Get out of town: Take advantage of great Phoenix-based airfare deals

The end of summer is on the horizon, but for savvy deal-seekers, the vacation season is only beginning.

“There is a magic date to fly … August 25,” Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare. “On or after that date, that’s when prices tend to drop anywhere from 15 to 30 percent, depending on destination.”

The time to buy is now.

Though demand might drive prices up, Seaney said prices out of Phoenix stay relatively low with low-cost carriers — such as Frontier Airlines flying to Denver and San Francisco — creating competition.

“This is my favorite time of the year to shop for airfare, when we get into September, October,” Seaney added. “You get some good deals and perfect weather.”

A few deals out of Phoenix worth looking into:

• $78 roundtrip to Denver (Frontier)

• $99 roundtrip to San Francisco (Frontier)

• $157 roundtrip to Las Vegas (American)

Deals out of the country likewise become more reasonable. Vacationers can find deals to Cancún, Mexico, for about $270, a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for $360 and visits to the Caribbean for around $400, according to Seaney.

A European flight to, say, Frankfurt, Germany, might cost about $800 in December but in September would run a vacationer $1,000, he added.

“You need to start shopping right now for all these,” Seaney said.

That said, don’t expect to find deals for holiday weekends like Labor Day or Thankgiving. If you’re forced to travel on those weekends, make sure to book a flight more than a month in advance, Seaney said.

KTAR’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.