Here are top 22 global travel hot spots with ‘cheap’ airfares for 2022

So you haven’t taken a vacation to a long-haul destination since Covid first hit nearly two years ago. You’re itching to get out — despite recent disruptions to air travel — and maybe you’ve actually managed to bank the vacation money you would have otherwise spent months ago. Where to head?

Depending on how the latest pandemic wave plays out, you may want to consider the nearly two dozen places worldwide that travel website Scott’s Cheap Flights recommends in its “22 Cheap Destinations to Visit in 2022” list. That’s because experts at the site say they’re pretty confident there will be airfare deals to these destinations in the year ahead.

Whether it’s thanks to new routes, to new carriers serving them or simply to everyday low fares, these 22 cities, states, regions and nations, according to the site, could get you more bang for your vacation buck in 2022 — at least for your flight. After all, not all the destinations are cheap when it comes to other expenses.

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Scott’s Cheap Flights included only destinations already open to visitors or expected to reopen before the second half of this year.

Not surprisingly, airfares to U.S. and Canadian destinations are the least expensive on the list, with the Pacific Northwest at the top, thanks to an average round-trip fare to Seattle of just $105. Rounding out the top five North American spots, from second place to fifth, are Oklahoma City ($182), Charleston, South Carolina ($185), Puerto Rico ($240 to San Juan), and Alberta, Canada ($259 to Calgary), all average round-trip fares.

In general, the next cheapest airfares can be found to Central America and the Caribbean, then Europe and Asia, followed by Africa, the Middle East and the South Pacific. Bringing up the rear — but still unusually affordable, historically speaking — is Greenland, where travelers who transit through Reykjavik, Iceland, can fly for around $940 round trip.