Central and South America Sale from American Airlines
American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) is having a sale to Central and South America for late summer/early fall travel. This sale is good for outbound travel August 30 through December 10, and returning no later than December 13. All tickets must be booked by August 6. Sample fares include:
- Boston to Bogota, $368 round-trip
- Chicago to Rio de Janeiro, $674 round-trip
- Dallas to Managua, Nicaragua, $423 round-trip
- Miami to Caracas, Venezuela, $368 round-trip
- Philadelphia to Guatemala City, Guatemala, $358 round-trip
- Las Vegas to Belize City, Belize, $398 round-trip
- Los Angeles to Guatemala City, Guatemala, $378 round-trip
JetBlue Deals from Amex
Shave $10 off a one-way JetBlue (tel. 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com) fare when you book using your Amex card via this page at JetBlue.com. The discounts are combinable, so you can get up to $20 off on a round-trip if both flights meet the rules of the promotion.
This offer expires on 8/31, and is valid for flights between September 5, 2007 and October 31, 2007, excluding Friday and Sunday travel.
SAS Fall Sale
Scandinavian Airlines (tel. 800/221-2350; www.sas.se) is having a fall sale from most of its US gateways to, you guessed it, Scandinavia. Purchase by August 13 for travel September 10 through December 13. Fares are lower for travel in late fall, or October 29 through December 13.
- Tampa to Copenhagen, starting from $272 each-way: For travel in early fall (September 10 through September 20), the best we were able to find was about $344 each-way, which comes to $780 round-trip, including taxes. Oddly enough, we found these exact same dates on Orbitz for $736 round-trip, including taxes, with a United/SAS and Lufthansa share.
- New York to Oslo, starting from $319 each-way: We found $275 each-way, or $655 round-trip, including taxes, for travel on October 3 through October 14. This matches the lowest fare we found on Orbitz for these dates, on Continental.
- Washington to Stockholm, starting from $345 each-way: Using October 19 through October 29 as our dates of travel, we found a fare of $730 round-trip, taxes included. Meanwhile, on Orbitz, these dates gave us a lower fare of $667 round-trip, including tax, on Icelandair.
- Los Angeles to Copenhagen, starting from $391 each-way: Departing September 16 and returning September 27, we found $873 round-trip, including taxes. Our follow-up search for the same trip on Orbitz listed a lower fare of $828 round-trip, including all taxes, with Delta Airlines.
- Seattle to Stockholm, starting from $353 each-way (late fall): We found $798 round-trip, including all taxes, for November 6 through November 13. Orbitz lists $809 round-trip, including tax, as their lowest fare, on a United/SAS share for the same trip.
- Atlanta to Gothenburg, starting from $272 each-way (late fall): For November 30 through December 11, we found $655 round-trip, including taxes. By plugging in these same dates on Orbitz, we were able to find a lower fare of $585 round-trip, including tax, on a United/SAS and Lufthansa share.
Typically, these sales offered by SAS are a disappointment and this one is no exception. We found a lower fare on Orbitz in almost every case we checked. Also, why do airlines still bother advertising fares one-way based on round-trip? How hard is it to multiply something by two? Sheesh.
Alaska Airlines Sale to Mexico
Alaska Airlines (tel. 800/426-0333; www.alaskaair.com) is taking 20% off fares from California, Washington State, Oregon, and Reno to most cities it serves in Mexico.
Sure, the taxes and fees strike us as ridiculously high ($100 plus in some cases!) but it's still better than what other airlines are offering. Some sample fares include:
- Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, $211 round-trip, including taxes
- San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, $243 round-trip, including taxes
- San Francisco to Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, $311 round-trip, including all taxes
- Portland to Guadalajara, $307 round-trip, including all taxes
- Seattle to Guadalajara, $332 round-trip, including all taxes
- Eugene to Mexico City $315 round-trip, including all taxes
This sale ends midnight PT on Aug. 5. Travel Sept. 5 to Nov. 15. Book only on Alaska's site using e-Cert code EC04607.
Florida in Fall Sale
AirTran (tel. 800/AIR-TRAN; www.airtran.com) is having a Chicago to Orlando, $128 round-trip
The Ever-Elusive Rule 240
Familiar with Rule 240? Traditionally, rule 240 specified that if an airline couldn't get you to your destination on time, they were required to put you on a competitor's flight if it would get you there faster than your original airline's next flight. There's been some buzz about it this week. Some folks claim it no longer exists. What do we think? Check out the Airfarewatchblog, where we take a closer look at rule 240 and all its current mutations.
Additional Reporting by Tracy W. Stewart and Grace Park
George Hobica is a syndicated travel journalist and blogger whose website, www.airfarewatchdog.com, tracks unadvertised airfare wars and fare sales, including the most helpful and always updated Top 50 Airfares.
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