Winter International Airfare Deals: How much does the price actually drop?
Winter in Amsterdam: siebe (flickr)
It’s now October, the “summer or high” travel season has now officially come to a close, and we find ourselves at the beginning of the “winter or low” travel season. Fewer people travel during this time as the temperature drops across the Northern Hemisphere. However, for those who do decide to travel internationally, they are often rewarded with dramatically reduced airfares by commercial airlines.
We all know that it’s cheaper to travel to Europe in the winter than in the summer. But by how much? Does the drop in price really justify battling the European winter? And what about destinations in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, or Latin America? Do they experience similar drops in airfare?
Yesterday, I spent a good portion of time playing around with Farecompare’s Cheapest Airfare Search Tool and have come up with a rough guide as to which airports and countries experience the greatest drop in airfare during the winter months when compared to their cheapest summer prices. The guide is based on airfare using New York City as the city of origin, and tracks the low winter airfare in comparison with peak summer fares. I realize that not all US travelers use New York as their home airport, but the airfare price trends from NYC are the same ones that you will experience from your home airport, so it makes for a good index airport. The goal of this guide is to determine how much you can actually save by traveling in the winter as opposed to the summer, so that budget travelers can decide if the drop in price justifies a trip in the winter, or if they would rather wait and pay extra for summer travel.
A note to my European, Australian, and other Global readers:
Unforunately, Farecompare’s search tool only works when travel originates or ends in the United States, so I could not put together a similar guide for other global hubs. You can still use the guide as a general description of yearly airfare trends, but any information inferred should be checked against your local air hub.
Regional Airfare Trends (Winter vs. Summer pricing):
| Region: | Winter Fare: | Summer Fare: | Difference: | % Increase: |
| Europe (averages) | $510.90 | $935.85 | $424.95 | 83.1% |
| Middle East (averages) | $753.00 | $1252.00 | $499.00 | 66% |
| Asia (averages) | $1093.46 | $1470.93 | $377.47 | 34.5% |
| Africa (averages) | $1213.80 | $1573.60 | $359.80 | 29.6% |
| South America (averages) | $670.37 | $710.87 | $40.50 | 6.0% |
| Central America (averages) | $421.00 | $422.50 | $1.50 | 0.3% |
*New York’s JFK used as airport of origin
Local Airfare Trends (Winter vs. Summer pricing):
| Airport: | Winter Fare: | Summer Fare: | Difference: | % Increase: |
| Netherlands (Amsterdam) | $357 | $933 | $576 | 161.3% |
| France (Paris) | $390 | $928 | $538 | 137.9% |
| Czech Republic (Prague) | $460 | $1028 | $568 | 123.5% |
| Austria (Vienna) | $469 | $1037 | $568 | 121.1% |
| Hungary (Budapest) | $505 | $1063 | $558 | 110.5% |
| Belgium (Brussels) | $442 | $927 | $485 | 109.7% |
| Norway (Oslo) | $488 | $952 | $464 | 95.1% |
| Romania (Bucharest) | $511 | $990 | $479 | 93.7% |
| Russia (Moscow) | $556 | $1068 | $512 | 92.1% |
| Turkey (Ankara) | $662 | $1242 | $580 | 87.6% |
| Italy (Rome) | $422 | $749 | $327 | 77.5% |
| Spain (Madrid) | $365 | $642 | $277 | 75.9% |
| Ireland (Dublin) | $407 | $713 | $306 | 75.2% |
| Jordan (Amman) | $743 | $1246 | $503 | 67.7% |
| Poland (Krakow) | $571 | $955 | $384 | 67.3% |
| Sweden (Stockholm) | $505 | $818 | $313 | 62.0% |
| Bosnia (Sarajevo) | $772 | $1242 | $470 | 60.9% |
| England (London) | $472 | $751 | $279 | 59.1% |
| Taiwan (Taipei) | $903 | $1420 | $517 | 57.3% |
| Serbia (Belgrade) | $616 | $967 | $351 | 57.0% |
| Bulgaria (Sofia) | $610 | $955 | $345 | 56.6% |
| Greece (Athens) | $531 | $830 | $299 | 56.3% |
| Belarus (Minsk) | $769 | $1169 | $400 | 52.0% |
| Cambodia (Phnom Penh) | $1033 | $1563 | $530 | 51.3% |
| Philippines (Manila) | $1011 | $1513 | $502 | 49.7% |
| United Arab Emirates (Dubai) | $854 | $1268 | $414 | 48.5% |
| Vietnam (Hanoi) | $1110 | $1593 | $483 | 43.5% |
| Egypt (Cairo) | $864 | $1234 | $370 | 42.8% |
| Japan (Tokyo) | $982 | $1372 | $390 | 39.7% |
| Ghana (Accra) | $936 | $1295 | $359 | 38.4% |
| South Korea (Seoul) | $989 | $1318 | $329 | 33.3% |
| Nigeria (Lagos) | $1221 | $1611 | $390 | 31.9% |
| Thailand (Bangkok) | $1031 | $1359 | $328 | 31.8% |
| India (Delhi) | $973 | $1275 | $302 | 31.0% |
| China (Shanghai) | $937 | $1190 | $253 | 27.0% |
| South Africa (Cape Town) | $1327 | $1677 | $350 | 26.4% |
| Indonesia (Jakarta) | $1158 | $1463 | $305 | 26.3% |
| Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) | $1128 | $1415 | $287 | 25.4% |
| Bolivia (La Paz) | $942 | $1129 | $187 | 19.9% |
| Kenya (Nairobi) | $1721 | $2051 | $330 | 19.2% |
| Nepal (Kathmandu) | $1529 | $1817 | $288 | 18.8% |
| Kazakhstan (Almaty) | $1722 | $1985 | $263 | 15.3% |
| Australia (Sydney) | $1426 | $1619 | $193 | 13.5% |
| Chile (Santiago) | $645 | $719 | $74 | 11.5% |
| New Zealand (Auckland) | $1473 | $1604 | $131 | 8.9% |
| Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) | $787 | $839 | $52 | 6.6% |
| Colombia (Bogota) | $548 | $559 | $11 | 2.0% |
| Panama (Panama City) | $594 | $603 | $9 | 1.5% |
| Belize (Belize City) | $572 | $572 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Guatemala (Guatemala City) | $304 | $304 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Honduras (Tegucigalpa) | $476 | $476 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Nicaragua (Managua) | $309 | $309 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Costa Rica (San Jose) | $271 | $271 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Venezuela (Caracas) | $534 | $534 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Ecuador (Quito) | $517 | $517 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Peru (Lima) | $659 | $659 | $0 | 0.0% |
| Argentina (Buenos Aires) | $731 | $731 | $0 | 0.0% |
*New York’s JFK used as airport of origin
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Your discussion on the difference prices of seasonal fares is extraordinary! Travelers can save 50-80% on airfare by simply adjusting their travel dates by a few weeks. Keep up the good work.
[…] Rob Meyer wrote a fantastic post today on “Winter International Airfare Deals: How much does the price …”Here’s ONLY a quick extractYesterday, I spent a good portion of time playing around with Farecompare’s Cheapest Airfare Search Tool and have come up with a rough guide as to which airports and countries experience the greatest drop in airfare during the winter … […]
I and my husband have plans to vist Sweden in May,we will be landing in Stockhlom - Arlanda, we wish to go to Malmo can we purchase flight tickets as so as we land there?
How much does it cost in US$ pls.
Thank you