If you're still dragging your feet on Labor Day plans, don't. Now is the best time to buy tickets, with domestic round-trip prices for Labor Day weekend (Friday, August 31-Monday, September 3) averaging $255, according to new data from Hopper, whose free mobile-only app scouts the cheapest fares and predicts ticket prices. Prices will continue to rise by about $3 a day until August 17, when they'll increase between $10 to $15 a day leading up to the holiday weekend.
No matter when you buy, you'll (most likely) be getting a deal: Round-trip flight prices for this Labor Day weekend are the cheapest they've been in four years, and 14 percent cheaper than they were last year. Some of the destinations with the best prices? Fort Lauderdale (current round-trip fare $178), Myrtle Beach ($189), Atlanta ($206), Chicago ($218), and Denver ($225). If you want to save even more money, tweak your travel to avoid flying on the most expensive days—again, that's August 31 and September 3—and depart on Saturday, September 1 and return between Tuesday, September 4 and Thursday, September 6 to fetch the most savings.
Hopper collects ten to fifteen billion airfare price quotes a day, and crunched these numbers using historical and current airfare searches. Other recent intel from the company includes an in-app feature that shows you just how much basic economy actually costs, and a "Secret Fares" feature that showcases deals that aren't available anywhere else online, and can be up to 35 percent cheaper than the same ticket elsewhere. Time to get booking.