By Erin Gifford

When Damian Nichols of Chandler, Ariz., craves fajitas from his favorite Mexican restaurant, D'Corazon in Denver, he doesn't just dream about it -- he and his wife book a two-hour flight. "We go up for lunch and just turn around and come back," Nichols said matter-of-factly, as if this is a totally reasonable thing to do. The kicker? At about $70, the whole trip rings up for less than a typical dinner in Scottsdale.

What's the trick? Nichols's escapades are aided by Frontier Airlines' GoWild! Annual Pass, an all-you-can-fly subscription service that launched in late 2022 for travel starting in the spring of 2023. For an annual fee starting at $599, the deal lets members book domestic flights for one penny (plus taxes) -- provided they book no earlier than the day before departure.

Extreme day trips -- in which travelers fly out in the morning, sightsee (or just grab a leisurely meal), then fly home -- might seem outrageous, but the concept has been popular in the U.K. for years. A bounty of low-cost airlines and relatively short distances between European cities make such quick-hit getaways surprisingly doable. Now, as user-friendly flight-tracking sites and programs like the GoWild! pass proliferate stateside, a growing number of American travelers have embraced the "notel" (short for "no hotel required") lifestyle.

Social media fuels the buzz. New York City-based traveler Kevin Droniak, who chronicles his extreme day trips -- some to places as far-flung as London and Paris -- has racked up more than 190,000 Instagram followers. Droniak scours Expedia and Google Flights for cheap round-trip fares, aiming to pay less than $250 for domestic trips and under $500 for international. While he prefers Delta for reliability, ultimately, "I really tend to go with just whatever's cheapest. I just love to get on a plane and go somewhere new."

Nichols, who has taken nearly 60 such jaunts to cities like Houston and San Diego from his home airport in Phoenix, routinely wakes by 5 a.m. on a Saturday, sees where he can go and books a flight on the spot.

Websites like the 1491 Club ease planning. A subscription service that pinpoints same-day return flights on Frontier, it also tracks offerings from a handful of other budget carriers. "When you can visit a place for the day for 30 bucks, it's kind of like, why not?" said co-founder Brad Nelson. "People are addicted to it."

Across the pond, "notel" trips can seem even more routine. The Facebook group Extreme Day Trips counts 314,000 members, many of whom regularly hop around Europe on budget carriers like Ryanair and easyJet. The group was founded by Michael Cracknell, a UPS driver from Brighton, U.K., who started it "to show people that you can do more in a day than you think, " he said.

Software developer Rick Blyth launched the unaffiliated website and mobile app Extreme Day Trips in late 2024 to help U.K.-based travelers discover same-day flight options. Though it's currently free, Blyth plans to introduce a premium version later this year, featuring upgrades like advanced search filters and real-time price alerts.

Want to give it a whirl? To hedge your bets, experienced extreme day-trippers suggest choosing destinations with several same-day return flights -- think major hubs like Chicago or Houston. Frontier's GoWild! Pass works best for travelers based in cities like Denver and Atlanta, where that airline has a strong presence, maximizing options.

Droniak readily admits that his adventures can fall short of glamorous. A day trip to a Puerto Rico beach might sound dreamy, but in reality, it can mean spending hours in a sopping wet shirt after a morning rainstorm; then, with no access to a real shower, squeezing, still soggy, into an economy seat in the back of the plane to get home.

"When it comes to day trips, you have to embrace any kind of weather," he noted in a recent Instagram video. Flight delays can also torpedo the best-laid plans, and if you miss your return flight, you might have to shell out for a hotel -- defeating the whole "notel" premise.

But then, there are bragging rights. Cracknell once took his 80-year-old dad and two brothers to Athens for the day.

"We went to the Acropolis, had a three-course lunch, and everything came to 147 pounds each -- about $160," he recalled. "If I'd just bought a train ticket to Athens, that alone would have cost about $200."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 11, 2025 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.