Study identifies most expensive airports

Houston, Washington and Newark have the highest average fares

Looking for a cheap flight? You might want to fly on past Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Washington's Dulles International and Newark's Liberty International.

They have the highest average fares of 20 major international airports studied by LetsFlyCheaper.com, a travel site. Las Vegas' McCarran International was the least expensive of the 20 large international airport included in the study.

The three most expensive airports are all United hubs, the survey noted. United has been aggressive in recovering higher fuel costs. 

The airports were ranked on the cost of a domestic, round trip air fare against the national average U.S domestic fare cost of $384.81 during the second quarter of 2012. Lets Fly Cheaper used data directly from the Bureau of Transportation Statics.

Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport was ranked as the most expensive airport to use in 2012 with an average domestic round trip fare coming in at $517.50. Washington's Dulles International was a close second with an average, round trip fare of $504.20. Newark's Liberty International came in third at $480.30 for a domestic fare.

Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport ranked number twenty with an average domestic round trip fare costing $281.10, which is well below the national average.

"This is a good thing for McCarran. They are a hub for a few low cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines and Allegiant. We anticipate McCarran will likely rank among the cheapest airports to fly in and out of in 2013 with the addition of Spirit Airlines, which recently made Vegas one of their newest hub airports" said Lets Fly Cheaper CEO Ramon vanMeer. Spirit Airlines is among the cheapest U.S carriers and continues to increase their destination routes in and out of McCarran.

Below is the complete list based on the national domestic round trip average of $384.81:

Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport - $517.50

Washing Dulles International Airport - $504.20

Newark Liberty International Airport - $480.30

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport - $449.40

San Francisco International Airport - $425.70

Los Angeles International Airport - $418.00

Philadelphia International Airport - $412.50

Charlotte Douglas International Airport KCLT - $410.00

New York Kennedy International Airport - $405.50

Chicago O'Hare International Airport - $392.50

Seattle Tacoma International Airport - $391.70

Boston Logan International Airport - $386.60

San Diego's Lindberg International Airport - $372.80

Miami International Airport -$371.80

Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport - $366.60

New York's LaGuardia International Airport - $365.80

Baltimore Washington International Airport - $353.30

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport - $342.20

Denver International Airport - $326.10                                                           

Las Vegas McCarran International Airport - $281.10