Black Friday and Cyber Monday are on their way once again… but is it all hype, or do airlines really make it worth the wait?
Last year, we saw a higher concentration of sales during the actual week of Black Friday. This differed to previous years when we noticed the first ‘Black Friday’ sales pop up much earlier in the month.
For the first time, there were even a few airlines who, despite announcing a sale on or around Black Friday, attempted to distance themselves from the label of ‘Black Friday’—yet they still held a sale. Go figure! Maybe they wanted to try to stand out from the crowd?
We also noticed a decline in the ‘one and done’ type of sale, with many airlines advertising multiple sales over the period, or even a different sale every day in the lead up to Friday. You can probably expect to see this again in 2025.
Read on to find out what kind of flight deals we’ve seen in past Black Friday sales, and see more of our predictions for what to expect in 2025.
Aer Lingus
Ireland’s airline isn’t just for trips from Ireland. Their connecting flights to airports across the UK make them a compelling way to fly to the US & Canada, especially thanks to the security preclearance in Dublin.
They’ve focussed their Black Friday sales mainly on their routes to the US, Canada, and the Caribbean over the past few years.
Considering they’ve previously been one of the earliest to announce their BF sale, we were a little surprised they held off until 3 days before Black Friday last year. Along with plenty of long/short hauls from Ireland, their non-stop route from Manchester to Barbados was a standout.
What to expect in 2025
In 2023 they launched early, in 2024 they launched (relatively) late, so maybe this year they'll go back to being early birds? They were one of the first airlines to announce their end of summer sale this year, so maybe that's a sign.
And speaking of summer sales, their Black Friday offering last year was essentially a re-branded version of what they'd previously offered at the end of August. So if you want a hint at what you'll be seeing this time around, it'll likely be similar to this.
British Airways
If you live in the UK, and especially if you live in London, the British Airways sale is always one to watch out for. They fly to pretty much everywhere you’re interested in travelling to.
If you’re looking to go to any major US or Canadian city or to one of their many Caribbean island destinations, their Black Friday sale is likely a good time to book, too.
They usually have sales at the end of August and from Boxing Day on, but British Airways jumped into the Black Friday game properly in 2018 to bridge the gap between their main sale seasons.
Last year, the main bulk of the UK sale was made up of short-haul flights, with the unexpected exception of a pleasantly cheap route from Newcastle to Boston. Discounts from mainland Europe seemed a little more diverse, but still very USA-heavy. The stand-outs were a sprinkling of India and Mexico.
What to expect in 2025
British Airways holding a Black Friday sale is definitely something you can count on. Bagging an actually decent bargain, on the other hand, now that's a different story.
While you can safely assume to see reductions on their short-hauls across Europe, and long-hauls (mostly focused across the USA & India), the prices appear to be getting increasingly underwhelming with every sale.
That being said, last year they just about pipped Virgin Atlantic to the post with a slightly stronger sale offering — a winning title they held on to during the battle of the end of summer sales. So, if we had to put our faith in one of the two airlines this Black Friday, it'd still be BA.
SAS
While 2023 was all about business class, 2024 was all about short-haul economy.
But what really made SAS stand apart from the other Scandi airline sales were the routes on offer. We don’t often see spots like Luleå (AKA Swedish Lapland) and Sälen go cheap from the UK. Plus, they came with a huge span of dates up until June.
Don’t forget that SAS has a pretty decent year-round youth discount scheme, offering at least 10% off all economy fares for anyone under the age of 26.
What to expect in 2025
Honestly if we could have a mix of the previous two years, with long-haul, short-haul, economy, and business, that'd be great!
SAS often delivers on cheap US flights, from Scandinavia in particular, but judging by what we've seen this year, we'll also be keeping an eye out for some bargain fares to Svalbard, and maybe some routes to Asia too.
Read more Black Friday predictions for the UK and Europe...
