--- title: The Best Airfare Deals Are Now in First Class description: This could be the summer you can afford to fly in first class. The price premium for sitting up front on the plane has shrunk compared to the costs of coach seats. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2015-05-28T15:27:59.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T10:15:15.000Z' section: Shopping tags: - Airlines - deals - Travel word_count: 398 canonical: https://money.com/airfare-deals-first-class/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![people toasting in first class](https://img.money.com/2015/05/150528_em_summerfirstclass.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C4703px%2C2645px&quality=85) The price of first-class airfare within the U.S. keeps getting cheaper—at least when compared with flying in coach. Data cited by the [*Wall Street Journal*](http://www.wsj.com/articles/first-class-fares-get-affordable-1432741041) shows that in April 2015, the average first-class seat on a domestic flight cost $577 more than its coach counterpart. Back in April 2012, meanwhile, the cost difference between flying in first class versus coach was $805. Before you begin marveling at what seems like the generosity of airlines with respect to first-class pricing, let's look at what's really happening here. First off, one reason the price premium flyers can expect to pay for first class has dropped is simply that coach airfare has gotten more expensive—rising more than 10% annually, and crossing the $500 mark for the average round trip last summer. Secondly, by lowering first-class airfare prices and strategically dangling tempting upgrade fees in front of frequent fliers who already purchased coach seats, the airlines are able to derive more revenues out of the seats at the front of the plane that otherwise would have been empty or perhaps been given to elite frequent fliers as free upgrades. Using such strategies, the airlines have collectively increased the number of first-class tickets sold by 48% over the last three years. Even if passengers are paying less for first class than they used to, the airlines are happy with this arrangement because it's better than giving away upgrades. At the same time, this tactic runs the risk of irking the loyal frequent fliers who have grown accustomed to such upgrades. In any event, the *WSJ* pointed to several examples of domestic flights in which the costs of first-class seats were only marginally more expensive (10% to 40%) than sitting in coach. "On many trips, the first-class price isn’t much more than coach, especially if you planned to pay for extra-legroom seats in coach anyway," the article explains. Delta in particular seems to have an abundance of special first-class airfare deals on the table this summer, including a ["Pride Sale"](http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/shop/deals-and-offers/north-america/pride-sale.html) with first-class fares from $113 each way to New York City, Seattle, and Minneapolis coinciding with major LGBT pride events in early summer. Another Delta promotion lists first-class seats from [Alaska to Seattle](http://www.adn.com/article/20150521/scott-mcmurren-fly-first-class-discount-seattle) starting at $184 each way on Tuesday and Saturday departures this summer. 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