Midwest Airlines Peak Holiday Sale
Long before you've even stepped foot in the airport, holiday travel can get pretty ugly. Step one: you shop around for a ticket. You wince and cringe at the sight of these whopper fares before resigning to the idea that you're going to be getting ripped off anyway, and just buy the darn thing before another valuable hour ticks by and they hike the price up another hundred bucks. That's how it goes sometimes at least. Other times, you catch a break, as is the case with this holiday sale from Midwest Airlines (tel. 800/452-2022; www.midwestairlines.com). Holiday sales are by no means a rarity, with every airline and their brother offering some strain of one, but typically their valid dates and your actual holiday don't match up as well as you'd hoped. So we were pleased to see actual peak holiday travel dates available from this Midwest sale. Sample round-trip fares include:
- Omaha to Minneapolis: $189
- Milwaukee to Omaha: $169
- Austin to Milwaukee: $189
- Nashville to Omaha: $169
- Washington D.C. to Omaha: $189
- Boston to Green Bay: $210
- Milwaukee to Indianapolis: $159
- Milwaukee to Kansas City: $169
- New York to Grand Rapids: $210
- Newark to Des Moines: $210
- Columbus to Green Bay: $179
- Charlotte to Omaha: $189
This sale is good for travel from December 18 through January 6, 2008, and all purchases must be made by December 17.
JetBlue Sale Ends Soon
Hurry and you could just catch it. JetBlue (tel. 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com) is having a four-day sale that ends December 14. They've shaved a few bucks off their normal fares ($20-$30 off short haul routes, a bit more on long haul) for travel January 8 through February 13, 2008.
If you like the time saved by a flexible date search, you'll find most of these fares on Travelocity, Orbitz and Cheapair, but we found lower fares on the JFK to Cancun route on JetBlue itself, and JetBlue has some routes for even less than in this sale, for even longer travel periods. Other airlines quickly matched most routes, but JetBlue flies many of these routes nonstop and the others don't.
Silverjet 5% Off
OK, so it's not a lot but it's better than nuthin'. Silverjet (tel. 877/359-7458; www.flysilverjet.com) is offering a 5% discount off all fares when you book on their site and use promo code 16688X. This offer applies to their all business class flights between New York JFK and London or Dubai and travel must be completed by Dec 31.
South America on Sale
If you're planning a mid-winter jaunt to South America, this is a good time to do your shopping. First up, American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) is having a sale on travel to Buenos Aires, Panama City, and San Jose. With the exception of folks traveling from New York and Miami (which we'll get to next), this sale is going to going to be your best bet. Sample round-trip fares, including taxes, are:
- Albuquerque to Panama City: $469
- Dallas/Ft Worth to Panama City: $474
- Las Vegas to Panama City: $529
- Seattle to Panama City: $529
- Toronto to Panama City: $686
- Chicago to Buenos Aires: $849
- Denver to Buenos Aires: $949
- Detroit to Buenos Aires: $949
- Los Angeles to Buenos Aires: $949
- San Diego to Buenos Aires: $949
Now, for you folks in New York to Miami, TAM Linhas Areas (tel. 888/235-9826; www.tamairlines.com) has some incredible early spring fares down to Brazil, and not just your usual Rio and Sao Paulo either. You'll also find a few stray fares (round-trip, including taxes as well) to Paraguay, too.
- Miami to Rio de Janeiro: $643
- New York to Rio de Janeiro: $643
- Miami to Sao Paulo: $635
- New York to Sao Paulo: $635
- Miami to Asuncion, Paraguay: $599
- New York to Asuncion, Paraguay: $599
- Miami to Belem, Brazil: $635
- New York to Belem, Brazil: $725
- Miami to Belo Horizonte, Brazil: $683
- New York to Belo Horizonte, Brazil: $721
- Miami to Brasilia, Brazil: $683
- New York to Brasilia, Brazil: $691
- Miami to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: $599
- New York to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: $599
- Miami to Curitiba, Brazil: $683
- New York to Curitiba, Brazil: $691
- New York to Florianopolis, Brazil: $721
- Miami to Fortaleza, Brazil: $635
- New York to Fortaleza, Brazil: $721
- Miami to Recife, Brazil: $691
- New York to Recife: $721
- New York to Salvador Bahia, Brazil: $691
US Airways to Hawaii
Need a holiday to recover from your holidays? Do your defrazzling in Hawaii. We've seen a whole heap of great round-trip fares to Honolulu this week, starting with US Airways (tel. 800/428-4322; www.usairways.com):
- Anchorage to Honolulu: $539
- Atlanta to Honolulu: $592
- Austin to Honolulu: $539
- Baltimore to Honolulu: $559
- Cleveland to Honolulu: $443
- Denver to Honolulu: $511
- Hartford to Honolulu: $559
- Houston to Honolulu: $422
- Salt Lake City to Honolulu: $511
- Washington D.C. to Honolulu: $580
ATA Sale to Hawaii
And of course, US Airways isn't the only game in town. ATA (tel. 800/435-9282; www.ata.com) is having a sale to Hawaii (Hilo, Honolulu, Kona, Lihue and Maui) from practically every city they fly from. And other carriers are matching. Sample round-trip fares include:
- Albany to Honolulu: $570 (also on Continental & Northwest)
- Boise to Honolulu: $458
- Buffalo to Honolulu: $590 (also on Continental & Northwest)
- Burbank to Honolulu: $378
- Columbus to Honolulu: $478
- Dallas to Honolulu: $498
- El Paso to Honolulu: $418
- Fargo to Honolulu: $546 (also on Northwest)
- Kansas City to Honolulu: $458
- Las Vegas to Honolulu: $375
- Nashville to Honolulu: $566 (also on Continental & Northwest)
- Sacramento to Honolulu: $418
- San Diego to Honolulu: $398
- St Louis to Honolulu: $458
- Tucson to Honolulu: $418
And while is sale is predominantly to/from Hawaii, ATA's thrown in some random fares such as Columbus, OH to/from Dallas/Ft. Worth for $79 one-ways (vs Travelocity's lowest listed fare of $89 one-way); Chicago Midway to/from Guadalajara for $102 one-way; and Chicago Midway to/from Cancun for $119 one-way.
Travel is for off-peak only through March 7, 2008, and must be purchased by Dec 18, 2007. Blackouts and other restrictions may apply.
- Appleton to Honolulu: $568 (also Northwest)
- Birmingham to Honolulu: $566 (also on Continental & Northwest)
Additional Reporting by Tracy W. Stewart and Kim Liang
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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