Cheap flights to
Colombia

There is no specific day of the week when airline tickets are magically cheaper, nor any secret date ahead of your trip to book. However, we do have recommendations on the best window to search for flights. We call it the Goldilocks Window—not too soon, not too late. For domestic flights that window is 1–3 months before a trip, and for international trips it’s about 2–8 months ahead.

If you’re planning to travel during peak season or if you’re traveling for a wedding or event where your dates can’t be flexible, look on the earlier side of those windows. So, if you’re hoping to take a January trip to Colombia (during the country’s high season), start searching for flights around June or July. Last-minute deals are few and far between for those busy travel periods, and we’ve seen prices jump pretty reliably at the 21-, 14-, and 7-day marks ahead of a flight. If at all possible, book before those points.

Unfortunately, no matter how closely you watch flights, some never seem to get any cheaper. But before you abandon plans to visit Colombia during Carnival, try our Greek Islands Trick.

If you really want to fly from Chicago to Cartagena in the winter, you could be looking at flight prices over $1,200. But if you can get to Bogotá or Panama City, Panama, relatively cheaply, flights from both of these to Colombia could be less than $200. The idea is to get as close as you can to your final destination for the cheapest flight possible, then look for inexpensive flights on regional airlines. Or, depending on where you are, take a bus or rent a car. This trick is ideal for the Greek Islands but can work anywhere in the world.

Travelers living in, say, Chicago looking to travel to Colombia probably don’t consider flying out of another city. Why would they when O’Hare and Midway, both stellar airports for regular flights, are right there? However, there are situations when Chicagoans could save money by flying out of other airports. New York, Miami, and Orlando have far more flights to Colombia, and other airports elsewhere in the US; these flights are often also much cheaper than from other cities. See if you can find a cheap flight to New York or Miami, then a flight to Colombia from there. It requires more logistics but can save you hundreds of dollars.

Winter is a busy time to travel to Colombia—and for good reason. Kids typically get a break from school, people in the Midwest and Northeast want to escape cold weather, and it’s Colombia’s dry season. But during busy seasons, airlines can charge more for tickets.

The more flexible you can be with your travel dates, the better your odds of finding cheaper flights. Try traveling during shoulder season, the periods on either side of a destination’s high season. You’ll get cheaper flights than during high season and better weather than in low season. In Colombia, that’s March–April and September–November. You can save even more by traveling in the off season, which is June–August in Colombia.

Thanksgiving can also be a good time to travel internationally because most Americans travel within the US. If traveling outside of peak season isn’t an option, look at fares on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays; those are generally the cheapest days to fly. Fridays and Sundays are the most expensive.

You don’t have to tell us twice that keeping track of airfare as it fluctuates is hard work! It can also be frustrating if you miss a price drop. Luckily, there are easy ways to have technology do some of the work for you.

Set up fare alerts for your itinerary, and you’ll get an email when the fare drops into your target price range. We recommend doing this before the Goldilocks Window we talked about above in order to get the best deals. If your travel dates are flexible, set multiple alerts.

Colombia is decently connected to the US, with numerous nonstop flights from the East Coast to multiple airports, and nonstop flights to Bogotá from Texas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. From elsewhere in the US, most travelers can reach Colombia with one stop, likely in Florida.