Spring break is fast approaching. If you're hoping for a spring break getaway but haven't booked your flights yet, you might be seeing some eye-popping prices. But fear not: Good deals are still out there – though maybe not for much longer.
Everyone wants to get away over spring break, and all that demand pushes flight prices up … and even further up the longer you wait. Travelers tied to the spring break calendar don't exactly have a ton of flexibility to find cheaper flights, either.
But all hope isn't lost. Whether you want to stay close to home, hit the beach, or even head over to Europe for spring break, we're still finding and sending our Thrifty Traveler Premium members flight deals with late February, March, and early April travel dates.
And even if the dates and destinations on those deals don't line up with your travel plans, there are still plenty of ways to save anywhere from little to a lot on your spring break flights this year.
Tip 1: Book ASAP
If you haven't booked your spring break flights yet, it's time to pull the trigger. Whether you've been using Google Flights price alerts to track flight prices or you just started searching … if you see a price you're comfortable with, book it.
Depending on where you live, spring break falls within the next 60 days or so – and that means flight prices are far more likely to go up than down. Google Flights data shows the best time to book spring break flights for domestic trips is between 23 and 59 days before departure.
Keep a Google price alert on your flights even after you book, too. If prices do drop afterward, you can cancel and rebook your flights at the cheaper rate and pocket the difference as an airline credit – at least so long as you booked a main cabin ticket or higher, not basic economy.
Tip 2: Avoid Peak Days & Times
If you've waited this late in the game to book your Spring Break flights, you're going to have to get creative to get a good deal. In order to do that, you're going to have to avoid traveling on peak travel days and at peak travel times.
Let's look at this example from Portland, Oregon (PDX) to Phoenix (PHX) over Spring Break week in Portland. If you want to fly out Friday and get back Sunday – the two peak travel days to take advantage of Spring Break – you're looking at some offensively high airfare.
But look at the highlighted box on the bottom. That's Google Flights alerting you to the fact that if you shift your travel dates by a few days to fly out on Tuesday instead of Friday, you can save more than $500 per ticket!
In general, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays will be the cheapest days to fly over Spring Break. That might cut into the school schedule by a day here or there, but if you can save $500 per ticket, I think it's worth it. A flight is the perfect time to catch up on schoolwork!
When you adjust your search to go from Tuesday to Tuesday instead of during those busiest weekend travel dates, you'll find fares under $300 roundtrip instead. That's a steal of a deal for being less than two months until Spring Break. In order to find the cheapest dates, click the dates in the top right corner of the Google Flights search and you can see how expensive it is to fly on each day.
One other note: The time of day you fly will matter a lot in this case.
Everyone wants to fly during the middle of the day, so the most likely discounted flights are going to be late at night or early in the morning. Check out these lowest fares I found for PDX-PHX over Spring Break week, for example.
You're either getting up early or staying up late, but the benefit is that you can fly for less than half the cost of the mid-day flights between the same two destinations on the same day.
Tip 3: Let Google Flights Explore Be Your Guide
Have your heart set on going somewhere for spring break, but not sure where to go? Three words: Google Flights Explore.
Simply navigate to the Google Flights home page, enter your preferred departure airport, and plug in the dates you want to travel over your spring break. You can either leave the destination blank to search the whole globe, or enter a region like “Europe,” “The Caribbean,” or even “Mexico” to narrow down your search slightly.
Hit search and you'll see a map of all the destinations with the cheapest flights on your exact desired travel dates!
The best part of this? You can use Google Flights' long list of filters to narrow in exactly what you want. Click on any random city and filter for things like nonstop flights, flight times, a certain length of the flight, specific airlines, free carry-on bags, and more. Then, just change your destination city back to “Anywhere” and you'll get a new map full of your filters.
Choose the flights you want and click through to book directly with the airline. Woila: Spring Break flights acquired.
Watch Next: I showed a Chicago TV anchor how to do this live on the air! He found his flights to Orlando while he was interviewing me.
Where You Can Still Find Cheap Spring Break Flights
Flight prices might seem out of control for a spring break trip, but that doesn't mean they're expensive everywhere – and we have the proof.
Our team of flight deal analysts at Thrifty Traveler Premium scours the globe for the best flight deals every day, and we've found plenty of cheap flights during spring break season – even in just the last few days.
Business Class to France or Italy
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New Zealand for $643 RT
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Skiing in Sun Valley, ID
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Nonstop to Portugal under $400 RT
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All Over Europe from 38k Points RT
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Florida Panhandle from $154 RT
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Iceland under $397 RT
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What I'm Doing for Spring Break: Hawaiian First Class!
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Bottom Line
Spring break is fast approaching, and if you're looking to travel during that time, it's time to get to booking.
With everyone wanting to travel during March and April, flight prices can be understandably expensive, but don't resign yourself to staying home if you don't see what you want. Follow these tips to save on spring break flights, or book one of these flight deals before it's too late.
You guys are the best. Always amazing tips