15 Flight Routes in America With the Worst Ticket Price Spikes

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Upgraded Points.

The U.S. airlines keep the country together, connecting families, powering commerce, and fueling tourism. Yet for businesses and regular people, it’s essential to keep a constant and scrutinizing eye on what that connectivity costs them — the airfare.

As ticket prices fall or rise, so do household budgets and corporate bottom lines, in turn acting as a bellwether for broader economic health. Upgraded Points’ U.S. Airfare Watch Index tracks these key pricing indicators to provide a clear, data-driven view of where travel costs stand and where they are heading.

This portal serves as a high-authority resource for the airline industry, synthesizing complex datasets from the Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. By transforming raw federal data into intuitive charts and interactive tables, travelers, analysts, and researchers get a living snapshot of the commercial-airfare landscape. To maintain peak accuracy, our researchers reanalyze the data every quarter, ensuring insights are always synchronized with the most recent government reports.

The cost of air travel varies significantly depending on the specific route flown. This price disparity is driven by route-level dynamics — specifically, the number of competing airlines, the balance of business versus leisure demand, and the degree to which a single carrier dominates market share between two cities.

Researchers at travel and finance website Upgraded Points analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Airline Origin and Destination Survey to compare the latest four quarters of airfare data among U.S. airport-pair routes.

Average airfares were calculated from domestic, one-way airfares and included taxes and fees applied at the time of purchase. Bulk fares, zero fares, and anomalous data were excluded. Here are the airfares with the biggest price increase.

15. Burlington, VT – New York City, NY

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +33.7%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$59.36
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $235.44
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $176.08

14. San Antonio, TX – Tampa, FL

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +33.7%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$72.10
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $285.74
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $213.64

13. Miami, FL – Tallahassee, FL

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +33.8%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$54.21
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $214.34
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $160.14

12. Fort Myers, FL – Milwaukee, WI

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +34.2%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$72.64
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $284.75
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $212.11

11. New York City, NY – Richmond, VA

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +34.3%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$52.01
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $203.70
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $151.69

10. Jacksonville, FL – Miami, FL

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +34.7%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$58.01
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $225.27
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $167.27

9. Indianapolis, IN – Philadelphia, PA

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +34.8%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$90.73
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $351.80
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $261.07

8. Austin, TX – Cincinnati, OH

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +35.3%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$72.00
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $276.06
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $204.06

7. Atlanta, GA – Cleveland, OH

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +37.5%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$58.09
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $213.01
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $154.91

6. Kansas City, MO – New York City, NY

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +37.7%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$80.11
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $292.64
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $212.54

5. Los Angeles, CA – Louisville, KY

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +38.6%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$82.63
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $296.95
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $214.32

4. Las Vegas, NV – Milwaukee, WI

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +39.2%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$78.63
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $279.24
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $200.62

3. Cincinnati, OH – Philadelphia, PA

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +43.7%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$110.75
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $364.10
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $253.35

2. Milwaukee, WI – New York City, NY

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +45.8%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$91.81
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $292.31
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $200.50

1. Austin, TX – Detroit, MI

Percentage Change in Average One-Way Airfare (Year Over Year): +51.5%
Total Change in Average One-Way Airfare (YoY): +$105.28
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2024–Q2 2025): $309.87
Average One-Way Airfare (Q3 2023–Q2 2024): $204.59