The cheapest and most expensive US flights in November vary sharply by route and timing, with fares rising substantially around Thanksgiving and the wider holiday period.
A tally of “good deal” fares from flight-tracking site Hopper found that Thanksgiving airfares are more than 30% higher than last year. Holiday fares overall have risen by more than 23%, as airlines pass on more of the year’s surge in jet fuel prices to passengers.
Outside the busiest holiday period, some routes still offer comparatively low fares. The cheapest November flights include services linking Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport, with a range of cities in the Midwest and south-eastern US.
Other lower-cost journeys are short-haul routes, including flights between islands in Hawaii and services within Florida. However, distance alone does not determine the price of a ticket.
Remote routes among the most expensive November flights
Some of the priciest routes begin on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and travel to New York or Washington DC.
The most expensive flights include journeys from remote parts of Alaska to the US East Coast. Despite Alaska being an oil-producing state, it imports a significant amount of jet fuel and other refined products.
The contrast highlights the wide variation in domestic airfares during November, with prices shaped by the route, timing and location of departure as well as the length of the journey.
