Cheap flights to
Houston

People always ask us for the magic number of days ahead of a trip to book their flights, and the truth is that a magic date doesn’t exist. However, there is a date range. We call it the Goldilocks Window because it’s not too close to your trip but not too far away. We’ve found the best prices about 1–3 months before a domestic trip and 2–8 months before an international trip.

If you’re traveling during a busy season or over a holiday, start looking a little earlier. To travel over the December holidays, start looking in July, for example. Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of waiting until the last minute. Fares jump at the 21-, 14-, and 7-day marks before departure dates, so book before those points if possible.

Sometimes, no matter how diligently you’re checking flights, they don’t seem to get any cheaper. Enter: our Greek Islands Trick. While we named it after a tip to find cheaper ways to visit Greek islands during peak travel periods, it works all over the place.

If you want to visit Houston in September but flight prices are out of your budget and not moving, don’t despair. Look for flights to nearby cities, like Dallas, Austin, New Orleans, or Baton Rouge. If you find a great deal, look into renting a car and driving from one of those cities. The idea is just to get as close to Houston as you can for the cheapest price, then find a bus, car, or another cheap flight between that destination and Houston. Yes, it involves a bit more work and planning, but it can save you a bundle.

This is like the Greek Islands Trick but in reverse. Look for departure cities outside of your home airport. If you live in Philadelphia and flights to Houston are too expensive, check out flights from Boston or New York City and make your way to one of those airports.

The alternative departure airport approach works especially well if you live closest to a smaller airport. The larger hubs often have more and cheaper flights, and while it may be a hassle to get yourself to that other airport, it could wind up saving you hundreds of dollars, especially if you’re traveling with multiple people.

Summer and fall are busy times to visit Houston, which means flight prices are also more expensive than other times of the year. It’s simple supply and demand. The more flexible you can be with your travel dates, the better your chances of finding cheaper flights.

Shoulder seasons, like March–May or November, are great times to plan a trip. You get the combination of lower prices than the high season and better weather than the low season. If cold weather doesn’t bother you, you can save even more by traveling in the January–February off season.

Also, 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.

We’re no strangers to the struggle of tracking airfare. Keeping track of specific routes as airfare fluctuates can be difficult and frustrating. The good news is that flight alerts exist.

Simply set up an alert for any specific itinerary you’re looking at, and you’ll get an email when the fare drops by a significant amount. Do this before the Goldilocks Window we talked about if possible, so you can be sure to see the best deals. If you have flexible dates, set a few alerts for different days of the week or time periods. Similarly, if you could fly out of multiple cities, set alerts for all of them.

Houston’s George Bush airport (IAH) serves more than 40 million passengers per year, and Hobby (HOU) serves 13 million. IAH services flights from 178 destinations, while HOU has service to 86. If you plan on visiting Houston, your travel options are plentiful to say the least.