Cheap flights to
Maryland

If you’re wondering whether you should plan ahead or wait until the last minute to find the cheapest flights, the answer is plan ahead. In fact, there’s a window when prices are typically cheapest. We call it the Goldilocks Window, not too soon before a flight but not too late either. The window is about 1–3 months before a domestic flight or 2–8 months before an international trip.

If you plan to travel during a peak season though, like summer in Maryland, or for a wedding or other event where your dates aren’t flexible, look on the earlier side. For a July trip, start searching for flights in February, for example. Waiting until the last minute can be tempting but also costly. We’ve found that last-minute deals are few and far between, especially during busy travel seasons, with fare jumps happening 21, 14, and 7 days in advance of departures.

Maryland may be far from the Greek islands, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use our beloved Greek Islands Trick to get there. Despite the name, the trick works all over the world. The goal is to get as close to your final destination as possible, then find an alternate mode of transit or low cost airline flight for your last leg.

So, say you want to visit Maryland for Labor Day weekend, but tickets are out of your price range. Instead, look for flights to DC, Richmond, or Philadelphia. If you find a great deal, from there you can take a bus, train, or rent a car to close the gap. This involves a little more planning on your part, but it could save you a few hundred bucks.

If you live in Madison, Wisconsin, and want to visit Maryland for a summer ocean getaway, you could be looking at flights of around $450. Check out fares from Milwaukee or Chicago, where you could find a deal for around $250. Saving $200 seems worth the short drive to us.

We see shockingly cheap fares from all sorts of airports, big and small, and if you’re only looking at your home airport you could miss out. For flights around the US, you can save money by looking for fares from nearby airports, even if they require a drive or bus ride to reach.

Summer is one of the busiest travel seasons in many parts of the world, and Maryland is no exception. It makes sense, as kids are out of school and families can take vacation; additionally, Maryland’s beaches and seaside towns are some of its main draws. Of course, more people wanting to travel in a specific and limited timeframe means airlines can charge more for tickets.

The more flexible you can be with your travel dates, the better your chances of finding cheaper flights. Shoulder seasons are travel favorites, tucked on either side of a destination’s high and low seasons. Think May or late September–October in Maryland. If you’re not visiting the beach, you can save even more by traveling in the off season.

If you are planning to travel during the summer, there are still ways to save. Try to find 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.

Searching for flights can be frustrating. It takes time out of your day, and you never know if you missed a great deal. But you can actually let technology do some of the work for you. Set up fare alerts for your itinerary, and you’ll get an email when tickets drop into your target price range or by a noteworthy amount. We recommend doing this at least a few months before so you can see the deals that pop up during the Goldilocks Window.

Maryland is well-connected to the world, with at least 90 airports in 15 countries offering direct flights to Baltimore. Most visitors can reach Maryland on a nonstop or one-stop flight.