Cheap flights to
Dallas

Over the years, we’ve found there’s no one day that’s best to book airline tickets, but there is a time frame. We call it the Goldilocks Window because it’s not too close to your travel date and not too far away. For domestic flights, it’s best to book 1–3 months before a trip. For international flights, start looking 2–8 months before. And if you know you have an event you can’t miss or are traveling during peak season, look even earlier.

If, for instance, you’re planning to visit family during the December holiday season, it would be smart to start looking at fares in July. Whatever you do, don’t wait until the month before your trip. Fare jumps happen pretty consistently at the 21-, 14-, and 7-day points before departure dates.

Some fares, especially during busy travel seasons to popular places, never budge. But before you give up and pick a different destination, try our Greek Islands Trick. The goal is to get as close as possible to your destination, then find alternate travel for the last leg. In the case of the Greek Islands, that often means flying to London, Athens, or Paris, then finding a regional budget airline flight or ferry.

But this trick can work even if your destination isn’t an island. If tickets to Dallas are out of your price range during your travel dates, look for flights to Austin or Houston. If you find a great deal, it could be worth renting a car to get to Dallas. You could even look for flights to Atlanta or other large airports that might have more deals to Dallas than your home airport. If you can find a cheap flight from your airport to Atlanta, and another cheap flight from Atlanta to Dallas, you could save a bunch of money. The logistics are more complicated, but sometimes the fare is worth it.

Travelers living in, say, Chicago who are looking to go to Dallas probably rarely look for flights from other cities, which makes sense with O’Hare and Midway right there. But we see amazing deals from cities around the country, big and small, all the time. It could be worth checking for flights out of Milwaukee or elsewhere, then driving or taking the train or bus to catch your Dallas-bound flight. You’re not beholden to your home airport; a nearby (or even not-so-nearby) airport may have just the ticket that you’re looking for.

Summer is one of the busiest travel seasons in many parts of the world, including Dallas. It may be hot and humid, but kids are out of school and summer is typically when families can take vacations. This also means flights are more expensive because there are so many people willing to pay for tickets.

If you can be flexible with your travel dates, you’ll have a better time finding cheaper flights. Shoulder seasons are a great time to travel, not only to avoid crowds but also to find deals. In Dallas, that’s spring and fall. If you don’t mind a hint of cold weather, January and February are especially cheap times to visit Dallas.

Traveling in the off season isn’t possible for everyone, so if you plan to travel during the summer, still look for fares on what are generally the cheapest days to fly: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Fridays and Sundays, on the other hand, are the most expensive.

Fare alerts are a happy traveler’s best friend. They help make sure you never miss a deal. Set up alerts for any specific itinerary you’re looking at, and you’ll get an email when the fare drops by a noteworthy amount. If your dates are flexible, set alerts for multiple dates. And if you’re okay flying into or out of multiple airports (see the Greek Islands Trick), set one for those airports as well. We recommend setting alerts well in advance to take advantage of the prices in the Goldilocks Window.

Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the busiest airports in the country, serving more than 73 million passengers each year, and it’s not even the only airport in Dallas. Every day, more than 1,000 flights take off from Dallas to more than 250 nonstop destinations. If you plan to visit Dallas, there are plenty of flight options.