The Best and Worst Airports for Cheap International Flights

When it comes to finding a great deal on a flight abroad, the airport you fly out of matters. Competition and frequency play huge roles in a traveler's ability to save money or score a discount on international flights. To determine which U.S. airports offer the most and least frequent deals on economy class international flights, the team of experts at Scott's Cheap Flights examined commercial airports in metro areas with a population of at least 700,000 people, collecting data on how many deals it sent to SCF members for cheap flights departing from each airport in the past year. Here are the five best and the five worst airports for great deals in 2022.

Edging out international airports in Miami (MIA), San Francisco (SFO) and Boston (BOS), the largest and busiest airport on the West Coast, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is a hub or focus city for most of the major U.S. carriers. As SCF notes, more than 60 international airlines serve LAX, offering direct flights to more than 90 destinations in 46 different countries. The result is an average of 34 international economy class deals per month out of LAX.

Despite recently losing its New York City airport status, New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport hosts dozens of airlines offering direct flights to more than 70 international destinations in coveted destinations such as Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia, Central and South America, among others. The result is frequent deals on flights out of the U.S.

A hub for two of the world's largest airlines, American and United, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) offers travelers nonstop flights to more than 50 international destinations. According to SCF, that combined with the competition and frequency of flights to the rest of the U.S. makes for plenty of great deals.

Northern Virginia's Washington Dulles International Airport has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the Mid-Atlantic region outside of New York and offers travelers direct flights to more than 50 international destinations on five continents. What's more, IAD is served by more than 30 international airlines, creating competition that leads to about 36 deals per month on average, according to SCF.

New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport is the nation's best for cheap international flights right now. More than 70 international airlines operate out of JFK-the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America-serving more than 110 international destinations on six different continents. SCF sends more deals for international economy class flights from JFK than any other airport.

Oklahoma City's Will Rogers Airport is the nation's fifth-worst for cheap international flight deals. SCF found just 88 deals from OKC over the past year but does point out that the airport serves as many as 30 domestic destinations all across the country, including short flights to hubs such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and Chicago's O'Hare International (ORD).

Sacramento International Airport produced just 85 flight deals in the last 12 months and only offers direct international flights to Canada and Mexico at the moment. For a better shot at deals, SCF notes that travelers can hop on a quick connection to hubs in places like Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas or Las Vegas.

Elsewhere in the Golden State, Oakland International Airport's only nonstop international destinations are in Mexico and the airport only saw about six flight deals per month on average last year. However, the experts at SCF point out that San Francisco International Airport is just a short distance from the bay. Meanwhile, SFO saw 380 international economy class deals over the past year.

Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is among the busiest international airports in the U.S. and typically produces great deals on travel to Asia and the Pacific, a region that has been harder for Americans to access amid the pandemic. "In total, over the last year we only saw about five international economy class deals from Honolulu in the average month," SCF reports.

Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City, Florida opened just over a decade ago and is served by only four airlines offering direct flights to only 12 U.S. destinations. That means any international flight from ECP will have at least one connection. According to SCF's research, the airport sees about five deals per month on average.