Cheap direct flights from Austin? Now, that’s the million-dollar question for any smart traveler living in the Texas capital or surrounding areas. Let’s be real—Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) isn’t exactly overflowing with nonstop route options or crazy low fares.
As someone who’s lived in Austin for years (and scored more than my fair share of flight deals from this funky little airport), I’m spilling all my insider tips and tricks today. The goal? Helping you finally snag those coveted cheap, direct flights from Austin to wherever your wanderlusting heart desires.
From the best flight search tools and airfare subscriptions worth paying for to the latest airport expansion news and routes, consider this your comprehensive guide to finding the cheapest nonstop flights out of AUS. Pour yourself a tray of Tito’s vodka drinks and get ready to travel hack like a pro!
Best Sites & Apps to Find Cheap Direct Flights from Austin
Okay, let’s start with the basics – where should you even look for Austin flight deals in the first place? In my experience, these tried and true sites/apps consistently deliver the goods:
- Google Flights – The flight search OG. I love the no-nonsense calendar view that makes finding dates with the lowest fares a breeze. You can also track price changes and get alerts for new deals.
- Scott’s Cheap Flights – Worth paying the premium for premium flight deal alerts directly to your inbox. This airfare tracking service does all the hard work for you, scouring the internet to uncover mistake fares, flash sales, and wide-open jaw routes from Austin and beyond.
- Skyscanner – One of the best options if your travel dates are wide open and you’re flexible. Just enter Austin as your departure city with no destination and see a world map of the lowest fares across the globe during your desired timeframe. Also lets you book rental cars and hotels bundled together.
- Kayak and Momondo – Powerful flight aggregators that search across tons of airlines and online travel agencies. Side-by-side price comparisons make it easy to determine the best deal.
- Secret Flying – Free email newsletter/community that reveals flights so cheap they’re essentially “mistake fares” last-minute. Have to be ready to book ASAP once deals get shared for Austin departures.
The big takeaway – Never rely on a single search site or airline homepage. The most cost-effective routes and fares are often made up of multiple airlines, so you need to search aggregators to see the whole picture departing from Austin.
Cheap Nonstop Destinations from Austin
One of my biggest gripes with flying out of AUS? The relatively limited nonstop routes available. For most desirable destinations, you typically have to connect through another airport hub – which eats up time and tacks on additional costs.
Nevertheless, Austin is slowly but surely expanding its nonstop flight network! More routes equal more competition, which (theoretically) means lower prices for direct flights. Here are some of the most popular and cheap-ish nonstop destinations from Austin:
- Las Vegas (LAS): Multiple airlines fly nonstop from AUS, making it quite competitive. Deals as low as $100 roundtrip.
- Cancun (CUN): Another hot spot for nonstop flights from Austin, especially in the winter/spring peak season. $300-400 roundtrip typical.
- Los Angeles (LAX): With several carriers now offering nonstop service here, you can occasionally snag fares under $200 roundtrip.
- Seattle (SEA): New Delta and Alaska nonstop routes mean cheaper flight options to the Pacific Northwest.
- Denver (DEN): Now a focus city hub for Frontier Airlines, you’ll find decent Denver nonstops out of AUS on the low-cost carrier.
- Many Florida destinations like Orlando (MCO), Miami (MIA), and Tampa (TPA) are on budget carriers like Spirit and Frontier if you don’t mind no-frills.
While many of the cheapest nonstop fares from Austin tend to be for domestic leisure destinations, the airport continues expanding its reach. Look out for new international routes to hot spots like Amsterdam, Cancun, and even Auckland coming in the next few years, too.
Which Airlines Offer Cheap Direct Flights from AUSTIN?
Unsurprisingly, budget and ultra-low cost carriers tend to offer the absolute cheapest Direct Flights from Austin. Airlines to watch for rock-bottom direct rates include:
- Frontier Airlines – Austin is a focus city for the Denver-based ULCC. Great for cheap nonstop flights to Denver and a gateway to connections across their network.
- Spirit Airlines – While no-frills, Spirit flies nonstops from Austin to cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Florida hubs.
- Sun Country Airlines – An affordable option for nonstop routes from AUS to destinations like Minneapolis, Nashville, and Puerto Vallarta.
- Allegiant Air – Leisure-focused carrier flies from Austin to top vacation destinations like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, and Florida.
Beyond the low cost carriers, you’ll frequently find better nonstop flight deals on major competitors with hubs in cities served by Austin, including:
- American Airlines – Dallas hub options make AA an attractive choice for one-stop routings over direct American flights.
- Delta Air Lines – Atlanta and Salt Lake City are Delta hubs with lots of Austin connections. Look for nonstop routes too.
- United Airlines – United flies nonstops from Austin to Houston, Denver, San Francisco, and other hubs for connections further afield.
- Southwest – With a major presence in Austin, Southwest offers lots of nonstop flight options to connect through cities like Houston, Denver, and Chicago on the low end.
While Austin does have nonstop flights on premium airlines like British Airways and Air Canada, I rarely find worthwhile deals on these carriers from AUS. Budget airlines and making smart connections tend to win out.
Best Times To Find Cheap Flights from Austin
Like any airport, there are certain times of the year that are better than others for scoring cheap nonstop flights from Austin-Bergstrom. Here are some tips on the best dates and seasons to start searching:
- Late summer & early fall – After the peak summer crowds have dispersed, airlines aggressively discount nonstop routes from Austin for August and September flights. Cheap flights in late August through early October abound if you can pull kids out of school.
- Weekday flights – If you can handle flying midweek (Tuesday through Thursday), airlines offer lower fares on nonstop flights to fill these less busy days. Saturdays and Sundays are notoriously the most expensive times to fly out of AUS.
- Holiday weekends – Don’t expect to snag any deals on nonstop routes for major holiday weekends like Easter, Memorial Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Years. These peak periods come with premium pricing.
- Shoulder season travels – For lower fares, travel outside the peak summer crowds but still snag nice weather in destination locales like Florida, the Caribbean, etc. Consider mid-April/May or late September/early October.
One traveler hack I swear by – sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights deal alerts and watch them like a hawk! Nearly all my best cheap nonstop fares snapped up from Austin over the years came from their flash sales and airfare mistake alerts.
Nonstop Flight Amenities & Austin Airport Updates
As Austin’s airport continues to expand, travelers can expect more updates and amenities in the year and beyond that’ll make travel smoother (and potentially cheaper!) Here are some noteworthy developments to look for:
- The brand new terminal expansion (South Terminal) opened in spring 2023, adding several new gates and enhanced facilities to support expanded route networks from airlines.
- American Airlines and Delta recently announced new nonstop route launches from AUS to major focus cities like Miami, La Guardia in NYC, and Amsterdam.
- As part of the terminal expansion, new restaurants, bars, lounges, and amenities like charging rooms were added to the airport. Better passenger experiences = more competitive fares from airlines.
- AUS plans to construct a brand new parking garage and increase daily parking spots by 40% by 2024 to help with parking woes during peak periods.
- With added gates and facilities, the airport aims to attract and make it easier for new airlines to start service from Austin – further driving down pricing through competition.
Between added routes, enhanced services, and expanded facilities – AUS is poised to give the big boys like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio a run for their money when it comes to cheap nonstop flights and affordable air travel options.
Subscribe to Flight Deals From Austin
One of my favorite travel hacking strategies for finding cheap nonstop flights from any home airport? Letting the deals come straight to my inbox by subscribing to premium alert services and airfare tracking!
Trust me, this approach is far more effective than mindlessly searching Google Flights for weeks on end. Why waste time when airfare experts do all that heavy lifting for you? Two services I absolutely swear by include:
- Going | Formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights – Founded by Scott Keyes, a former travel hacker himself, this premium subscription sends deal alerts directly to your inbox when they detect exceptional fares, mistake pricing, or flash sales from your chosen home airport(s). Well worth the modest annual fee. Higher subscription levels net you first dibs on ridiculous premium economy and business class deals too!
Here’s how these kinds of services typically find the insane deals they flag for subscribers:
- Sophisticated airfare price tracking software that constantly monitors millions of routes
- Seeing sudden anomalies in pricing due to sales or mistake fares
- Error in route construction and bizarre routes with wide-open jaw flights
- Monitoring airline inventory for mistake business/first class fares into the economy
- Airline staff accidentally file incorrect prices that show up as deals
Basically, unless you have the ability to monitor dozens of data feeds across airline booking systems around the clock – you need to subscribe to a service like Scott’s Cheap Flights or Going (formerly NextVacay) to have a shot at these whale-of-a-deal fares.
Sure, it’s an added cost. But one roundtrip mistake fare deal could easily save you thousands versus standard flight prices. Makes the subscription free worthwhile quickly!
Credit Card Hacking & Loyalty Programs
Beyond just searching for low fares, another fundamental travel hack is strategically opening the right travel rewards credit cards and airline loyalty programs. Leveraged properly, you can score tons of cheap (or even free) nonstops by cashing in points and miles!
As an Austin local myself, here are some of the loyalty programs and cards worth focusing on for maximizing cheap and award travel from the city:
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program – Southwest has a massive operation out of Austin and Dallas, making it very easy to book positioning/”throwaway” flights to take advantage of their award calendar. Chase Southwest Visa cards are great companion options, too, for racking up points fast.
American Airlines AAdvantage – While AA’s presence in AUS has diminished over the years, frequent devaluations of their miles makes it easier than ever to use points for nonstop and direct fares from Austin on AA. I love the Citi AAdvantage card as well.
Delta SkyMiles – If you fly Delta out of Austin, definitely get on their SkyMiles loyalty program. I’ve had tons of success redeeming miles for nonstop ATL, MSP, and SLC hops. Highly recommend the Delta Amex cards.
United Airlines MileagePlus – Since Austin has minimal United operations, these miles are GREAT for booking nonstop awards on partner airlines like Turkish, Avianca, and ANA from airports United doesn’t serve from Austin. By far the most outsized redemption values!
Remember, the key to taking advantage of airline miles for cheap nonstop flights is opening the right co-branded credit cards for inflated welcome bonuses. These signup offers alone can instantly boost your mileage accounts with tens of thousands of miles – enough for several award flights out of AUS!
Also read – How to Choose the Best Airline Miles Credit Card for You
Private Flight Options and Packaging Nonstop Deals
For those times you need complete flexibility and non-stop convenience from Austin, you may want to consider private air travel options or bundling packaged nonstop air/hotel deals.
Private/semi-private aviation like seat shares or chartered flights are surprisingly more affordable than people realize. Many routes can be had for $300-500 per person on semi-private operators like JSX using their Austin service.
Regional operators like AeroXTour offer tailored premium charters for small groups as well. While more expensive than commercial, they deliver you nonstop to your destination terminal of choice with huge time savings.
On the commercial airline front, travel deal sites like Scott’s Cheap Flights and Going now commonly bundle nonstop air + hotel together into vacation packages. This can net significant savings versus independently booking air and hotel rooms.
Other go-to tools for scoring nonstop vacation flight + hotel packages out of AUS include:
- CheapCaribbean – Great for nonstop packages to Mexico, Caribbean, and vacation destinations. Mix of charter and commercial routes.
- SellOffVacations.com – A club offering members-only packaged nonstop vacations from departure airports around the U.S., including Austin.
- Subscribe to sites like Vacationstats and Vacationpirates to receive super cheap error fare packages pushed to your inbox as they happen.
Finally, Google Flights now has an “Explore” map feature where you can enter Austin as the origin, dates, and a budget – it shows cheapest destinations in maps view. Super easy way to identify cheap nonstop flight vacation packages.
So while booking a basic nonstop flight may seem simple, travel hackers can truly maximize convenience and savings by exploring premium aviation services and bundled hotel+air vacation packages too. Don’t sleep on these options departing from AUS!
Closing Out
Okay, let’s be honest – Austin may never be hailed as one of America’s premier cheap airports offering a dizzying array of nonstop flight options. But that doesn’t mean locals can’t still take advantage of deals and great fares to travel the world conveniently!
With some consistent hustle applying the tips, sites, apps, and subscription services outlined here, you’ll be amazed at the insane, nonstop flight deals emanating from AUS. Sure, it may take a little more diligence than airports like LA or New York. But that satisfaction of discovering an absolute heist of a fare out of this midsized Texas city?
Priceless. Paired with some credit card churning, loyalty program hacking, and openness to unconventional routings – you’ve got a winning formula for finding the cheapest nonstop direct flights from Austin in 2024 and beyond. Where to first? The flight deal world is your oyster!