LA to London $567 Round-Trip Nonstop Including Taxes
Air New Zealand (tel. 800/262-1234; www.airnewzealand.com) is offering $460 RT fares (really $567 round-trip once you work in all the taxes) from Los Angeles to London. Searching on Travelocity using February 3 outbound and return a week later, we found $618 round-trip on Virgin Atlantic and $619 round-trip on Air New Zealand, so obviously you can save a few bucks booking directly with Air New Zealand. Purchase through February 19 and travel outbound January 22 through February 22 with all travel completed by February 28. There's a 4-day advance purchase.
Ireland in January From $228 Round-Trip Plus Tax
Aer Lingus (tel. 800/474-7424; www.flyaerlingus.com) is having a sale to Dublin and Shannon from its four US gateways for travel between January 1 and 31, 2006 from $228 round-trip plus tax. Click on the 'View all low fares' link at the bottom of the homepage. Departures from New York-JFK or Boston start from $224 round-trip, from Chicago-O'Hare at $248 round-trip and from Los Angeles at $388 round-trip. If you're traveling between New York-JFK and Dublin, departing on January 9 and returning on January 17, to cite one example, the sale fare with taxes comes to $319, and the lowest fare found on Travelocity is $485 on United on the same dates. Availability is rather limited, however, the booking engine on Aer Lingus gives you a two-week window of dates to choose from, and lists the price for each day during that window. So if you have relatively flexible travel dates, you can save money by booking on their site.
Inter-Japan Airpass $99 per Flight
Flying between cities in Japan is extremely expensive. So to help lighten that burden, and to support the current "Visit Japan Campaign," Japan Airlines (tel. 800/525-3663; www.japanair.com) is offering the "Yokoso Japan" Airpass, for travel between 42 Japanese cities with savings of up to 80 percent off the regular unrestricted fares. The Airpass costs ¥11,100 or US $99 per sector one-way, and each traveler is allowed to purchase a minimum of one and a maximum of five sectors. So, let's say you're going to be in Japan in March, and would like to fly from Tokyo to Sapporo on March 4. The current one-way fare would cost you US $234 one-way, plus taxes and fees (that's right, one-way), according to Travelocity, whereas, the Yosoko fare is only US $99 one-way plus tax. The pass is valid for travel through March 31, 2006, and blackouts are in effect between December 23, 2005 and January 9, 2006. The Airpass is valid for travelers residing outside of Japan who will be flying to Japan using Japan Airlines.
Alaska Air Award Tickets Between Select Cities for 13,000 Miles
Alaska Airlines (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com) is offering mileage award tickets for travel between cities in Canada, Oregon, Texas or Washington for only 13,000 miles, instead of the usual 20,000 miles. Travel through December 13, 2005. Space using these "saver awards" is limited and may not be available during peak travel periods. Blackouts on November 26-28, 2005.
Last Minute Thanksgiving Sale to/from Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Salt Lake City
Delta Air Lines (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com) has a huge sale going on for travel to or from its Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Salt Lake City hubs, with outbound travel on November 24 and 25, and return on November 25, 29, or 30. Obviously, these are "off-peak" times, but they'll still get you to the dinner table in time. For example, Atlanta to Akron for $128 RT leaves at 11:06 AM on Thanksgiving Day and lands you at 12:50 PM; leave the next day, or stay until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. This sale is not system-wide but many cities are included, and in general other airlines are not matching.
Just a few examples:
- Salt Lake City to/from Portland $148 round-trip
- Denver to/from Atlanta $168 round-trip
- Tulsa to/from Cincinnati $148 round-trip
- Spokane to/from Salt Lake City $128 round-trip
- New York to/from Cincinnati $148 round-trip
- Kansas City to/from Atlanta $148 round-trip
- Washington to/from Atlanta $128 round-trip
- Colorado Springs to/from Atlanta $168 round-trip
- Cincinnati to/from Houston $158 round-trip
Boston to/from D.C. for $25 One-Way
JetBlue (tel. 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com) who will be starting daily non-stop service between Boston and Washington, DC-Dulles on January 17, is offering a fare of only $25 one-way (with no round-trip purchase required). The next lowest fare is $39 one-way through Continental, Independence and United. There's still excellent availability. A 7-day advance purchase is required, and travel through February 15, 2006. Tickets must be purchased by November 30, 2005 after which seats will cost $55 to $140 one-way.
Thanksgiving in Hawaii from "$99 One Way"
Aloha Airlines (tel. 800/367-5250; www.alohaairlines.com) is touting a last minute Thanksgiving travel sale for $99 one-way Honolulu, Kona and Maui from Orange County, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego (round-trip purchase not required). Usually when Aloha has a sale like this it's next to impossible to find seats and this time is no different (quite frankly, "sales" like these are the stuff that some travel deal newsletters and website dreams are made of, since they do compel travelers to open-and-click, only to have their hopes dashed). For example, searching from San Diego to Maui the only dates available at the advertised fare seem to be departing on November 23 and returning on November 24 for a total of $230 round-trip, including taxes and fees (the same deal is available on Travelocity) -- not exactly the stuff that vacations are made of, but should you be planning on relocating to Maui then yes indeed, November 23 would make a superb moving day at $111 one-way. Playing around with dates on Aloha's site, departing on November 24, and returning on November 25, the price jumped to $878 round-trip; returning on the 26, it's $588 round-trip; or return on the 27th for $878 round-trip; the 29th for $563 round-trip; or the 30th for $513 round-trip. Whatever happened to $198? The same goes for Orange County to Honolulu, which is advertised for $226 round-trip. Try coming back 26th through 30th, the fares go up to anywhere between $533 and $894 round-trip. Tickets must be booked by November 23 but really, don't bother.
Spirit's Syber Specials
Spirit Airlines (tel. 800/772-7117; www.spiritair.com) is for a limited time offering their weekly Syber Specials, starting from $46 round-trip. As usual, these fares are good, and are almost always the lowest available in the market or are matched by just one or two airlines if at all. Travel between Detroit and Washington, DC National is $78 round-trip, for example, with Northwest matching although the Spirit sale for this city pair is valid for travel November 30, December 1, 3, and 5 to 7. The Northwest fare is for travel Monday through Thursday, between November 29 and December 15. All city pairs have varying travel dates, but all are between November 24 and December 7.
Notable fares include:
- Atlantic City to San Juan $77 each way
- Detroit to Las Vegas $73 each way
- Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale $23 each way
- New York to Myrtle Beach $57 each way
- Providence to Ft. Myers $67 each way
Tickets must be booked by 11:59, EST, November 23.
George Hobica is a syndicated travel journalist and blogger whose website, www.airfarewatchdog.com, tracks unadvertised airfare wars and other fare sales.
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