Australasia

🎉 Welcome to the party, Fiji Airways! 🎉

Los Angeles

United States

Nadi

Fiji

San Francisco

Dallas

Houston

Austin

Denver

Orlando

Atlanta

Tampa

Chicago

Phoenix

Washington DC

Miami

Philadelphia

Boston

New York

Sydney

Australia

Auckland

New Zealand

Fiji, Australia & New Zealand 🌊 in $610s-$890s RT

While we’re hoisting the sails and bracing for the tidal wave of Black Friday deals crashin’ in, there be one gleamin’ jewel on the horizon...

Vancouver

Canada

Fiji 🤿 at $992 RT

Fiji is like the platonic ideal of an island paradise.

Fiji 🐠 in $790s RT

A little last minute flight to Fiji, anyone?

Fiji 🍹 in $540s-$630s RT

You couldn't feel stressed out here if you tried.

San Antonio

Fiji 🐡 in $760s-$890s RT

From the grey skies of the UK to the tropical shores of Fiji, it's nice to dream. 

Edinburgh

Scotland

Glasgow

London Heathrow

England

Aberdeen

Newcastle

Belfast City

Northern Ireland

Manchester

Fiji 🌺 in £870s-£980s rtn

A honeymoon like holiday that we are bringing our kids on. We&#39;d don&#39;t have help to leave them at home so this is the best of both worlds. 

Postcard from PioneeringExcursionist57925

Tahiti booked for January - and with Avios and a partner flight did that for £695 each!

Postcard from Keith 

Would never have gone without this deal- thank you

Postcard from Bilty

Mexico

Guatemala

Netherlands

Spain

Finland

France

Sri Lanka

Hey there Travellers,
Like much of the world this week, Katy's off on holiday, so I get the special honor of sending out the first Detour of 2026 🎉
New Year's Eve, for many folks, is a time of reflection! It's the perfect excuse to dig through some old memories and take stock of those meaningful moments.&nbsp;
So that's our theme for this week: memories.&nbsp;This Detour is chock full of them &mdash; from this year's highlights, to nostalgic travel tattoos from trips long past.&nbsp;
Let's make 2026 another great year, Travellers! And let us know in the comments which travel memories you're hoping to create in the next twelve months &mdash; maybe we can help :-)
Wishing you a safe and happy New Year,

Olivia - Sub-Editor of the Detour

Permanent Souvenirs: Our Travel Tattoo Tales&nbsp;

You know a trip is worthwhile when that bittersweet thought crosses your mind: I wish I could bottle up this moment and keep it forever.
It&rsquo;s the feeling that drives souvenir sales and fills up your photo albums, but for travelers who&nbsp;really want to keep those memories close, there&rsquo;s another option &mdash; having that memory permanently added to your body.
Despite the discomfort of traveling with a fresh tattoo, getting inked on the road is a time-honored tradition. Captain Cook&rsquo;s sailors are said to have returned home from Polynesia sporting some new body art. Even 700 years ago, religious pilgrims to the Middle Eastern Holy Land were <a href="https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1235759">getting small tattoos as evidence of their journey</a>. By the 19th century, the list of folks with travel tattoos even included <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/japan-courts-and-culture/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/features/royal-tattoos">British royalty</a>.&nbsp;
Nowadays, there&rsquo;s an entire culture built up around travel tattoos. Some shops in touristy areas even&nbsp;depend on the demand. And just like in centuries past, there are still a myriad of motivations behind the decision.&nbsp;

During my (rather formative) few months in New Orleans, I realized I&rsquo;d regret it forever if I didn&rsquo;t leave that city with an inked reminder. Next thing I knew, I was face-down on a leather table, surrounded by NOLA-typical spiritual decor, while a stranger put me through excruciating pain for so long that I felt like my soul was leaving my body.
Unfortunately, in my case, that meant I was having a panic attack, desperately trying to keep still while hyperventilating and gasping through the pain. I tried to focus on a fixed point in the room to ground myself, but ended up locking eyes with a large, weeping statue of Santa Maria. It seemed less unnerving than the taxidermied animals, the bloody crucifixes, or the clutter of figurines stuck with nails or covered in bones and teeth.&nbsp;
When it was finally over, I paid the artist with shaking hands and basically ran out of the shop. I cannot even describe the headspace I was in. The relief was so strong that I felt like an entirely new person. All I wanted was a drink and a place to sit down.
Fortunately, that&rsquo;s not a tall order in New Orleans &mdash; I popped over to Bourbon Street and entered the first bar I saw.&nbsp;

Midway through a whisky, while listening to a bartender&rsquo;s story, I realized my new tattoo had started bleeding. There was a gruesome, oozy red smear running down my leg and trickling onto the floor of the bar.
&ldquo;Sorry, could I just get a napkin?&rdquo; I say, interrupting the bartender. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m bleeding onto your floor.&rdquo;
She casually handed me a napkin without even pausing her story. She had no reaction at all to hearing a patron say they were bleeding onto the floor of her bar at 2pm on a Monday.&nbsp;
I guess that&rsquo;s business as usual on Bourbon Street!
The tattoo has long since healed, but whenever I look at it, I remember what a wild time it was. I had no idea it would be that intense, but I&rsquo;m honored to have been given such a distinctly NOLA experience &mdash; one that really embodies the chaotic excitement of my time in the city. It&rsquo;s how I got hooked on travel tattoos!
So, as a person with so much access to well-seasoned travelers who understand the value of overseas memories, I just&nbsp;had to ask the Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club staff and Community for a few more tales.
And I heard some great ones! Like the new tradition started by our reader Zo&euml; and her wife, which started out as a space-saving measure:

&ldquo;My wife and I have a tradition of getting a tattoo on every *far* trip. Makes the long haul flight home worth it&hellip; Wanting to collect &lsquo;souvenirs&rsquo; whilst living in a small flat at the time was the original inspiration. We&rsquo;ve collected them from Thailand, Bali, and Singapore so far. Many more on the travel wishlist.&rdquo; - Zo&euml;

Or our Jack&rsquo;s Navigator Henry&rsquo;s story, about a priceless memorial that only cost &euro;15:

&ldquo;When I was 19/20, I lived in Spain and became friends with a good group of people. I moved back when someone at home died, but while I was at home, one of my friends in Spain died (very tragic, I know). So when I came back to visit my friends, one of them mentioned that another guy was starting off as a tattoo artist, and he needed guinea pigs to get the business&nbsp; going, so I said I would volunteer one night we were out. So the next day, we went to Seville and got this done. It is of course the song of Liverpool Football Club. But the tattoo is actually for everyone who is no longer with us. The words of the song make more sense than whatever I will say here 😂 It took 3 hours and cost 15 euro.&rdquo;&nbsp;- Henry

Our writer Akasha&rsquo;s tales of stick n&rsquo; pokes in Central American hostels could probably fill an entire novel:

"After almost an hour with my face wedged in the crook of an old Maltese man&rsquo;s pungent armpit as he bent over backwards attempting to tattoo my ribcage, eighteen-year-old me was hooked.&nbsp;
'For each country I visit, I&rsquo;m going to get a tattoo to commemorate it,' I excitedly told my boyfriend at the time. He rolled his eyes. He was the typical Irish lad, one that would 'go on holidays' once every 5 years to Benidorm or Magaluf. Something about the Irish pubs there.
He probably didn&rsquo;t expect that by my twenties, I&rsquo;d be lying on a sagging mattress in the jungles of Guatemala, a Czech apprentice straddling my torso, carving her gun of pain into my arm for four hours without a break.
Or that I&rsquo;d let a French guy hand-poke a reiki symbol onto my wrist in exchange for covering a bar shift.&nbsp;
Stick and poke became my preferred way. So naturally, my ears perked up when a German tattooist blew into the hostel I worked at in Chiapas. It&rsquo;d take me a few weeks to propose a trade he simply couldn&rsquo;t refuse: I&rsquo;d bleach his dreadlocks in return for some artwork."

"This was probably my most painful one. Not from the needle but from the cup of rubbing alcohol he poured over my raw skin, and the violent slap that followed. A sick and twisted joke because it was midnight and I couldn&rsquo;t scream without waking the hostel guests.
And while I haven&rsquo;t managed to stay true to my promise of getting inked everywhere I&rsquo;ve wandered, I&rsquo;ve done a pretty good job of collecting permanent stamps.
Mostly, the ink I&rsquo;ve gotten along the way is a map itself - of the girl who showed up clueless and curious, reckless and scared, but booked the ticket anyway."&nbsp;- Akasha

And lastly, our Detour queen Katy shared the story of her first tattoo, a remnant of a teenage adventure in the Netherlands:

"When I finished high school, I didn&rsquo;t go on the big group trip clubbing in Ayia Napa. That wasn&rsquo;t my thing at all. I wanted to see some of the world before starting university, not just the inside of a bar, surrounded by people I&rsquo;d mostly never see again.&nbsp;
Instead, myself and some of my closest friends decided to go Interrailing around Europe for 5 weeks. As is common when leaving high school in Scotland, most of us were only 17 at the time. We couldn&rsquo;t even (legally) drink in bars at home, so a month of European rules was exciting. And when we realised that we&rsquo;d even be old enough to get tattooed in The Netherlands&hellip;
Well, let&rsquo;s just say a few of us decided to give it a go &mdash; a fact my mum only found out three years later, when I was lazily lying in bed with my leg hanging out from under the sheets.
When getting your first tattoo, there&rsquo;s a lot of pressure to make it meaningful, so I opted for something I knew would always be important to me &mdash; music. I was right, playing music is still part of my life. But perhaps more important is the fact that I got it while on a memorable adventure with people who are still part of my life."&nbsp;- Katy

When I look at all of these stories together, there&rsquo;s a common thread: Most things in life are temporary. People enter and exit, chapters close, and that return flight is always rapidly approaching. I can go back to New Orleans, but I can&rsquo;t go back to that trip. Travel, by definition, has to be ephemeral.&nbsp;
We might be staking our money, time, and energy on a very short-lived experience, but we often return home permanently changed. I think travel tattoos owe their prolonged popularity to that change &mdash; they can help make the outside match the inside.
So if you feel the same, and have a travel tattoo (or several) of your own, feel free to send them our way. Maybe you&rsquo;ll see them in part two :-)

Travel Tales

Jack's Gone Global: Where We Went in 2025

As you might expect, the Jack's staff is always jetsetting around the world! 2025 was no different &mdash; We traveled everywhere from the Caribbean to the Arctic Circle.&nbsp;
Here's a few highlights from another fantastic year of travel...

<h2 id="lapland">Lapland</h2>
Hannah Deals &amp; Content

&ldquo;We took a day-trip over to the <a href="https://arcticsnowhotel.fi/en/">Arctic SnowHotel </a>during our trip, as well as snowmobiled through the forests, and took reindeer and husky rides on a tour with the Snowmobile Park company &mdash; they were great and included proper snow gear in their prices, so would highly recommend.
And last but not least, the northern lights! While you can hunt for them on a guided tour, it gets pricey. Instead, we stayed just outside of the city (towards Ounasvaara) in an AirBnB and were lucky enough to spot them dancing above the house most nights we were there.&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">Fiji</h2>
Larissa Deal &amp; Content Manager EU

&ldquo;Fiji was such a surprise to me! I went for a family celebration and didn&rsquo;t have many expectations (given I knew a lot of the holiday would be resort-bound), but we managed to do a decent amount in Nadi and the surrounding <a href="https://www.koroyanituheritagepark.org/plan-your-trip">Koroyanitu National Heritage Park</a>. My highlights were DIY-ing a hike through the park to an incredible waterfall lookout, and visiting the <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/Qs6PyZGqz5nm2PF9A">Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple</a> - the intricate paintwork inside was incredible!&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">France &amp; Scotland</h2>
Andrea Member Experience Team Leader

&ldquo;My trip to France and Scotland healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing. The little girl in me who thought she might never make it to Europe and visit her dream city and the grown girl in me that found her soul city.
My favorite moment of my adventures was being able to see and touch the Eiffel Tower. I knew that I would cry the moment I laid eyes on her and I very much did! LOL The tears were joy and marvel and finally realizing that I did it, I made it, I was standing in Paris!! I was looking at a monument I had only seen in books and movies. I checked a place off of a very long bucket list. I had macarons and croissants from French boulangeries and strolled along streets with beautiful architecture. I spoke terribly broken French from the years of Duolingo that I had been doing and I was out of this world happy.
However. My favorite place was Scotland. I had never traveled and felt at home anywhere the way I did there. The buildings, history, slight gloom and chill in the air. The beautiful stone streets and castles, this was my place. A place I felt very happy and comfortable, where I could wander for hours and not feel tired. I am still day dreaming about my time there and thinking of the things I want to do and see when I go back. It was on my bucket list and still is. There's so much more I need to see and experience (highland coos, for example!)&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">Sri Lanka</h2>
Fran&nbsp;Deals &amp; Content/Social Media

&ldquo;We loved our train experiences in Sri Lanka, and we&rsquo;d suggest every curious traveller give it a try at some point. I even wrote <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/the-truth-about-traveling-by-train-in-sri-lanka">an honest guide</a> about it. It sparked our curiosity to venture beyond the tourist-packed routes and discover the more authentic, less crowded journeys in the future.&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">St. Croix</h2>
Olivia&nbsp;Deals &amp; Content/Detour Sub-Editor

&ldquo;The highlight was definitely the Cruzan Rum Distillery, which you can read more about <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-179-st-croix-historic-distillery">in my article here</a>. Between the informative tour, the historic setting, our lovely guide, and drinks enjoyed at a breezy, palm-lined patio bar, we couldn&rsquo;t have been more pleased. There&rsquo;s a reason every guide to St. Croix name-drops this spot, and I can happily add myself to its list of fans&rdquo;

<h2 id="lapland">The Netherlands</h2>
Gabi Product Team

&ldquo;I had such a great time in the Netherlands. I started off in <a href="https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/discover-the-netherlands/visit-the-cities/the-hague">Den Haag</a>, where I decided to try haring (the famous raw herring, just a full fish) which not everyone loves but I&rsquo;m absolutely crazy for (I really love pickled stuff). I spent the rest of my time wandering around the city center, renting bikes with nerdy names, and cycling to some pretty spots like Haagse Bos. That same day I rode all the way to Scheveningen, which turned out to be a super lovely beach with a big pier. I sat there with a hot Chocomel in hand, feeling very Dutch. It also POURED rain the minute I hopped on the bike.&rdquo;

How about our readers? Where did you travel in 2025? Let us know in the comments :-)

Travel Tips

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Unfortunately, we have to start the year off with some tragic news: Chaos in Machu Picchu as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gweww8rjro">two trains collided</a> last Tuesday, causing one death and injuring 40 others.&nbsp;</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">On a more hopeful note, National Geographic released their <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/travel-adventures-best-trips-to-book-2026">top 20 picks for adventures to take in 2026</a>. The key words? &ldquo;Immersive&rdquo; and &ldquo;Transformative.&rdquo;</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Sicily&rsquo;s Mount Etna has been in a bit of a turbulent mood lately, but that&rsquo;s not stopping the local skiers from <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cz7n4px7e41o">hitting her slopes</a>.</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Central Asia <a href="https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/12/22/kobyz-and-the-yurt-central-asias-living-knowledge-enters-unescos-intangible-heritage-lists">got some love from UNESCO</a> as a regional stringed instrument and a style of yurt both got added to the organization&rsquo;s list of intangible cultural heritage.</li>
<li>And finally, got any questions about life at an Antarctic research station? Now&rsquo;s the time to ask &mdash; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/climate/thwaites-glacier-expedition-antarctica.html">the NYT is heading on down</a>, and they want to know what you want to know.</li>
</ul>

Travel News

Ringing in 2026 with Our Travel Memories

Hey there, JFC-ers,
I must admit, my algorithm knows me pretty well by now. I open Instagram; travel posts and reels. I open my email inbox; travel newsletters, travel deals, travel competitions. I open my Google News feed; travel articles. I just can't escape &mdash; not that I'd want to.
One of the most typical topics that comes up in those reels, posts, articles, etc. is travel hacks. I'm talking about the latest hack for avoiding baggage fees, the new solution to snagging the best seat, the fastest way to get through airport security. And honestly, most of them tend to be either utter nonsense or blindingly obvious. Yes, the fastest way to get through airport security probably is by sorting your liquids in advance and buying fast track, how did you know?!

The other day, I got a message from former Head Flight Finder Tristan thanking me for my tip of using a duty free carrier bag to bring overflow hand luggage onboard (note: some airlines may be stricter than others here).
Since then, I've seen an article touting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/35772679/baby-flight-hack-lettuce-holiday/">lettuce as a magical parenting flight hack</a>, and another claiming that a 'fragile' sticker is almost guaranteed to <a href="https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/travel/easy-travel-hack-can-help-32000241">make sure your checked bag is offloaded first</a>.
So with that, dear readers, I'd like to cut through the noise and compile the ultimate list of JFC-approved travel hacks. What are your go-to tricks for making your trips smoother or cheaper? And what leaves you walking away feeling like you've beat the system?&nbsp;
<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-194-fiji-on-a-budget#comments">Jump into the comments</a> or reply to this email to let us know!
Happy travels and safe landings,

Katy - Editor of The Detour

Walk along Texas streets that inspired rockers and outlaws alike. Adventure, reflection, and the freedom to explore something real&mdash;It&rsquo;s here in Laredo, Texas!

In Partnership with City of Laredo

Fabulous Fiji Off the Honeymoon-Beaten Track

"Question: have you ever put together travel tips to Fiji?&nbsp;
Trying to find info and the thing is, there's just way too much info out there, but it's all messy and mainly targeted to honeymoons, all-inclusive, high-spenders. Looking rather for a more budgetish, non-resort experience." - Salvatore

Detour Editor Katy is a budget travel aficionado who has already travelled to more than 50 countries. Whether she's at home or on a foreign adventure, she has a particular talent for stumbling upon tasty Georgian restaurants.

Answered by Katy

When I read the word &ldquo;Fiji,&rdquo; it immediately conjures up images of the most pristine sandy beaches, the fresh scent of salty seawater, the warmth of the sun on my skin&hellip; and the fear of a terrifying credit card bill.
Even in all our years of flight hacking, we&rsquo;ve never come across a flight to Fiji that I&rsquo;d consider wildly &ldquo;cheap.&rdquo; The lowest we&rsquo;ve ever seen from an airport we cover has to be&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/fiji-new-zealand-in-540s-780s-rt-free">$540 round trip from Los Angeles</a> back in 2023, while Europe&rsquo;s sweetest fare was a Covid-tainted <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/londonmanchester-to-fiji-in-600s700s-rtn">&pound;678 return from Manchester</a>.&nbsp;

Relatively speaking, those are fantastic deals, but from the UK &amp; Europe in particular, it&rsquo;s super rare. Luckily, North America sees decent trips in the $600s fairly regularly, so that would be my top tip for getting to Fiji on a budget &mdash; keep an eye on fares outta LA, San Fran and Vancouver. LA in particular gets lots of low-cost flights from across North America and Europe, so a little DIY multi-city magic can help you work out a cheaper route.
The other (longer, but potentially more exciting) route from Europe would be via China and Australia. We all know by now that Chinese airlines are our cheap tickets to Asia and beyond, so if you manage to snag <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/sydney-melbourne-in-500s-540s-rtn">flights to Sydney for under &pound;600</a>, then grab a <a href="https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhomEgoyMDI1LTEwLTI2KABqBwgBEgNTWURyDQgCEgkvbS8wMjJ3cjMaJhIKMjAyNS0xMS0wMigAag0IAhIJL20vMDIyd3IzcgcIARIDU1lEQAFIAXABggELCP___________wGYAQE&amp;tfu=EgIIACIA">JetStar connection for around &pound;250</a>, you&rsquo;re laughing (in comparison to &pound;1100+ as standard from London).
Once you get to Fiji, it really doesn&rsquo;t have to be all flashy resort vibes, although you may be surprised how affordable some beachfront hotels are; for a week in October, there are options costing around half as much as you would expect in any major city in the US, Canada, or Europe.&nbsp;
The catch is that if you find a cheap resort on one of the outer islands, you may still have to pay extra for a boat transfer to get out there. On top of that, a booking often includes a (mandatory) meal plan, which you will have to pay for on top of your room. So, essentially, do read the fine print!

There are a few JFC-ers among us who have been lucky enough to visit those dreamy Melanesian shores and worked out how to dodge those pricey honeymoon premiums. Here are their affordable Fiji tips:

&ldquo;The octopus resort in the Yasawa Islands, fiji had a dorm as well as bungalows etc when I went (a while ago), it was a great place and very well priced. It was recommended to me and it didn&rsquo;t disappoint&rdquo; - FootlooseCitizen62343
<hr>
&ldquo;A recommendation for the Coral coast&rdquo; is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bedarrafiji.com/">Bedarra Beach Inn</a> which was reasonably priced &amp; had great food, it still gets great reviews on TA. The Fiji TA forum is a great source of info.&rdquo; - Sheena
<hr>
&ldquo;Finally, a topic request I can be useful on! Off the beaten track Fiji. Definitely recommend <a href="https://levukahomestay.com/">Levuka Homestay</a> on the island of Levuka, which you can access by ferry from Suva, the capital, which has a good museum and a few other bits worth visiting. No accommodation recommendation for there as we were lucky enough to get to stay with family. But I can recommend <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/19DbL4ZYyK/">this great walking tour</a>!&rdquo; - Eilidh

To really focus on saving cash on accommodation while you&rsquo;re out there, Sarah in our Facebook community recommends looking out for the one-coconut accommodation:

&ldquo;I flew out there from NZ about 5 years ago. They grade their accommodation in coconuts from 1 to 3. I did the islands on 1 coconut (most economic &amp; mainly dorms &amp; cold water showers but seriously it&rsquo;s ok) which I did on arrival at airport. 3 coconuts you get your own solar heated hut so hot water! Spent 1st day / night in Nadi then the islands. 
The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fiji-bookings.com/ferry/yasawa-flyer">Yasawa Flyer</a> goes up and down the islands each day. I&rsquo;d recommend packing light for getting on &amp; off the Flyer onto transfer boats. The other thing is if [you want to] swim with manta rays, there are other islands offering this experience, not just the very touristy Mantaray island. I&rsquo;d personally recommend <a href="https://www.instagram.com/korovouecotourresort">Korovou</a> to do this but I prefer more eco islands.&rdquo;

Island hopping is a huge draw, but it can rack up the ticket costs. You&rsquo;re best to price up the journeys you plan to take and see how the total compares to the cost of a <a href="https://www.awesomefiji.com/flexible-passes/bula-pass/">Bula Pass</a>. Or, as Lonely Planet suggests, just <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/fiji-on-a-budget">avoid island hopping altogether</a>.&nbsp;
When you&rsquo;re planning your trip, you may find that achieving that balance of affordability and authenticity is the tough part. Reaching the <a href="https://fijipocketguide.com/10-less-travelled-islands-of-fiji/">paths less trodden</a> will cost you in transfers, but it can even out with cheaper homestays and fantastic experiences. Just remember that where there are fewer tourists, there are likely to be fewer amenities, so gear up for a truly authentic slice of island life.
Hopefully, we&rsquo;ve managed to give you a few tips that&rsquo;ll help you plan the Fijian adventure you&rsquo;re dreaming of! And when you get back, please let us know how it went &mdash; I can&rsquo;t wait to see some pictures and hear your stories.
 Is there a destination or travel topic you'd like us to write about in The Detour? Just let us know!

Reader's Corner

Explore the shores, waterways and natural wonders of Daytona Beach, and you&rsquo;ll find serenity around every corner. Where the land ends, vacation begins.

In Partnership with Daytona Beach

Spotted: Rare Fares in the Wild

Flight Finder Akasha finds phenomenal flights faster than you can decide where you want to take a trip to next. A pro at finding the best of the best fares, she's also a master at sharing must-visit spots for when you land.

By Akasha

It's usually pretty quiet at Flight Finder HQ during the July holiday period, but this year's been kinda different&hellip;
With only Spirit and Frontier bothering to show up for 4th of July sales (NYC to Miami at $39 RT? Fine, we&rsquo;ll bite),&nbsp;I was gearing up for a dry, scroll-in-peace type of workday while everyone else BBQed their way into the long weekend.
Then, BOOM! Fireworks. Blink and you'd miss them &mdash; but we didn&rsquo;t, so I wanted to fill you in on all the recent goings-on at Flight Finder HQ.

Flights to Sicily &amp; Sardinia from New York. Guess how much?
Actually, let me rephrase that. How much would YOU expect to pay for the privilege of plopping yourself onto the blissful, sun-soaked shores of the Mediterranean?
$600-$700 round trip? Same. That&rsquo;s around what we'd usually consider a good deal.&nbsp;
But <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/sicily-sardinia-in-350s-460s-rt">these flights</a> with British Airways and ITA? Absolute bangers, with Catania and Palermo at $350-$370 round trip, and Olbia in the $470s. Late summer dates included!
Now that&rsquo;s a party I&rsquo;d RSVP to. And one that Danni, our Head of Socials, already had at her very own Sicilian wedding. I think I get why she chose it&hellip; 👇

Despite what I&rsquo;d been expecting from the holiday weekend, NYC just kept proving it never really sleeps. We also <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/shannon-at-272-rt">found flights</a> to Shannon (aka the superior end of Ireland, especially for those postcard views) in the $270s &mdash; the lowest we&rsquo;ve seen, like, ever.&nbsp;
Up North, there was a little more on offer when it came to Canada Day. Between <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/canada-in-90s-170s-rt">domestic sales</a>&nbsp;and explaining why <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/faroe-islands-at-656-rt">a rare Faroe Islands road trip</a> is precisely what you need to get you through the week (especially at that price), our Canadian Flight Finders were also celebrating <a href="https://www.canadiansky.co.uk/alberta-holidays/calgary/experiencing-the-calgary-stampede">Stampede season</a>.
And while the boots and bolo ties did come out in Calgary, our team still made sure that you Canadian members didn&rsquo;t suffer the same fate as Canada Lead Kristi &mdash; missing out on&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/costa-rica-in-360s-490s-rt">trips to Costa Rica</a> in the $360s-$490s:

It wasn't quiet across the other side of the pond, either.
Flight Finder Iris has been taking her role as&nbsp;that friend who can always pull some strings seriously. She found super swanky flights to Bangkok, Hanoi, Phuket and more Asian cities for both our&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/asia-in-470s-590s-rtn">EU (&euro;470s-&euro;590s)</a> and <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/asia-in-500s-590s510s-550s-rtn">UK (&pound;500s-&pound;590s)</a> members with Qatar. You know, the &lsquo;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/17/travel/worlds-best-airline-2025-skytrax">World&rsquo;s Best Airline</a>&rsquo;!&nbsp;
And at the same time, Flight Finder Lauren was on her drama llama arc &mdash; preaching the gospel of off-season Peru to lucky JFC-ers in Brussels. The girl has a point, especially since you got rare <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/lima-at-617-rtn-from-brussels">spring trips at &euro;617</a>.&nbsp;
But the fares that had us fully feral? Like, passport in mouth, &ldquo;I could pack in 10-minutes&rdquo; energy?

Norse Atlantic&rsquo;s new routes from Oslo and Stockholm to Phuket, and Manchester to Bangkok. We even managed to find fares to <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/flights/bangkok-at-256-rtn">Bangkok for &pound;256 return</a>! But just 20 minutes after hitting publish, they were already gone.
So, JFC-ers, we see your clicks, but now we want the tea. Which of these flights had you hovering over the &ldquo;Book Now&rdquo; button? Or is there somewhere else that tickled your fancy?
Let us know&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/articles/detour-194-fiji-on-a-budget#comments">in the comments</a> or by hitting &lsquo;Reply&rsquo; to this email.&nbsp;
Until next time!

Flight Finder's Corner

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul>
<li>In major news for any regular visitors to US airports, you'll no longer have to <a href="https://www.afar.com/magazine/tsa-ends-shoe-removal-requirement-during-security-checks">take off your shoes</a> at security! </li>
<li>Turns out it's <a href="https://queenonajourney.com/demographic-of-solo-female-travellers-the-statistics-may-surprise-you/">never too late to dabble in solo travel</a> - the majority of solo female travelers are actually aged 45+. </li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.timeout.com/news/the-italian-island-named-the-worlds-most-colourful-destination-070725">world's most colorful destination</a> has been crowned, and it's caused a&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of controversy at JFC HQ. Where would you choose? </li>
<li>And finally, even the most confident flyers among us have sat on a plane loo and wondered about the alarmingly forceful vacuum mere inches below our nether regions and whether it'll suck us away. So for next time you need a comfort break at 38,000ft,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.popsci.com/science/how-do-airplane-toilets-work/">here's how airplane toilets actually work</a>.</li>
</ul>

Fiji

Fiji, Australia & New Zealand in $610s-$890s RT

Fiji at $992 RT

Fiji in $790s RT

Fiji in $540s-$630s RT

Fiji in $760s-$890s RT

Fiji in £870s-£980s rtn

Ringing in 2026 with Our Travel Memories

Fiji on a Budget - Avoiding Resorts and Honeymoon Premiums

Postcard from PioneeringExcursionist57925

Postcard from Keith

Postcard from Bilty