If you’ve been looking at travel lately, you’ve probably noticed a painful trend: Airfares are on a tear. We’re seeing record-high booking levels across the airline landscape, and while the major carriers are staying busy, the deep-discount airlines are feeling the squeeze. But there’s a new factor driving prices even higher right now, and it’s something we have to watch closely: the cost of jet fuel.
With the recent instability and hostilities in Iran and the Middle East, oil prices have become a major concern for the industry. Fuel accounts for roughly 25% of an airline’s costs, and jet fuel has seen some of the sharpest increases of all.
Airlines are currently caught between a rock and a hard place. If they raise fares too much, they kill off demand; if they don’t, they can’t cover their costs. Their first move is almost always to pass those wholesale costs onto you. In fact, some estimates show airfares are already up 16% since the start of the conflict.
Since we are right in the heart of the summer booking season, here is my strategy for navigating these high prices without breaking the bank.
Stop Hoarding Your Points
If you have a pile of points sitting in an airline or general-purpose travel credit card, now is the time to use them.
I recently did this myself. I was booking a trip to New York and found a coach ticket on American Airlines for just 9,000 points. The cash price for that same ticket was several hundred dollars!
The strategy:
Hedge your bets: Most loyalty programs now allow you to book with points and redeposit them later for free if your plans change. This allows you to “lock in” a trip at no real risk.
Don’t be loyal: Points requirements are all over the board. If you have transferable points, look at multiple airlines to see which offers the best redemption value.
Avoid “Basic” Fares
When you’re doing a search on a tool like Google Flights, use the filters to exclude “Basic Economy.”
I know it’s tempting to grab the lowest price, but in this volatile market, you want flexibility. If fuel prices drop and fares normalize later, a standard economy ticket acts like a gift certificate. If the price of your flight drops, you can often rebook and get a credit for the difference. If you buy Basic Economy, you are stuck with what you’ve got.
Use the Calendar as Your Friend
The day of the week you fly makes a massive difference in price. The “softest” demand days are:
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Saturdays after 2 p.m.
To give you an example: that 9,000-point flight I found was for a Tuesday. For a Monday, it was priced at 27,000 points. By shifting my travel by just 24 hours, I saved 66%.
Look for the “Unknown” Airports
One of my favorite ways to save is to look for secondary airports served by deep discounters like Breeze, Allegiant, or Avelo.
For example, most people fly into Charlotte (CLT). But did you know about Concord, North Carolina? It’s a fast-growing airport in the same metro area where fares are often one-third or one-fourth of the cost of flying into the main hub. This pattern repeats all over the country. If you’re willing to drive an extra 30 or 40 minutes, you could save hundreds of dollars.
Final Thoughts
High airfares aren’t just a seasonal spike — they’re being driven by real cost pressures that airlines can’t easily absorb. That means waiting around for prices to drop isn’t much of a strategy this summer.
Instead, stay flexible. Use your points while they’re delivering strong value, avoid restrictive fares that lock you in, and be willing to shift your travel days or even your airport to find better pricing. Small adjustments can translate into big savings in a market like this.
And don’t forget to let the deals come to you. Keep an eye on the travel deals page at ClarkDeals, where our team regularly highlights limited-time airfare bargains that can help you beat the market.
The bottom line: You may not be able to control airfare trends, but you can control how you book. Travelers who stay flexible, proactive and deal-focused are the ones who come out ahead.
The post 4 Ways To Fight Sky-High Airfares This Summer appeared first on Clark Howard.