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Misconceptions about airfare, flight disruptions, and traveling with points mean travelers are:
- Booking suboptimal flights
- Paying too much for those flights
- And traveling less than they want as a result
Here are four things that many travelers are getting wrong these days-and how you can learn from them so you can travel more, better, and for less money this year.
And check out our State of Travel report for more insights on 2025 travel.
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Hands down some of the best cards for 2025
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1. The cost of airfare
When we surveyed more than 3,000 travelers in November 2024, 60% said they thought flights had gotten more expensive since February 2020. In reality, prices had gone down in both real (adjusted for inflation) terms and in nominal terms. Basically, as nearly everything else in society has gotten more expensive, airfare has gotten much cheaper.
In fact, airfare at the moment is near all-time lows. When adjusted for inflation, it's about 15% cheaper today than it was in February 2020 and 31% cheaper than it was a decade ago.
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2. The prevalence of flight disruptions
Nearly half of travelers (47%) think that flight disruptions stayed the same in 2024 as 2023. Largely, disruptions have improved. Data is only available for the first ten months of 2024, but it indicates that 1.5% of flights were canceled last year, a significant improvement from the historical average of 2%.
One reason why: Airlines have gotten better at turning cancellations into delays, thanks to improved resources and technology. This then means that, while cancellations have improved, delays have become slightly more prevalent. Data shows that about 25% of flights were delayed in 2024, compared to the historical average of 20%.
Mind you, this data includes two events that caused significant disruptions in 2024: the Boeing 737 Max 9 door plug debacle in January and the CrowdStrike outage in July. Without these high-profile incidents, cancellations likely would have been significantly lower.
So how can you reduce the chances that you'll be impacted by a flight disruption? Easy! Book a flight where you'll be less likely to face a disruption.
First, you could book a morning flight. In general, first flights of the day have a 20-percentage point higher on-time performance than later flights of the day. There are two reasons why. The weather tends to be better in the morning. Also, since the plane has been parked at the gate overnight and it's not flying in from elsewhere, you're more likely to depart on time.
Second, you could book a nonstop flight. Delays are an inconvenience with nonstop flights, but they can cause you to miss a connecting flight entirely, worsening the disruption.
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3. How much they should pay for a flight to Paris
When asked what they considered a "cheap" flight to Paris, 42% of travelers said they'd pay $500 or more roundtrip. By Going's standards, that's too much.
Our typical threshold for flights to Europe is anywhere in the $400s roundtrip from larger airports (though we occasionally stretch into the $500s for smaller airports). In the past six months, we've sent out tons of deals even lower than this threshold:
- Nonstop Newark to Paris for $277 roundtrip
- Boston and NYC to Paris for $362 roundtrip over Valentine's Day
- Nonstop Miami to Paris for $363 roundtrip
- Detroit, Houston, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Raleigh, Denver, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City to Paris for $386 roundtrip (some routes included Thanksgiving travel dates)
Now, if you plan to travel to Paris during a peak season, like over the summer or during the winter holidays, you can expect to pay more. Think in the $600s roundtrip. And the premium price is almost always going to be paid by travelers who don't keep the Goldilocks Window in mind and instead book way too close to departure.
If you have a bit of flexibility-and cheap flights are a priority-don't discount Paris in the shoulder seasons. That's when the deals really shine.
Travel more (and for less money) in 2025. Upgrade to Premium or Elite for all of the best international deals we find.
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4. How to use points
In the world of travel, credit card points are like the fortune cookie after a meal at a Chinese takeout restaurant. Most restaurants offer the cookies. You likely ordered takeout because you needed to eat-the fortune cookie was just a bonus. The restaurant will give you one whether you plan to eat it or not. And if you do eat it, it makes your experience that much sweeter.
According to our study, not enough travelers are eating the fortune cookie-aka they're not taking advantage of their points. 17% of travelers report they don't collect credit card points because they don't know how to use them. And of the travelers who do collect points, their confidence in redeeming them is relatively low-rated an average of 6 out of 10.
Like in the fortune cookie scenario, most people probably began their credit card journey because they needed a credit card. The points are just a bonus. And many issuers are giving them points on their everyday purchases whether they spend those points or not.
At the end of the day, points are like free money. Travelers can redeem them for free or discounted airline tickets, hotel stays, rental cars, and more. The key is to know how to use them.
With Going's three-part Intro to Points email series, travelers learn the basics to get started with points and miles, choose the right card, and redeem their points for the most value. Then, they'll be perfectly equipped to take advantage of all of the stellar points deals available in the Going app. Here are some sample points deals that we've found in the past year:
- Mistake fare from LA to Helsinki for 19k points roundtrip in business class
- NYC, Chicago, DC, and several other US cities to Zürich for 40k-55k points roundtrip during ski season
- Nonstop LA to Tahiti for 55k-56k points roundtrip
- 11 US cities to Italy for 100k points roundtrip over the summer in business class
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