The trip everyone takes got more expensive. A different trip got cheaper – and the people taking it didn’t search harder. They searched differently. By Grace Whitlock, a travel journalist who covers airfares and how people book them. Chicago to Los Cabos, December 26 to 30, for $530…

Do you really think people who worked in travel search for flights on the big booking sites – out of Toronto, Calgary or Montreal? By Victoria, TopTravel News Vancouver to Belize City, round trip, for C$469. The usual fare on that route is C$1,311. Would you have found…

Do you really think people who worked in travel search for flights on the big booking sites – out of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane? By Victoria, TopTravel News Sydney to Los Angeles, return, for A$907. The usual fare on that route is A$1,924. Would you have found it…

Booking now risks overpaying. Waiting risks paying more. There’s a third option almost nobody uses: decide your price first and let the fare come to you. By Ingrid Solveig Halvorsen, who spent eight years as a data analyst at a travel agency. For six weeks, Rachel Brooks checked…

Fares are up 20.7% on a year ago, and a third of Americans planning holiday travel are still saving. So I set a $500 flight budget and let real fares pick the trips. By Maya Ferris, a travel journalist who covers airfares and how people pay less for…

Christmas fares are at a 10-year high. A former travel agency data analyst says a big part of what you pay is the price of flying on the same days as everyone else. By Victoria, TopTravel News Megan Hart flew from Boston to Honolulu on Christmas Day. Round…

Airlines are moving their pricing to AI that works out what a route will bear, but it can’t hide a cheap fare it’s selling, and that short, public window is what travelers catch. By Ingrid, a travel-agency data analyst who tracks how airfares move. Dana Reyes had been…

The business and first class fares for Thanksgiving to New Year are being flagged now, weeks ahead and on random days. Waiting for a last-minute drop is a bet on one late chance. By Victoria, who spent 16 years as a data analyst at a travel agency. Jill…

A former travel agency data analyst on how his parents are flying to see the grandkids this Christmas in first class, for less than half the usual fare. By Victoria, TopTravel News This Christmas, Dennis Hale’s parents are flying from Miami to Fairbanks to see the grandkids. In…

The sale-season ritual feels smart. The fare data says the money was never on the sale day. By Grace Whitlock, a travel journalist who has covered airline pricing for 12 years On 30 July, a New York to Rome round trip for November showed up at $195. That…