Airlines are always rolling out sales left, right, and centre — but are any of these deals actually worth it?

In this guide, we’re breaking down the best Black Friday sales we’ve seen from top airlines in the past, giving you a sneak peek at what to expect this time around.

This time, we’re focusing on Canada-based sales, but you can find our reviews of US Black Friday sales here, or the UK/Ireland here.

Canadian airline prices might be a bit higher than other markets, but there are still fantastic deals to be found. We’re talking round-trip flights to Europe for under $400 RT, non-stop to Japan in the $600s RT, and five-star seats to Phuket for $894 RT — and that’s just scratching the surface.

We’re also only sharing legit deals that actually save you money. Airlines love to slap the word “sale” on meh fares, but we’re here to cut through the noise and find you the real bargains. Don't forget to sign up for Jack’s Flight Club, and wait for the best Black Friday deal emails to start rolling in!

Now let’s cut the chitchat and hop to it :-)

Air Canada

On average, Air Canada’s prices tend to be higher than the rest of the Canadian airlines, but with them comes better service and usually a cushier flying experience. 

Unfortunately, as of January 2025, they’ve nixed the free carry-on for their lowest fares. But they’re still the largest airline in the country, and have an extensive flight network around the world. Plus, they offer nice amenities like seat-back entertainment and a focus on comfort.

We frequently see minor sales on routes within Canada & the US, but they also offer some bigger, rarer sales to Europe and Central/South America too. 

Throughout the years

2024: We saw random savings across the board, but the Black Friday sale was pretty uninspired overall. However, the Cyber Monday sale saw prices drop among the lowest we’ve seen yet, particularly for destinations in Canada and the US in the $140s-$340s RT.

WestJet

Another Canadian favourite, WestJet also offers an extensive flight network. Although we don’t see quite the same level of coverage as their big brother Air Canada, their consistently lower fares are good enough. Similarly to Air Canada, they don’t offer a free carry-on for their lowest fares unless you’re flying to Europe or Asia. 

You’ll see consistent “sales” throughout the year, but the biggest ones tend to be Cyber Monday, Boxing Day and random September sales (don’t ask us why). The sales tend to be best for Canadian destinations, so don’t expect to find any dramatic deals for the rest of the world. 

Throughout the years

2024: Pretty much just domestic routes, but prices to Canadian destinations were the lowest we’ve ever seen in the $60s-$160s RT.

Flair

Ultra-low-cost airline Flair always comes through with rock bottom prices… and the luxury (or lack thereof) to match. We tease with love because, with WestJet and Air Canada cancelling carry-ons and implementing mandatory middle-seats (on their lowest fares), it only makes Flair look better and better. 

You can expect the best fares to show up on routes within Canada, although occasionally we see big drops to the USA too.

Throughout the years

2024: The sale was pretty underwhelming. They gave 30% off all base fares, but suspiciously, it worked out to be only a few bucks off what a normal price should be. This is a common airline trick, but there ain’t no fooling us.

Cyber Monday was better: 35% off base fares, with some significant drops compared to their normal prices. We saw flights across Canada in the $50s-$110s RT.

Air Transat

Jetting off primarily from Eastern Canada, Air Transat is popular with budget travellers heading to the Caribbean, Mexico, the US and Europe. Keep an eye out for Air Transat sales on vacation packages and seasonal routes if you’re into that kind of thing.

They like to brag that they’ve won the “World’s Best Leisure Airline” 6 times — and they have the perks to back that up: seat-back streaming, a strong safety rating, and a complimentary hot meal. Nice. Like Air Canada and WestJet, their base fares only include a carry-on to Europe and Morocco.

Throughout the years

2024: Not a good enough sale to cover. On paper, they offered 25-30% off base fares, but prices were similar to or higher than competing airlines… with veeeerrry limited destinations.

Porter

Another lower cost player in the Canadian airlines game, Porter is a bare-bones alternative if you’re on a budget. Recently, they’ve expanded their network beyond their OG regional focus to expand across the country, as well as to numerous destinations in the US. 

With their consistent focus on budget, we don’t see dramatic Black Friday deals, but they regularly offer mini sales and random price drops. They’re also one of the few North American airlines flying turbo-prop Dash 8s, so props to that.

Throughout the years

2024: The best deals were all with Online Travel Agencies. However, we did see prices across Canada drop to/below the $200s RT, and several American cities were included too. 

Alaska Airlines

They’re a major player in the US Airline game, and they’ve come through with some fantastic sales in Canada as well. Alaska is one of the few airlines in Canada still handing out a free carry-on, so any of their flights are extra nice. 

We love that they’ll take any occasion for a sale — expect discounts for most of their US offerings, but one-stop trips down to Mexico and Central America are also on the table. 

Throughout the years

2024: Some low-priced routes, but it was a complicated sale requiring a code, and had changing sale prices for different dates. However, we did think it was worth the effort, especially for their ultra-low-priced routes to California (in the $250s-$270s RT).

COPA

We don’t see a ton of coverage with COPA, but when they do pop up, it's generally on routes across South America (through Panama City) at a pretty solid price point.

While the airline doesn’t have a plethora of announced sales, their regular price drops make them attractive enough — and let’s not forget the (now) shocking inclusion of a free carry-on!

Throughout the years

2024: We saw a range of South American destinations, but the standout was flights to Rio de Janeiro for $718 RT.

Arajet

Operating out of the Dominican Republic, Arajet often comes out full steam ahead with huge price cuts for flights across Central America, South America and the Caribbean. With such frequent regular price drops, we always keep our expectations low for specific sales like Black Friday. That being said, this year we were pleasantly surprised when they showed up with decent deals for most destinations, and we can only hope for more in the future. 

Arajet slots in as the Flair of South America. You will find loooooow prices, but carry-on-included-COPA is a more comfortable option, especially for those long flights further south. 

Throughout the years

2024: On paper, Arajet offered 50% off base fares to all of their destinations, but in reality we suspect their math is errrr, creative. However, we did see decent sales to within about $50 of their all-time lows — we’re talking destinations like Peru in the $400s RT and Chile in the $500s RT, so not too shabby at all.

Icelandair

If you want to fly to Iceland/continental Europe in slightly more luxury than PLAY (a free carry-on, anyone?), Icelandair’s got your back. 

They tend to run fewer sales than other airlines, but when they do, there’s usually solid coverage to Europe. And as a bonus, you can bag an extra $50 off if you book with an OTA too ;-)

Throughout the years

2024: Solid deals to Iceland (both Reykjavik and Akureyri) in the $660s-$680s RT, as well as London and Dublin in the $560s-$740s RT. More coverage would have been nice, but for Iceland itself, this was a solid option. 

TAP Air Portugal

TAP will get you from point A to point B for most popular European destinations. And unlike more budget carriers, they even include a carry-on. Win! Another bonus is that their Black Friday sales are usually announced early — planners rejoice!

Considering that TAP is on the cheaper end for flights to Europe, their sales aren’t as dramatic as we see elsewhere. They don't usually cover their furthest-flung destinations like Helsinki or Athens, but you can normally count on the big hitters like Portugal, Spain, Morocco, France and England. 

Throughout the years

2024: TAP was one of those Black Friday deals that just kept coming. They offered a solid array of discounted trips, including everything from the Azores to Amsterdam in the $540s-$790s RT, and as a bonus, their business class flights to Morocco and Portugal dropped to the $2000s RT too!

ZIPAIR Tokyo

Not to beat this dead horse, but if Flair is the Flair of Canada, and Arajet is the Flair of South America, then ZIPAIR must be is the Flair of… ok, you get it. 

ZIPAIR is a low-cost Japanese airline connecting Canada to Asia (pretty much just Tokyo). Although it is no-frills, they offer free in-flight entertainment and, shockingly, free wifi too! Even with consistently low prices, they offer sales from time to time with really low prices, so it’s definitely worth holding out. 

Throughout the years

2024: Their Black Friday sale saw non-stop routes to Tokyo at $678 RT. They were the lowest prices of the year, so well worth the wait!

Cathay Pacific

Out of all the airlines flying to Asia, Cathay Pacific is probably the best in terms of sales. They might not start out as low as some other options (here’s looking at you, bare-bones ZIPAIR) but they have been voted as one of the best airlines in the world, and sometimes those 5-star touches just hit hard, especially when you’re flying 10+ hours in one little seat, you know? 

The only (slightly) annoying thing about a sale with Cathay is that often the Google Flights page doesn’t reflect their sale prices, which means a bit more digging to find the goodies. Definitely worth the trouble, though!

Throughout the years

2024: We saw drops across Asia, but most notably deals to Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand in the $940s-$1100s RT, especially some trickier to get to destinations like Phuket. 

Other Airlines

Hold up… what about KLM, American Airlines, Qatar and countless other airlines out there?

They may or may not have their own Black Friday sales, but we haven’t seen them produce anything particularly show-stopping, in our expert opinion. You might find them in our other article that explains airline sales, but we haven’t seen anything for Canada yet.

We only highlight sales that are genuinely great deals—meaning top value and record-low prices compared to the competition.

That said, if you have a favourite airline, it’s always worth checking their Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers. Just because they’re not on our list doesn’t mean they’ve completely ghosted us.

Our top tip? Check flight prices a week or two before sale season so you’ll know if the discount is the real deal. Airlines can get a little creative with their pricing strategies sometimes

Boxing Day sales

Traditionally, Boxing Day has been our big winter sale day (over Black Friday), so we expect to see  Canadian airlines offer yet another big sale on this day. These sales rival Black Friday, but we only see them with domestic airlines. 

In general, the date ranges were greater than those in the Black Friday sales, so it’s worth a look if you have a late spring/fall trip in mind. 

2024: 

Air Canada offered a sale for flights across Canada/the US with most destinations around or under $200 RT. The sale fares were some of their lowest of the year!

WestJet also came in with a sale, but it was a bit underwhelming compared to Air Canada. There was a lot of clutter, but a few gems (mostly US destinations around the $350s RT) if you were willing to sift through the sale. 

Conclusion

 Ok… it’s go time. You have the background, both the deal history and our predictions for every major airline, and now it’s time to set you loose. 

We’ll keep this article updated, so go ahead and bookmark it—it’ll be your go-to guide for saving money during sale season, year after year.

Want real-time updates on the best deals as they drop? Make sure you’re signed up for Jack’s Flight Club if you haven’t already. Sniffing out cheap flights (all year long) is kinda what we do best :-)