Turkish Airlines

If you’re hoping to get to some of the world’s exotic destinations, Turkish Airlines is your best bet, since they fly to more countries than any other airline out there. And they’ll never let you forget it.

We hadn’t seen much sale action from them until 2021, when, out of the blue, they jumped on the bandwagon with both a Black Friday and a New Year’s sale!

And then they went quiet in 2022 with no sale at all, and went back and replayed that trick again for 2023. We’re really just getting bamboozled here, huh?

Through the years

2019: No BF sale.

2020: No BF sale.

2021: Sale across Europe, Africa, Middle East in $400s-$670s, with checked bags. Including Malta at $483 and Egypt at $579.

2022: No BF sale.

2023: No BF sale.

What to expect in 2024

Another letdown! 2023 was not a landmark year for airline Black Friday deals.

Turkish is still one of the few airlines that reliably offers good fares to places like the UAE, Kenya, and (of course) Turkey, so if they do have a sale, we expect some of those rare routes to pop up. But this is another one where we simply aren’t holding out much hope.

Without a sale, they still have one of the best networks with pretty good service, so they’re not a bad option. And they do come up often enough with regular ol’ cheap fares. But the naughty list is just getting longer and longer…

Avianca

Avianca regularly comes out in blazing glory with huge price cuts all across Central & South America, despite rarely ever announcing a sale. Over here in cheap flight land, we feel like we see a new drop from them every single day, and we just have to keep letting our members know about them.

When they finally drop their BF sales, they’re usually a little timid in comparison. Their sale in 2023 only gave us biz class discounts, which is better than nothing, but it’s not really what we were looking for. So while they may be the cheapest (and often only) option to lots of Latin America, look to carry-on included COPA for a better bargain.

Through the years

2019: 40% off all flights to Central and South America.

2020: No BF sale.

2021: Central & South America in $100s-$410s round trip, including Bogotá from Washington, D.C. at $184 and non-stop to San Salvador at $132 from New York.

2022: Central & South America in $200s-$400s round trip, including non-stops from Houston to El Salvador at $242 and New York to Guatemala at $280.

2023: 30% off business class the week before BF, but no proper sale.

What to expect in 2024

Another disappointment! After two years of pretty solid sales, all we get in 2023 is a business class discount, and on the wrong week.

That said, we feel more confident about Avianca than some of the other let-downs. They did offer something after all. We’re hoping to see a return to the previous level of sales for 2024, or maybe a discount on economy class instead of biz.

South America continues to be super popular as a travel destination and seeing Avianca capitalize on this with cheap fares? A cherry on top.

Spirit Airlines

Given the particularly precarious situation that many airlines found themselves in over the pandemic, we’re giving props to Spirit for pushing through with a very solid Black Friday sale in 2020.

Unsurprisingly, though, we haven’t seen those kinds of jaw-dropping fares (75% off!) since the *dun dun dun* before times. 2021 was pretty good with cross-country flights at $41 RT but they pivoted in 2022 to focus on loyalty points over actual sales, and then kept that trend again for 2023. Boooo!

Spirit isn’t one to usually pop up out of nowhere with a flash sale, so if you’re looking for those dirt-cheap domestic trips that they basically always have around, they’ll be your best bet.

Through the years

2019: 75% off round-trip flights.

2020: One-way domestic flights at $20.21 (get it?)

2021: Domestic flights at $41 RT.

2022: 2x membership points when buying flights and holiday packages. No discounts on airfare directly

2023: No BF sale, but 2x points on Cyber Monday.

What to expect in 2024

Just like American, Spirit stuck to points this time around. We weren’t expecting much, and that’s what we got!

We’ll probably see more of the same in 2024. As cool as it would be to see a $20.25 one-way sale, another points deal seems much more likely as they look to get more people loaded into their rewards program. Great news for all six people we imagine have joined Spirit’s Saver$ club to save 8 bucks on a flight to Myrtle Beach!

Alaska Airlines

An Alaska Black Friday sale is almost a certainty - they absolutely love doling out discounted fares across their domestic and regional routes every holiday season.

While we’ve seen them slash fares on some of their Mexican, Hawaiian, and Central American routes in previous Black Fridays, 2022’s continental US-only sale was a bit of a letdown compared to previous years. 2023 was similar, but hey, at least we got a couple cross-country routes below $150 RT!

Through the years

2019: Domestic flights at $89 RT, with main cabin tickets at $109 RT.

2020: Domestic and selected Central America (including Belize, Costa Rica, and Mexico).

2021: Hawaii at $158 RT, and Mexico in $250s.

2022: Domestic cross-country flights in $180s-$190s

2023: Domestics for $80s-$190s RT, including SFO-EWR for $138!

What to expect in 2024

Finally, a reliable airline!

After five years of good and proper Black Friday sales, we feel confident that Alaska will pump out another one in 2024.

We’d love to see them emphasize their international routes a bit more and drop fares to Central America (especially since the local airlines there have been coming up dry!) More realistically, we’ll probably see another domestic sale.

Not that we’re complaining! Alaska is often the only affordable way to reach smaller airports like Bozeman or Redmond, as well as the whole West Coast. So while 2023’s sale mainly stuck to major cities, we might see those rarer spots pop up again for 2024.

CC image of Norse Atlantic Airways, courtesy of Nils Mosberg on flickr

Norse Atlantic Airways

Norse Atlantic has revived the long-haul, low-cost, point-to-point model, and they’re trying their hardest to finally make it work. Door-busting sales, Super Bowl ads, and playing off the name recognition of the no-longer-stateside Norwegian Airlines, they’ve made quite the splash in their first few years of operation.

The jury’s still out on if this business model will actually work, but we’re just happy to see another competitor ferrying us across to Europe for super-duper cheap.

They don’t offer connections of any kind, so you are limited by their network. But, they do fly from 6 destinations across the US to huge European hubs like Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Oslo, & Athens. So you can always fork up a bit more money to fly within the continent once you make it across the pond.

Through the Years

2022: New York, LA, and Fort Lauderdale to Berlin and Oslo non-stop in $270s-$380s RT

2023: No BF sale.

What to Expect in 2024

Okay, this one REALLY hurts.

This newer airline came out with a bang in 2022 and got our hopes up. Norse may offer zero perks, but for sub-$300 round trips across the Atlantic? You can throw us in the baggage hold!

So seeing them offer no sale at all for 2023 is pretty sad. They’ve definitely taken their foot off the pedal with sales since they first launched (profitability must mean something, we guess) but we could totally see them shock us with another sale this year.

We’d love to see those dirt-cheap transatlantic fares again. The airline has bases in London, Oslo, and Paris, so those are the routes to keep an eye on. Hopefully, they make a comeback, but we could go either way on this one.

SAS Airlines

Unsurprisingly, Scandinavian Airlines has focused on, well, Scandinavian destinations in their past sales, usually in the mid-to-high $300s from the East Coast and the mid-$400s from the West.

SAS loves to come alive outside the typical Black Friday period - last year, they chose to drop the majority of their routes in October for spring trips to Scandinavia, France, Germany, Poland, and Italy with similar prices to Black Friday.

Through the years

2019: Scandinavia, Finland, and other European countries at $349 RT.

2020: No Black Friday sale, but they did run a small New Year’s sale from Chicago and New York to Scandinavia in the high $300s.

2021: Scandinavia in $360s RT from Chicago.

2022: Sweden & Norway starting at $358 RT

2023: $360s-$490s RT all around Europe and beyond! Highlights included New York to Mallorca for $389 RT and DC to Morocco at $387 RT.

What to expect in 2024

SAS will have a sale, we can almost guarantee that. The airline has basically had a sale every single month of the last year, always finding any kind of occasion to celebrate. Last year, we were hoping for some harder-to-reach spots, and with places like Mallorca and Morocco in the picture, we weren’t left disappointed!

This year, we think you’ll definitely see routes across Scandi, and most likely some other mainland Europe. Less likely, but still possible? Another bundle of rarer destinations. We’re still holding out hope that their Tokyo route will pop up in a sale.

CC image of Iceland Air Group, courtesy of Riik@mctr on flickr

Icelandair

Icelandair and Black Friday go together like flies and fly swatters (stick with us here). Sure, they might not be the easiest to pin down, but when they do make contact, there’s some sweet karmic retribution. And by that, we mean round-trip flights to Europe under $400 RT. Make sense?

Though it’s been a while since the joys of their 2020 sale, a really big splat, their more recent sales have still put a smile on our faces (or a fly out of the room, metaphorically speaking). We would have liked to see more variety in 2023, but those Iceland fares took the buzz out of losing an official sale from them.

Through the years

2019: No Black Friday sale.

2020: Huge sale across Europe, including the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, and Scandinavia under $510 round trip.

2021: Iceland, Scandinavia, Netherlands, and France in under $390 round trip from Orlando and Seattle.

2022: Europe on discount, with highlights including DC to Paris & NYC to Helsinki at $367 RT.

2023: Some solid fares to Iceland ($320s-$360s RT) but no official BF sale.

What to expect in 2024

We hoped for mainland Europe, but Icelandair still came through with what they know best: Iceland!

Since their home base is perfectly poised between continents, this airline is a trustworthy source for flights all around Europe. They didn’t drop those rates for 2023, but we’re still holding out hope. SAS pulled a similar trick the previous year and ended up coming in clutch this year with a big variety of destinations. Maybe Icelandair will follow suit!

As it stands, we’re reasonably confident we’ll see some good fares to Iceland around Black Friday time, even if there’s no official BF sale. As for the rest of Europe, the key phrase is “cautiously optimistic.”

CC image of PLAY, courtesy of Roy Grummitt on flickr

PLAY

Speaking of connecting through Iceland, do you want to do it for just a bit cheaper but lose every single perk? Welcome to PLAY. This low-cost airline is taking after the now-defunct WOW Air, offering ultra-low-cost fares on single-aisle jets across the Atlantic.

They love sales as well, as they’re still trying to establish themselves in both the US and European markets. And while the stability of that business model is still in question, what’s not is the lowest prices you’ll basically ever see to cross that ocean.

They finally joined the Black Friday party in 2022 with the best fares being to Hamburg in Germany. In 2023, we were blessed with a 35% discount across the board! When you consider their usual dirt-cheap, no-frills pricing, that’s not too shabby at all.

Through the Years

2021: No BF sale

2022: Boston, New York, and DC to Hamburg, Germany at $378 RT

2023: 35% off airfare

What to expect in 2024

The dirt-cheap airline went dirt-cheaper! That 35% off means even more variety in destinations. PLAY doesn’t fly to the most obscure places, but we still saw spots all over Europe in this sale, so we’ll take it!

This is another Icelandic-based airline, so those KEF fares are first on the list of routes we expect to see drop again this year. Other likely suspects include Copenhagen, Paris, and Dublin, all of which dropped below $300 RT in 2023.

PLAY is super budget, so expect anything beyond a seat for the base price. But if 2023 was any indication, we expect this year’s BF sale to offer the cheapest transatlantic flights of the year.

Aer Lingus

We’ve gotta give it to Aer Lingus for sticking with their Black Friday deals through thick and thin, especially when other airlines threw in the towel once COVID sunk its teeth into the travel world.

They haven’t all been jaw-dropping discounts, but a sale’s a sale and we’re not gonna complain too much. 2022’s Black Friday sale was solid enough, even if 2021 and 2019 were a bit better bargains by our standards. Most recently, they limited their BF scope to Ireland. It’s sad to lose the variety, but they certainly do cover their homeland better than other airlines.

They cover the typical routes across Europe, but if there’s one thing that sets them apart is the handy security preclearance in Dublin.

Through the years

2019: $100 off economy class flights or $200 off business class flights on transatlantic flights from the USA/Canada to Europe.

2020: All of Europe under $590 round trip with a checked bag. Including the Isle of Man at $533 and Switzerland at $463.

2021: Up to $300 off round-trip flights across Europe for West Coast and up to $200 off flights from the rest of the US.

2022: $100 off economy and $200 off business class flights across Europe, with non-stops to Dublin being the big star in the $350s-$450s RT.

2023: Some solid fares to Ireland, but no mainland Europe.

What to expect in 2024

We’d hoped for more mainland routes, but we did get some good drops to Ireland. Maybe there’s a trend of airlines pushing their home base destinations for Black Friday?

With five years of BF sales, we can expect Aer Lingus to do something at least. We’re pretty confident we’ll see more good fares to Ireland, and maybe more routes around the isles. They’re generally a good pick for rarer spots like the Isle of Man or smaller cities in the UK.

If we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll finally see discounts on their flights all the way to Australia, as long as you’re cool with spending a few days in Dublin and an extra few hours in Abu Dhabi.

Copa Airlines

Copa Airlines has been dipping its toe into the Black Friday pond recently, first with a focus on the Caribbean and Central America in 2020 (special shoutout for Nicaragua coverage, a rarity these days!), followed up a year later with our least favorite type of sale — air miles.

In 2023, they dropped the bar even lower by offering no sale at all. Whomp whomp.

In general, the airline isn’t fond of announced sales — we haven’t seen a summer or New Year’s sale from them in recent years, either. But they are fond of competing with Avianca and actually offering a carry-on (so novel) so we might be in for a surprise.

Through the years

2019: No Black Friday sale.

2020: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras under $300 round trip.

2021: 40% discount on ConnectMiles when you buy 3,000 or more.

2022: A sale so dull we didn’t even cover it, not even with quick fares to Panama. The best prices were focused on regional flights in South America, which didn’t help us a ton.

2023: No BF sale.

What to expect in 2024

We don’t expect much from COPA. After years having disappointing sales, it’s almost a relief to see them give up the act and admit they don’t want to offer anything. The previous year was particularly loathsome: Miami to Panama at almost $300? New York to Panama over $400 RT??? Not only are those not deals, but they’re actually just really expensive in general.

COPA’s not a bad airline for deals in general, as Avianca tends to keep them in check with competition. They’re a reliable stand-by for popular spots like Chile and Brazil, so they COULD drop an incredible sale if they wanted to.

But we’re not holding out hope. We think the most realistic scenario is a points sale, which simply doesn’t excite us. But JFC can dream…

TAP Air Portugal

Well, well, well, TAP certainly loves a blanket discount. Unsurprisingly, they have become a little more conservative with that price slashing as the pandemic has gone on, and their privatization has gone up, but considering TAP’s prices are on the cheaper side of things anyway, it’s still allowed you to pick up a pretty good deal to basically everywhere in Europe.

While that 2020 Black Friday sale got us really excited - we got Agadir on the coast of Morocco, and places as far away as Cape Town, for the same price as a nice non-stop fare to Italy or the UK - that’s probably a thing of the past. TAP’s focus in the years since has been continental Europe only, and we don’t see that changing any time soon.

Through the years

2019: No BF Sale, but they did run a sale in February of the same year, offering 50% off all routes.

2020: East coast to Ibiza, South Africa, Croatia, and Morocco under $480 round trip.

2021: 20% discount on all routes.

2022: Flights across Europe, with a focus on Spain. Best prices in the $250s-$260s, including New York to Malaga at $261

2023: Pre-Black Friday drops with decent fares around the Mediterranean in $370s-$490s RT.

What to expect in 2024

We’ll take it! TAP has been reliably putting out BF sales, but 2022’s were a little limited in scope. This time around we got higher prices, but more variety. It was technically a Black Friday sale, but we’re not complaining.

We’d like to see the variety and lower prices come together this year and give us something really spectacular. Even better: the return of those routes across their expansive network in Africa.

More realistically, we think you can expect some good & solid fares to Spain and probably a few other spots around the Mediterranean. We know a lot of JFC’ers’ most requested travel destinations are inside that bubble, so keep an eye on this one!

Cathay Pacific

Wow, Cathay Pacific’s 2019 Black Friday sale was absolutely insane! The number of hard-to-reach and rare destinations across all corners of Southeast Asia is just impossible for our post-pandemic minds to compute.

They finally came back in 2022, welcoming Asia’s reopening with deals from all over the West Coast. Taipei, Jakarta, Manila, Osaka & Hong Kong at $690 RT? It might not be pre-pandemic doorbusters but that’s pretty good for fares we basically only see in the $1000s nowadays.

Unfortunately, Americans got left out of 2023’s sale. Here’s hoping they make it up to us next year.

Through the years

2019: South East Asia under $620 round trip, including Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Taiwan.

2020: No BF sale.

2021: 50% off a second ticket when two people fly together, 25% off on three or more tickets, and a contribution to offset your carbon emissions.

2022: Deals to Southeast Asia from LA & SF under $700 RT, including Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan.

2023: BF sale only active for the UK.

What to expect in 2024

We hate to end this list on another letdown, but we really had high hopes for Cathay this year! After two years of disappointments, we got a good sale in 2022, and up went our expectations. After getting nothing in 2023 (in the US, anyway) we’re back to square one.

They could still surprise us, though — they’re a solid carrier for routes between California and Southeast Asia, so those are the most likely routes to pop up in a potential sale. If we’re lucky, we’ll start seeing more fares from Chicago and New York, but we’re not confident they’ll drop those fares for BF.

So don’t get too excited, but if you’re on the West Coast and dream of Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Indonesia, keep one eye open.

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and finally an H3

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