR), this deal was a boon for any traveler looking to visit the rainforests and beaches of the Central American paradise. 

 

22. Cancún, Cabo, & Puerto Vallarta, Mexico under 9K SkyMiles RT

A winter escape to Mexico doesn't sound so bad, either, right? Well, what if I told you that the 10,000 Delta SkyMiles is enough to fly to Mexico roundtrip?!

 

 

These fares to Puerto Vallarta (PVR) and Cabo (SJD) did exactly that. Plus, just a few hours later, we found similar pricing flying Delta to Cancún (CUN) starting at just 7,000 SkyMiles roundtrip, too. 

Want more SkyMiles deals like these delivered straight to your inbox? Sign-up today for 50% off your first year of Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alerts! 

 

21. Mistake Fare: Biz Class to London, England from $1,281 RT

What's better than a mistake fare? A business class mistake fare…

 

 

 

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Alaska Airlines briefly sold business class fares to England on partner carriers, British Airways and American Airlines, for just $1,300 or so – the same price (or less) than a standard economy seat! Within a few hours, prices snapped back up to the norm of $4,000 … but not before thousands of Thrifty Traveler Premium members got an email alert (and an instant text message) and booked at these prices for this winter or spring.

 

20. Hong Kong under $495 RT

When it comes to economy flights, if you can find a roundtrip flight to Asia in the $600s, run – don't walk – to book it. If it's in the $500s, you'd better get on a bike. If fares to Hong Kong (HKG) dip into the $400s, however…

 

 

That's totally bananas. This flight deal featured mostly fares in the $600s, but the Seattle (SEA) fare for $507 roundtrip and this Las Vegas (LAS) fare for $490 left our jaws on the floor. 

 

19. Hawaiian First Class to Honolulu from 40K Points Each Way

Send this to a prospective honeymooner that you know, because flying lie-flat in Hawaiian's fancy 787 First Class Suites is the best way to fly to Hawaii, period. 

 

 

If you find saver rates like these on Hawaiian First Class flights, it's one of the best deals in the sky. What a way to kick off your trip (or a way to make the redeye back to the mainland more palatable) than in one of these suites. We loved them in our recent experience and think it's worth every point. 

 

18. San Juan, Puerto Rico under $195 RT

You won't find a more convenient Caribbean trip than this! You can fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU), where you won't need a passport, a visa, and avoid the hassle of international travel, either nonstop or with one quick connection, this winter. 

Oh yeah, and it might cost less than a flight to Florida if you book a deal like this! 

 

 

17. JetBlue Mistake Fare to Amsterdam, London, & Paris from $218 RT

At number 14 is a deal so good that it barely lasted an hour. JetBlue screwed up to start off 2025, leading to fares like this one to Europe that just about broke our brains. 

 

 

Less than an hour after we found these fares, they had already disappeared … but not before our fastest members saw the alert and booked roundtrip flights to Europe for less than a flight to Vegas or Chicago.

Get instant text message alerts for mistake fares like this! Sign up today for 50% off your first year of Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alerts using promo code THANKS!

 

16. Delta Premium Select Mistake Fare to Spain from $603

Most airlines will charge $600, $900, or even more for a roundtrip to Europe in basic economy. Delta messed up earlier this year and sold its Delta Premium Select seats at those prices instead! 

 

 

This mistake fare turned many a Delta flyer's heads, offering a stunningly cheap option to book these fares in the $600s roundtrip from Charlotte (CLT), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), and Chicago, while also offering near-record-breaking fares in the $800s and $900s from many other cities, too. 

 

15. Florida & the Northeast on JetBlue under 2K Points

We double and triple-checked this deal because we couldn't believe what we were seeing: One-way flights for … 700 miles?!

 

 

Roundtrip flights for 1,400 miles to Florida or up to the Northeast changed what I thought was possible for award tickets. Think about it this way: A family of five for less than 10,000 points roundtrip. That is bananas. 

 

14. Taiwan from 25K Delta SkyMiles

Fares in the 20,000s to Asia? That's not even possible, right? Wrong.

 

 

We find more Delta SkyMiles deals than anyone – get the next one with Thrifty Traveler Premium for 50% off the first year!

These 30,000-SkyMile fares (bookable one-way for 15,000, too!) flying through Delta's Seattle (SEA) hub to Taipei (TPE) is maybe the cheapest way we've ever seen to get to and from Asia. With a Delta SkyMiles credit card, and its automatic 15% discount when redeeming SkyMiles on Delta flights, it dropped down to just 25,400 miles roundtrip – with only $44 in taxes and fees! 

 

 

And as you can see, almost every Delta city in the country was included in this deal, too. That meant travelers could take advantage from New York City (JFK) to Pasco (PSC) for the same amount of SkyMiles. 

 

13. Ultra-Rare Qantas First (& Biz) Class Awards

No matter how many miles you've got, getting to Australia in a lie-flat seat is tough. The airlines are incredibly stingy with releasing award space on their longest flights – none more so than Australia's own Qantas.

We were wandering the points-and-miles-to-Australia desert for so long that we thought this was a mirage. It wasn't: It was a barrage of Qantas premium cabin flight deals flying down under, highlighted by this sweet Qantas First Class alert just a few weeks ago. 

 

 

And for the first time in years, you could book these Qantas First Class flights to Sydney (SYD) next January – peak season down under – for just 110,000 American Airlines miles. You could also book with Alaska miles or Qantas's own frequent flyer miles, too. These swanky first class suites were enough to make us giddy, but if you're willing to slum it down in *checks notes* one of the nicest business class seats on earth, you could find even more availability. 

 

 

You could fly lie-flat from New York City (JFK) all the way to Auckland (AKL) in this seat for 127,000 points each way or from Los Angeles (LAX) to Brisbane (BNE) for 109,000 points each way using this deal. 

Qantas didn't stop there, either, offering availability on the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) flights to both Sydney (SYD) and Melbourne (MEL) at the same rates. This flurry of Qantas availability was extremely rare, but thanks to our dedicated team of analysts searching for it every day, we caught it as soon as it appeared.

 

12. AA First & Biz Class to Australia & New Zealand

American Airlines loves trying to be the one to fly you to Australia or New Zealand, and there's perhaps no better evidence of that than the airline deploying their new brand new business class suites on the nonstop flight from Dallas (DFW) to Brisbane (BNE) … and offering those seats up to customers with points and miles, too! 

 

 

This deal flying to either Auckland (AKL) or BNE was a steal for travelers with American Airlines miles, but they weren't done! They also released a bunch of business class and First Class availability to Sydney (SYD), too. 

 

 

These AA First Class seats aren't long for this world, so this was one of the last chances to book the ultra-luxe front of the plane down to Australia next year! 

 

11. Qatar Airways QSuites from 54K Points Each Way

Peak season availability to book Qatar Airways Qsuites from just 54,000 points each way? Yes, please!

 

 

I already hate my own ranking here, because the value of this deal is insane. Thanks to a 30% transfer bonus from Amex to British Airways at the time, these 70,000 point fares could only cost you 54,000 points each way!

 

 

The list of places you can fly Qsuites is amazing, including booking your safari, your Middle East desert getaway, or a trip all the way to Thailand or elsewhere in Southeast Asia. 

We find and send alerts for Qatar Qsuites any chance we get! Sign-up today for Thrifty Traveler Premium today so you don't miss out on the next one! 

 

10. Biz Class Mistake Fare to Europe on Lufthansa from $1,063

Want to fly business class to Europe? You'd better have saved up $4,000 or more – the going rate for a roundtrip business class ticket. 

But not when the airlines make a mistake!

 

 

Flying in August and this winter, this Lufthansa business class mistake fare was one for the ages. All of these routes listed below featured fares under $1,500 roundtrip – less than half the usual cost to fly lie-flat to Europe. 

 

 

We heard from several travelers who were able to snag these unbelievable rates and make their next Euro-trip the comfiest yet. 

 

9. Cathay Pacific First & Biz Class Combo to SE Asia & Beyond

Booking Cathay Pacific First Class from New York (JFK) to Hong Kong (HKG) will cost you 160,000 miles each way. But what if I told you that you could add on another flight, connecting in business class to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, or beyond … and it got cheaper?!

Look, sometimes airfare just doesn't make sense, but that's exactly what we found with this mind-bendingly bougie flight deal earlier this year. 

 

 

Cathay Pacific First Class on the long haul to Hong Kong (HKG) is the stuff of dreams thanks to a beautiful airplane seat, true dedicated service, and access to Cathay's The Pier First Class Lounge. But connecting onward throughout Asia and Oceania for even fewer points is one of the best deals I've ever seen in travel.

 

 

8. Nonstop to Ireland from $287 RT

Aer Lingus, the Irish airline, is known for its awesome sales. In fact, it's not uncommon to see the airline drop its nonstop flight prices from all over the U.S. to Dublin (DUB) and Shannon (SNN) into the $400s roundtrip. Sometimes, they even drop those fares into the $300s to fill seats in the shoulder seasons. 

But $200s roundtrip … c'mon!

 

 

They did it! The unthinkable: Roundtrip flights to Europe from just $281 roundtrip! 

This deal with fall and winter availability had Thrifty Traveler HQ buzzing. What an incredible way to fly to Europe. 

 

7. Japan Airlines Biz (or First!) Class to Tokyo from 60K Points

Japan Airlines – known for its stellar service and spacious seats – is one of the very best ways to fly, period.

That's why we place such an emphasis on finding ways to book these (sometimes $4,000-plus) seats using points and miles. The best way is using American Airlines miles – just 60,000 of them – to fly nonstop to Tokyo (HND, NRT). 

Well, for our friends in Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), it happened! 

 

 

This January and February availability was excellent, but it didn't stop there. That's because we also found widespread availability – for the first time in many years – to book JAL first class for 96,000 points each way, too! 

 

 

Business or first class: You decide! 

 

6. Osaka & Tokyo, Japan from $377 RT!

Cheap cash flights to Japan aren't impossible, either. In fact, we've seen a pretty good run of deals in the $700s, $600s, and even $500s roundtrip over the past year. If you see fares in that range, you can be confident you got a good deal. But if you see fares in the $300s … run, don't walk! 

The prospect of getting to Tokyo for less than $400 makes a positioning flight to the West Coast instantly worth it. 

 

 

If you live in Seattle (SEA) – or any of these other West Coast cities – it's like hitting the jackpot! 

 

 

Thanks to this deal, we determined that you could fly to five different continents in the $300s roundtrip this winter! 

Get 50% off your first year of Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alerts with our biggest sale of the year! 

 

5. Delta One to Tokyo from 89K Points Each Way

Delta One Suites to Tokyo can be a terribly expensive proposition, even if you're planning to use miles. SkyMiles rates can get close to 400,000 each way – and that's not an exaggeration. However, there's a better way to get you in a seat like this.

 

 

Using Delta's partners to book Delta One business class is the way. Starting at just 89,000 FlyingBlue miles or 105,000 Virgin Atlantic miles, you could have booked Seattle (SEA) to Tokyo (HND) for less than half the cost of booking with Delta. Cha-ching!

 

 

4. Delta One to Europe from 60K Each Way (or 170K SkyMiles RT)

We get asked about Delta One more than anything else. Delta people love Delta, and we get it. Delta One is (or can be…) one of the best ways to fly around the world. But it's notoriously hard to book Delta's business class seats, unless you want to shell out several hundred thousand Delta SkyMiles for a roundtrip. 

But there's one sneaky way to book these seats without breaking the bank, and that's using partner airline miles like Air France/KLM FlyingBlue or Virgin Atlantic – both of which are partners with major banks like Chase, Capital One, and American Express, among others. 

That's how you can find those same seats for just 60,000 miles each way. 

 

 

The availability to book those seats at those rates is scarce, though. When we find availability, we always make a point to quickly send it to our subscribers via emails like the one above, featuring flights to Milan (MXP) and Rome (FCO), as well as the one below, which includes flights to the rest of Europe. 

 

 

You can't beat those rates, but if you want to use SkyMiles, we found some wide-open availability this summer and fall to book Delta One roundtrip for just 200,000 SkyMiles – which comes down to 170,000 if you have a Delta credit card. 

 

 

Plus, you can book SkyMiles deals from almost any Delta airport, making this super attractive if you live in one of the smaller, regional cities on this half of the list we sent our members. 

 

3. A Europe Flight Bonanza, All Under $398 RT!

It started slowly … and then happened all at once: The airlines started slashing fares to Europe down into the $400s to try to poach one another's customers. 

From there, the competition really heated up. How hot, you ask? 

 

 

Roundtrip flights to Rome (FCO), Dublin (DUB), Zurich (ZRH), and more in the $300s are almost unheard of – especially from interior airports like Detroit (DTW), Salt Lake City (SLC), and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) … not to mention from West Coast cities like Seattle (SEA). 

That was one of several deals that featured fares in the $300 range. But then it got even better. Almost all of the most coveted nonstop flights to Europe fell into the $400s and $300s, too. No connections required on these sizzling fares! 

 

 

This is just a tiny, tiny sample of the bonanza of Europe flight deals we found last month. For the price of a flight to Florida, you could visit Venice or Naples (the Italian ones) instead. 

And these flights were not on low-cost or budget carriers, either. Almost all of these fares were on American, Delta, and United. 

 

2. Delta to Europe under 26k SkyMiles RT … Nationwide!

We've already seen some awesome Delta SkyMiles deals on this list – remember those 7,000-SkyMile fares to Mexico and the 25,000-SkyMile fares to Asia?

But when it comes to Europe, we've never seen anything quite like this: Nationwide availability – from airports big and small – for 26,000 SkyMiles or less!

 

 

Booking a roundtrip flight on Delta to Europe for just 26,000 SkyMiles roundtrip is bananas. However, with a SkyMiles American Express credit card, the price drops as low as 19,000 roundtrip. 

 

 

The list of places you can get to is incredible, but the fact that every single U.S. city with Delta service got in on this deal is truly what makes it maybe the best SkyMiles deal we've ever sent. See that city in the bottom left corner of the departure city boxes. That's Kona, Hawaii (KOA)! You can fly from the middle of the Pacific Ocean all the way to Europe and back for 26,000 miles total. 

It's the best SkyMiles Flash Sale of the year in a year of tremendous SkyMiles flash sales. 

 

1. Emirates First Class (& Biz Class) to Italy from 102k Points Each Way

Nothing says luxury, prestige, fancy, or number one flight deal of the year quite like Emirates First Class on the A380. 

The crazy first class suites with Dom Perignon, caviar, and even an onboard bar and shower scream elegance – elegance that could cost you $11,000 or more. Because we're Thrifty Traveler, not Wealthy Traveler, the only way we book seats like these is using points and miles. When we finally saw some availability pop up, we issued this Unicorn Alert. 

 

 

Just 102,000 Emirates Skywards miles – transferable from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, or Citi – were enough to secure one of these seats flying to and from New York (JFK) and Milan (MXP) early next year. And it was great timing, as Emirates began blocking most travelers from booking these outrageous seats just a week later.

But behind that first class cabin is the business class cabin, still offering an unreal flying experience with access to this swanky-looking bar in the sky. 

 

 

Plus, when you book roundtrip through Emirates, you only need 108,000 miles to fly business class both ways! And what jumps out at me most about this deal, besides the incredible roundtrip rate, is the availability. Hmmm…what's going on in Italy in February 2026? The Winter Olympics! 

 

 

Maybe I'm just obsessed with this flight deal, or maybe you agree that it's the best deal of 2025 so far. It is my list after all. But it's undeniable that the value of flying Emirates' stacked double-decker A380 is one of the best flying experiences out there. 

 

Bottom Line

So there's our list of the 25 best flight deals of 2025 so far. Do you agree? Is there anything I missed? Let us know in the comments or on social media @thriftytraveler. 

The best part of this stellar list is that it's not over yet. We still have another month of flight deals that will compete to join this list. I can't wait to see which ones can jump into that top spot! 

Get 50% off your first year of Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alerts with our biggest sale of the year!