If you fell victim to booking expensive flights for your spring break trip, I'm here to tell you to check those flights again.
Typically by this time, you have to resign yourself to paying for high airfare – or settle for a road trip – if you haven't already made your spring break plans. Not this year: Flight prices over the next few months keep dropping, meaning it's not too late to book a spring break trip – or rebook your existing flights and save even more.
Over the last few weeks, we've noticed a trend of airfare dropping for last-minute trips, and so have our Thrifty Traveler Premium members: cheap domestic flight deals to Phoenix, the Rockies, Florida, and more for March, April, and even May – as well as a slew of deeply discounted fares to Italy and New Zealand, too!
It's great news for travelers still hoping for a spring break getaway. But even if you've already booked your trip for the weeks and months ahead, you could still take advantage of this consumer-friendly trend in flight prices by checking the flights you already have booked to see if you can save.
Here's how to make the most of it.
Read next: Spring Break Flights Too Expensive? How You Can Still Save on a Trip This Year
Go Check Your Booked Flights ASAP
If you booked a standard economy ticket or higher, these plummeting flight prices could put you even further ahead.
Unfortunately, the cheapest (and stingiest) basic economy fares can't be changed – or you'll forfeit some big fees when doing so – which means you can't take advantage if and when prices drop. But because major airlines did away with change fees on almost all flights so long as you book at least a main cabin economy fare, that's your ticket to rebook at the new, lower rate if prices drop.
Follow the steps, and you'll get a travel credit or airline voucher for the difference to put towards another fun trip! We have a full walkthrough on how to rebook flights after prices drop that you should consult. You might be shocked at what you find.
It's one of the best travel hacks you can employ right now and an easy way to save even more on travel. Here's what I do:
- As soon as I book a flight with cash, I set Google Flights price alerts for the exact flight I booked. If I've got some flexibility, I also set a few extra alerts for other flights on the same day, from nearby airports, and for days surrounding that one. If anything changes, I get an email alert from Google Flights!
- Every month, I go back through all of my flights and check the prices to see if the price has dropped. This manual process is more important for flights booked with points and miles, but I do it for cash flights, too.
- If prices have dropped on any of my flights, I rebook them right away. If you're flying an airline like Delta or Southwest, an e-credit (or the difference in miles) is typically deposited in your account automatically. On other airlines, you can simply cancel and rebook your fare, which is slightly less convenient, but still easy. For other award bookings with miles, you might have to stomach a change fee to make the switch, so it might not always be worth it.
Listen in: We broke this all down on Ep. 47 of the Thrifty Traveler Podcast, too!
This year alone, I've saved tens of thousands of miles and pocketed hundreds of dollars in additional airline credits by checking and rebooking my flights. If you have something booked over the next few months, be sure to do the same. You might be surprised at what you find.
This is a crucial step in saving the most on your spring break trip – a process that should start in just a few months for 2027, too. Read about our tried-and-true spring break flight booking method so you don't fall victim to high fares next year.
Where are Flights Still Cheap?
Airfare is not a monolith, meaning your searches for flights to D.C. and fares to Italy might be very different. Maybe that D.C. rate is way down, but flights to Italy are still sky-high. Pricing trends like this are averages, but it never hurts to check.
What I can prove is that we've been finding plenty of cheap flights for our Thrifty Traveler Premium members for spring travel. Some of these deals have been the impetus for my coworkers to re-check their own flights to see if they can save on their upcoming trips!
These Thrifty Traveler Premium deals can serve as a sort of price alert for you, too, giving you the heads up when prices on something you've already booked have taken a nosedive. Let's say you have an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C., on the books. You might be in luck…
We sent this deal to our subscribers after fares dropped on all of these nonstop routes to the D.C. metro area airports of Baltimore (BWI), Reagan (DCA), and Dulles (IAD).
That means, if you booked for $300 many months ago from any of these airports, you should rebook for the much lower rate and save big!
D.C. isn't the only domestic destination this works for, too. Want to hit the slopes over spring break? Consider a flight to Sun Valley (SUN) – the Idaho resort known for its sparse crowds and fantastic terrain for skiers of all types.
This fare from San Diego (SAN) was just the tip of the iceberg. More than 20 U.S. cities had availability to Sun Valley during spring break when we sent this deal a few weeks ago. Many of the fares are still alive as I write this, too!
If you need a beach instead, Florida outposts like Fort Myers (RSW) and Orlando (MCO) might be expensive at this point, but the Florida Panhandle is open for business!
Panama City (ECP) flights were still cheap when I checked a few minutes ago – as low as $207 roundtrip in some cases, like this itinerary from Chicago (ORD).
But you can still go big on your spring break trip this year … and I mean really BIG!
The nonstop flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL) has stayed incredibly cheap throughout this year, and that now includes peak spring break season in the middle of March. These fares have been right at $667 roundtrip for weeks now, and if you want to book an incredible, memorable spring break trip, this is your ticket from Southern California.
If you're comfortable going abroad for spring break, you might as well be comfortable while you travel there! Enter La Compagnie: the business class-only airline flying between Newark (EWR) and Milan (MXP) and Paris (ORY).
La Compagnie runs a Valentine's Day sale every year about this time (through, you guessed it, Valentine's Day) that includes spring break dates in March. They cut their fares in half, giving you a chance to book two seats for the price of one on your way to Italy or Paris.
This is perhaps the most epic of spring break trips if you've been saving up for a splashy business class flight!
Better Deals with Your Points & Miles, Too
The savings don't stop with cash flights, either. Our colleague Nick booked this doozy of a deal to Phoenix (PHX), for instance … in First Class!
All of these nonstop flights to Phoenix (PHX) were flying American Airlines, but bookable using Alaska miles for incredibly cheap rates! Just 18,000 Alaska miles roundtrip could get you there in first class this year – a stellar deal.
But you can take your points and miles abroad this spring break, too. Prime example: This Delta SkyMiles flash sale to Europe we sent to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members just a few days ago.
Delta's latest Europe SkyMiles sale offered roundtrip fares for 28,000 SkyMiles, and it was even lower (23,800) if you had a Delta credit card using the TakeOff15 benefit.
Booked Delta flights to Europe for far more miles months ago? Cancel and rebook at the lower rate: You'll get the difference in miles back in your account, so long as you originally booked a main cabin award ticket.
Delta SkyMiles deals have been abundant lately, whether you want to stay close to home for spring break or head across the Pacific on a bucket list trip. For something long-haul and super comfortable, fly Delta One to Seoul!
And remember that flight deal to Auckland (AKL) from the section above? Well, Delta slashes SkyMiles rates on those flights, too, giving you a chance to fly roundtrip to New Zealand from just 41,000 SkyMiles roundtrip!
You've been saving those points and miles for a reason! Use them on spring break this year to save the most.
Bottom Line
Don't have your trip booked yet? Here's your sign to lock it in … maybe at surprisingly low prices.
Already got your flights locked in? Here's your sign to double-check the prices, because it's more likely than ever that the price has decreased since you booked.
We've been seeing flight prices drop left and right. Rebooking your previously purchased flights is one of the best and easiest ways to save on travel right now.
