Cheap flights to
Guadalajara (GDL)

While there is no specific day of the week when airline tickets suddenly drop, there is a window when flights tend to be cheaper. We call it the Goldilocks Window—not too far ahead of your departure date but not too last-minute. For domestic flights, that means booking 1–3 months ahead of your departure date. For international trips, it’s a little further out, about 2–8 months ahead of a trip.

If you plan to travel during peak season, like December in Guadalajara, it’s best to book on the earlier end of the window. Start planning for a December trip in June. Last-minute deals are few and far between, especially during busy travel seasons. We see fare jumps happen consistently at the 21-, 14-, and 7-day points before a trip, so book before then.

One of our favorite ways to hack the system and find cheap flights involves a little creativity. We call it the Greek Islands Trick, but you can use it all over the world.

If you want to fly from Minneapolis to Guadalajara in December, you could be looking at a price tag of more than $800. Instead, look for flights from Minneapolis to Dallas, San Diego, or Mexico City, often found for around $400. From there, you could find a flight to Guadalajara for under $200. The idea is to find the cheapest flight that gets you close to your final destination, then find a budget airline flight or other mode of transit for the last leg. Yes, it involves a little more work on your part to plan this kind of trip. However, it potentially saves you a bundle.

Like the Greek Islands Trick, you can often save money if you can be flexible with your departure airport. Say you live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and want to visit Guadalajara in January, but flights are out of your price range. Look for flights from Detroit or Chicago instead, which can often be a few hundred dollars cheaper. Yes, you’ll have to drive or take the train or bus, but the savings can be worth it. We see amazing deals from all over the country every day, and if you’re only searching from your home airport, you could miss out.

Depending on how far away your final destination is, it can sometimes even make sense to look at departure airports farther from home. If you see a deal from Atlanta to Guadalajara for under $100, for example (we’ve seen crazier!), suddenly a flight from Grand Rapids to Atlanta seems like a no-brainer.

Winter and spring are the busiest times of year in Guadalajara—and for good reason. Kids have winter and spring breaks so families can take vacations, and people like to take part in the large Christmas and Easter festivals; plus, the dry weather is a bonus. But remember: More people traveling means airlines can charge more for flights.

Our favorite times to travel are shoulder seasons—the periods on the edges of a destination's high season. You typically still have nice weather but with fewer crowds and lower prices. Think November or May in Guadalajara. If hot weather and a little rain doesn’t bother you, you can save even more by traveling during the off season in the summer.

If traveling outside of the peak season isn’t an option for you, be sure to look at fares on what are generally the cheapest days to fly: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Avoid Fridays and Sundays, the most expensive days to fly, if you can.

Keeping track of ever-changing airfare can be time consuming and frustrating—especially if you miss a good deal. Luckily, you don’t have to do it. You can simply set up fare alerts that do the searching for you and send you an email when prices for your itinerary drop into your price range or by a significant amount.

We recommend doing this before the Goldilocks Window to see the best deals; you should also set a few alerts if your dates or airports are flexible. Guadalajara is fairly easy to reach from the U.S. About a dozen cities offer direct flights, and most visitors can reach the city on a nonstop flight or with just one connection.