1. Most deals are with a Big 3 airline

There are a handful of low-cost and ultra-low-cost carriers that offer dirt-cheap base fares for flights. While budget airlines do occasionally pull their weight when it comes to in-flight offerings and comfort, we have high standards for the deals that we send members. Therefore, there are certain carriers-including Sun Country, Spirit, and Frontier-that we don't currently send deals on.

Despite dozens of international airlines serving the US, the airline that we most frequently found great deals on for each state was either American, Delta, or United. Those Big 3 airlines dominate when it comes to best deals. Note: This means a deal was bookable on that airline, not that the flight was operated by the airline, as sometimes the flight is operated by a codeshare partner (more on that in a bit).

Despite not being US-based, Air Canada had the fourth-highest number of cheap flights for US travelers, followed by US-based JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, and budget airline Breeze.

You might assume that if we found the most deals on an airline, it's because that airline offers the most flights from that state. But that's not always the case, as we'll explain below.

2. If an airport is monopolized by one airline, deals are usually with its competitors

Some airports are known as hubs for particular airlines. In some cases, the airline's presence is so strong it essentially has a monopoly on that airport.

For example, Atlanta is Delta's biggest hub; the airline's flights account for nearly three-quarters of the daily departures. You might think that with so many flights, Delta would have the most deals, but we actually found more deals bookable on American.

In fact, when one airline has a monopoly on an airport's flights, a good rule of thumb is that the greatest number of deals are typically offered by competitor airlines.

3. Don't ignore international carriers and smaller US airlines

Of all the deals we sent in the past year, 34% were bookable on one of the Big 3 US airlines: American, Delta, and United.

Now, these airlines all codeshare with at least a dozen other airlines, which means that many of the deals we've sent were bookable on those airlines, as well as another international airline. The flight may even have been operated by the other airline.

However, that doesn't mean you should only look for deals on the major airlines. Sixty-six percent of the deals we sent were on smaller US airlines such as JetBlue, Alaska, Breeze, and Avelo, or international carriers like British Airways, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, TAP Air Portugal, and Icelandair.

In some cases, these smaller airlines and international carriers are the only airlines that go to these places; for example, if you want to visit Svalbard, you'll need to fly an international carrier. Although the flight may be bookable on a US partner airline thanks to codesharing, at least the final leg would be operated by an international airline.

4. Star Alliance reigns supreme

For several years in a row, we've found the most deals on airlines that are part of Star Alliance (which includes United and Air Canada). In fact, 28% of all the deals we've found in the past 12 months have been on a Star Alliance carrier. While the competition has inched closer, with Oneworld providing 26% of the deals and SkyTeam providing 24%, Star Alliance has maintained its stronghold.

5. More airlines equals more deals

The single biggest factor guiding how many cheap flights there are on a given route is simply how much competition there is between airlines. Cities and states with more flights tend to see more frequent deals.

The bottom line

Cast a wide net when looking for cheap flights. One of the worst things you can do when shopping around is to only search for flights on one airline.

The airline that dominates your region or the airline that's your typical go-to may not offer the best deals for your particular trip, and you could miss an incredible deal on a perfectly safe, reputable, comfortable airline you didn't think to check.

Cool stuff we like

• 6 tips to help you move abroad
• Kayak the canal that altered US history 200 years ago
• The world's best airports for food that's actually good
• Surviving the outdoors without a cell phone signal this summer
• Get a 60k point travel sign-up bonus (or even more) with this card*

©Scott's Cheap Flights, Inc. DBA Going
4845 Pearl East Circle, Suite 118
PMB 28648
Boulder, CO 80301-6112

Upgrade Membership  |  Advertise  |  Email Preferences  |  Unsubscribe