With so many flights, customers find low fares to Orlando, Las Vegas. Will it last?

13.03.2024 - 14:57 / thepointsguy.com / Katy Nastro / Airlines

If you haven't checked flight prices to Orlando or Las Vegas recently, it may be a good time to take a look.

For all the headaches about surging fares in 2022, average airfare to many destinations has ticked downward over the last year.

In fact, it's been downright cheap to fly to some of the most popular leisure destinations in North America.

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Stiff competition among airlines has fueled flight deals and fare battles, dropping ticket prices for travelers on their way to Walt Disney World or Las Vegas' world-famous resorts and casinos.

That said, it's also proved a pesky hurdle for carriers trying to turn a profit. It's even inspired a wave of changes in where some airlines plan to fly in 2024.

Search Google Flights, and you'll find no shortage of great deals to Orlando International Airport (MCO), particularly if you're willing to fly with a budget airline.

For example, a May round-trip itinerary from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to Orlando costs only $38. Yes, that's the round-trip price.

Sure, you'll pay more than that if you want to, say, pick a seat or bring anything more than a backpack on board, but at an average of $19 each way, it's about as low a base fare as you'll ever find.

Even this $68 round-trip itinerary from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) is a relative steal.

It's not just the ultra-low-cost carriers, either. Some travelers have also encountered surprisingly low fares on some of the so-called Big Three legacy carriers: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

"In September and October, we saw prices for both Vegas and Orlando on legacy carriers get pretty low. Think Los Angeles to Vegas for only $58," said Katy Nastro, a spokesperson for Going, which tracks airfare globally.

Ultimately, the big downward driver for fares is surging supply (i.e., lots of extra seats across a boatload of added flights) to Orlando and other popular leisure destinations.

Those types of destinations are an integral part of the largest airlines' networks, but they're an absolute hallmark for the low-cost carriers. This surge in capacity (and competition) has some airlines adjusting their approach heading into the latter half of 2024.

Here's a sense of how much busier things have gotten at some of these airports.

On domestic flights to Orlando in 2023, airlines offered 22% more seats than before the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Compared to 2013, a decade earlier, domestic seats to Orlando were up nearly 70%, far eclipsing overall nationwide domestic seat growth, which was, itself, up a quite robust 24%