Where To Go in 2025

What do you get when the Golden Age of Cheap Flights collides with new routes to destinations as a result of sky-high post-pandemic travel demand? 

We call it 2025. 

From Greenland to Mongolia and Dakar to Dominica, remote areas of the globe are becoming more accessible—and cheaper to boot. Whether from heating up competition among low-cost carriers, new routes announced by legacy airlines, spicy partnership switch ups, or expanding networks from international carriers, our Travel Experts are finding rock-bottom fares that prove our point. 

Here are 12 places that we think you should travel to in 2025 if you like cheap flights—one for every month of the year if you fancy. 

Greenland 

If it’s wrong to include Greenland in more than one of our Where To Go lists, then we don’t want to be right (it was featured in both 2022 and 2024). Now presenting: an even easier way to get there. 

In 2024, the nearest (and only North American) departure point to Greenland left from Iqaluit, Nunavut, in Canada. But in the coming year, United Airlines has announced that it will begin a seasonal route from Newark to Nuuk, Greenland’s capital city, beginning in June 2025. 

Cruising among icebergs, hiking by the light of the midnight sun, humpback whale-watching, and wandering the narrow paths of fishing villages dotted with Crayola-colored homes. If all of that weren’t enough to sell you on a summer trip to Greenland, perhaps the prospect of the northern lights would—yes, it’s even possible around the summer. 

Much like 2024, 2025 is shaping up to be a good year for the aurora. In general, the weeks around the spring and autumn equinoxes (March and September, respectively) often have the best shows, as solar winds tend to be the strongest around these times. Plan your trip accordingly.  

Mongolia

If you’ve been late to the game, realizing that you wanted to visit Japan, Vietnam, or Thailand after the rest of the world seemingly already knew about them, this is your chance for redemption. 

Mongolia, the Asian country bordered by China to the south and Russia to the north, isn’t known by many—yet. What it is known for is its nomadic culture and vast, varied nature, comprising snow-capped mountains, arid desert, Siberian forest, and sprawling grasslands. And thanks to a new United route, scheduled to operate seasonally from May 1, 2025, a country that has historically been incredibly difficult to reach is now about to be much, much easier.

The new route is from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Ulaanbaatar (UBN), Mongolia’s capital city—so yes, you can also stop through Japan while en route. The route is but one example of how United is investing in Tokyo as its de facto hub on the other side of the Pacific. In doing so, United will become the only US airline to serve Mongolia.

Sicily 

A destination that needs no introduction … but we’ll do it anyway, in part because we’ll never miss an opportunity to wax poetic on Sicily and also because not one but two US airlines are practically begging us to do it. 

If Season 2 of The White Lotus didn’t convince you a sun-kissed Sicilian holiday was in your future, maybe your Instagram Explore Page this past summer did. Bustling piazzas, plentiful seafood markets, a very-much-active UNESCO World Heritage volcano, and craggy cliffsides descending into coastal abodes descending into the electric-blue sea are all guaranteed in Sicily. 

All but guaranteed? Lower fares to get there. Both United and Delta have upped the competition to the Mediterranean island, announcing new routes for 2025. United is scheduled to kick off its seasonal operations on May 21 between Newark (EWR) and Palermo (PMO), while Delta’s seasonal service is scheduled from May 22 between New York City (JFK) and Catania (CTA). Delta has also been leveraging its partnership with ITA Airways, the flag carrier of Italy, resulting in more deals than ever to both Palermo and Catania from smaller US airports with a transatlantic leg on Delta.

From us to the airlines, we say: Grazie mille!

New Haven

This coastal Connecticut city is a standout among “those who know” and is about to be for open-minded travelers who want to dive a bit deeper into the best of what New England has to offer. 

Mid-tier budget carriers Avelo and Breeze are both rapidly expanding their networks, resulting in an overlap of several routes. And one thing that we know for sure: Competition on routes is the biggest factor that keeps airfares low. Cue the fireworks at Tweed New Haven Airport. 

Something else we’ve noticed is how low-cost carriers are increasingly targeting cities peripheral to some of the largest US metro markets—New Haven is just up I-95 from New York City. By adding more and more routes, airlines are signaling a potential shift in the dynamics of domestic air travel.

Not only is this great news for people in Connecticut, who now have more, quicker destination options than ever before, it’s also great news if you’re looking to tour historic Yale University, pop into some museums, and enjoy a delicious New Haven slice (don’t come for us, New Yorkers).

Dakar

The African continent has historically been more expensive to reach than other destinations, say Europe or Latin America, in part because of the lack of competition on routes between airlines, which, as we’ve mentioned, helps keep prices down. However, over the past several years, United has been a leading US airline in expanding its network throughout Africa. In October 2024, the airline added Marrakesh to its roster, and in 2025, it will expand even farther. 

A new route from Washington, DC, to Dakar, scheduled to start May 25, 2025, will make United the only US airline with a route to Senegal’s capital. The creative hub is known for some of the largest art celebrations on the continent, as well as a rising destination for surfers, as it’s situated at the westernmost point of mainland Africa. 

There is skepticism that operating the route year-round could diminish its success, meaning that the route could be reduced or altogether eliminated in future years. We’ve seen it before, so don’t sleep on this route. 

Palau

Yet another example of how United is investing in Tokyo as its unofficial hub (see Mongolia): Palau, while not an entirely new destination for the airline, just got a glow-up in the form of a new route. Flights to Palau already exist via Guam and Manila in the Philippines, but the new year-round route from Tokyo, scheduled to start April 2, 2025, will open up more connecting opportunities to the Pacific archipelago. 

Made up of over 300 islands, Palau excels when it comes to natural beauty, where powdery white sand meets crystalline water even brighter than the blue Gatorade (the light blue one). It also excels in how you experience that nature, offering world-class diving and watersport opportunities, including snorkeling among stingless jellyfish on the island of Eil Malk. 

Note that Palau is pretty easy to get to using points and miles. A roundtrip United economy flight costing about $2,500 in cash is only about 45,000 miles each way from almost anywhere in the US—not bad for such a remote destination.

Scandinavia 

Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen—we couldn’t pick, so we’re saying Scandinavia and leaving the hard part of choosing which Nordic city up to you. The big US airlines have shown Scandinavia some love over the past several years, with routes like the New York City metropolitan area to Stockholm from United and Delta. 

SAS has also been gradually expanding its US network, and summer 2025 will see new routes like Seattle to Copenhagen and New York City (JFK) to Oslo. The increased competition will put downward pressure on economy flights, but travelers who prefer premium classes need not fret. We’re also seeing periodic (about once every 6–10 weeks) sales on SAS premium economy. In our experience, SAS is one of the only airlines that can regularly get premium travelers across the Atlantic for less than $1,000, with sales often dipping into the $700s, sometimes even lower. 

With SAS’s recent move from Star Alliance to Skyteam, it opens up new avenues for getting over there with partners. For example, Delta announced a new Minneapolis–Copenhagen route for summer 2025. Budget travelers seeking a Euro summer should note that we’ve seen significantly more peak summer availability for this region than just about anywhere else in Europe due to that competition we mentioned above. 

No matter which Scandi city you choose, your 2025 can be chock full of sauna, simple days by the sea, and a whole lot of cinnamon buns.

Fiji

Dallas has been feeling the bula energy since August 2024, when Fiji Airways announced a new nonstop to the 333-island nation. It wasn’t just good news for Dallasites—it was also good news for anyone throughout the US living near an airport with service to DFW on American, as they were suddenly gifted access to affordable one-stop flights to Fiji. 

The first deal that we sent with this new routing went out to members in early August, encompassing 19 departure airports, all under $900 roundtrip. Plus, the Dallas (DFW) route itself came in at $639 roundtrip. Mind you, most of the airports on that list had only ever seen one or two deals to Fiji ever prior to the network expansion. 

Known as the Soft Coral Capital of the World, Fiji has plenty to offer travelers, both on land and underwater. The beaches are made for relaxing with kava-filled coconut shells, while the turquoise waters are host to bull sharks, manta rays, and other small critters—all of which you can swim with. Even in high season, the outer islands beyond Viti Levu can feel like your own personal paradise. 

Iceland

The Land of Fire and Ice is so nice we’ve included it thrice. Our most recent mention of Iceland was in Where To Go in 2021, but there’s a big reason why cheap-flight-lovers should be excited to see it again on this year’s list. 

Iceland has been no stranger to stellar deals in the past, thanks to now-bankrupt WOW Air and government support for Icelandair during the pandemic. Bonus: In May 2024, we sent a mistake fare from Chicago and Minneapolis to Dublin for $114 roundtrip. But in 2025, a new partnership between Icelandair and Southwest will open up new avenues for routing and scoring deals. 

The partnership marks Southwest’s first real step into the global airline arena, teasing a route from Baltimore (BWI) to Keflavík (KEF) starting sometime in 2025. This will allow for seamless one-stop routing to Iceland for many folks throughout Southwest’s network—and we wouldn’t be surprised if it resulted in cheaper fares to other European destinations, with the possibility of an Iceland stopover. 

(Similar to Scandinavia, Iceland reliably sees more frequent peak-summer availability than other popular European destinations.)

Macau

Following the pandemic, Asia has been one of the last regions to bounce back with cheap airfare and plane capacity (to be fair, it still hasn’t fully bounced back). While airfare to Asia is currently 13% cheaper than it was in late 2023, the capacity of flights across the Pacific are on average still about 20% lower than pre-pandemic. 

The good news, though: It is bouncing back. One area we’re seeing promise is Macau. Our data has shown that the autonomous region on the south coast of China, sitting across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, is receiving more regular deals—and fares continue to drop. As of late 2024, you can expect to see sub-$900 fares to Macau from many US airports. And in late November, we sent a best-ever deal for $594 roundtrip from LA to Macau. 

Known as the “Las Vegas of Asia,” Macau offers a unique mix of multi-cultural heritage, combining Portuguese and Chinese influence and making it a historic center recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Organization. It also happens to be a hot foodie destination, recognized by UNESCO as the world’s first “fusion” cuisine, exemplified in its seafood, spice mixtures, and sweet treats.

Canada

Competition between Canadian budget carriers and legacy carriers has really heated up in the past year, and with WestJet stripping down their basic economy services to be more in line with the budget players, it has resulted in a flurry of wonderfully low fares across the board. 

Our advice for travelers: Sit back while the WestJets and Flairs of Canada do their thing, then be ready to pounce when major carriers like Air Canada or United decide to match their fares. According to our calculations, that’s about once every six to eight weeks. With this strategy, you can get just about anywhere in Canada for less than $300 roundtrip these days, and to major cities like Calgary, Vancouver, or Toronto for less than $200 roundtrip. 

You won’t regret a trip to Canada during the summer, when hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities are plentiful, but the shoulder seasons of March–May and September–October, while they have a slightly higher chance of drizzle, excel if you’re looking for a balmy city break with the great outdoors as your backyard.   

Dominica

United continues its reign of show-stopping routes with a new Newark–Dominica connection scheduled to kick off in early 2025. The new service is just in time for the Caribbean island’s Mas Domnik Festival, a Carnival-like celebration fusing African and French traditions. 

In doing so, United will become the second US airline to provide a direct flight from the US to Dominica, as well as the first airline to connect the New York area to the island. (Your other option is to set off from Miami with American.) This new service opens up a lot more routing options for travelers departing from the US. The construction on Dominica International Airport to extend its runway and expand its terminal, scheduled for completion in 2025, could mean more routes to Dominica from other US airports in the years to come. 

The flight to Dominica from Miami is about 3.5 hours and from Newark will be closer to 4–5 hours, opening up a world of island activities that spans hiking to waterfalls, swimming through gorges, soaking in natural hot springs, browsing markets for local and handmade goods, and diving with sperm whales—Dominica is the only place in the world where you can dive with them year-round (be aware of closures for hurricane season).