Airfares to many popular destinations around the globe are less expensive in 2025.
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Yearning to leave the country for a spell? Depending on where you set your sights, you may be in luck. The fare-tracking site Hopper is reporting lower fares on the horizon for long-haul trips to many popular international destinations, driven in large part to increased capacity on airlines.
With economic uncertainty continuing to impact Americans, travelers are expected to stay price-sensitive in 2025. While two-thirds of travelers price-check on multiple platforms before booking travel, 76% of Americans plan to spend the same, or more, on travel in 2025 compared to last year, according to Hopper’s latest report.
Like so many things, airfares are determined by supply and demand. The cost to fly to Asia has dropped the most since this time last year. Through the first half of 2025, flight prices between the U.S. and Asia are down a big 11% year over year, averaging $1,087, says Hopper. That’s the cheapest in at least three years, with airlines adding 6% more seats since 12 months ago to meet growing demand.
Japan, in particular, is continuing to have a very big moment, with Google searches for “flights to Japan” more than doubling over the past year. Much of the interest is driven by the extended stretch of favorable exchange rates between the strong U.S. dollar and a weak yen. International visits to Japan surged nearly 50% in the first 11 months of 2024 to close to 33.4 million people, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). That’s nearly 1.5 million more tourists than Japan had welcomed in pre-pandemic 2019.
Europe is another airfare bargain for the first half of 2025. Fares to the Old Continent late last year were the lowest in years and are still down 6% now compared to this time in 2024, averaging $754, per Hopper data. While airlines’ seat volume has dropped a smidge over the past year, capacity remains historically high after several years of expanding to meet high demand following the Covid pandemic.
Through June, average fares to Australia and New Zealand are down 6% to $1,346, Hopper says. This year’s airfare drop is more modest than in 2024, when the cost to fly to Oceania tumbled 22% following a 15% boost in airline capacity.
And U.S.-South America airfares now cost about 4% less than last year, at an average $685, thanks to an 8% increase in airline seat volume.
Increased capacity on airlines is leading to lower fares to many global destinations.
Hopper
Still, not every global getaway will be cheaper. Hopper is projecting airfares to Canada, Africa and the Middle East will be basically flat compared to last year, and jetting from the U.S. to Mexico and Central America will cost roughly 9% more, on average, at $469 per fare. Airfares to the Caribbean are also up by 8%, per Hopper’s data.
Meanwhile, flights within the U.S. are more expensive than a year ago, as airlines’ capacity growth slows and aircraft delivery delays from Boeing and Airbus continue to dog carriers. Though prices have dropped from the peak holiday period into January, as they do every year, airfare is about 12% higher than this time last year. Domestic fares are expected to remain above 2023 and 2024 levels through late spring and summer, according to Hopper’s projections.
