Is there a way to find the airfares sorted in increasing dollars for flights out of an airport fora given month ?
Let me illustrate :
Say the airport is Miami, Fl. Then for the month of April, these are the cheapest airfares for the selected dates of travel (leavin April 8 and returning April 15)
Miami to Tampa - $280 - southwest
Miami to Orlando - $290 - american
Miami to Chicago - $300 - united
.
.
.
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Very few people would simply want to leave town on the cheapest flight, with no regard to where they’re headed.
People making mileage runs for points, perhaps?
If you can reduce the set of possible destination cities to a finite number, the ITA flight matrix can take those in as a list and let you sort the prices directly.
Also Google flights can show you the cheapest price from an origin to any destination, but on a map instead of in a table.
Actually, I’m curious about this too. I’ve heard of people getting good last-minute deals on flights, and wondered how they decide on one. I think it would be fun to have a planned week off, and go somewhere based on an inexpensive flight.
(An old friend of mine was retired Air Force, and he used to do this with his family by hitching a $20 flight with wherever the next military plane was going. He had some great vacations that way.)
A new, comprehensive survey just came out and found 54 days before a flight is the sweet spot for purchasing USA domestic tickets at the lowest possible fare. Granted, special destinations (Disney locations, etc.) throw the algorithm out of whack but it works for practically every other destination. The survey found there are no last-minute cheap airfares. The most expensive time to purchase is an escalating two-three weeks before a flight with fares rising practically daily until the day of the flight. Last-minute cheap fares are a myth.