How Low Can They Go? Fly South this Winter for Less

By Charis Atlas Heelan

The new year is already off to a flying start thanks to some of our favorite discount airlines. The usual suspects are making it easier to get to sunny destinations, and a couple of the big boys are fiddling with reducing their fares.

JetBlue (tel. 800/JET BLUE; www.jetblue.com) turns five this year, but you're the one receiving the gifts. Their special "Take 5" sale fares take in a number of highly sought after sunny destinations in Florida and the Caribbean.

One-way fares include:

$55 New York or Boston to Orlando or Tampa
$55 Washington, D.C. to Fort Lauderdale
$65 New York or Boston to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, or West Palm Beach
$65 Buffalo, Burlington, Rochester, or Syracuse to Orlando or Tampa
$75 New York to San Juan or Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
$75 New York to Santiago or Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
$85 Buffalo, Burlington, Rochester, or Syracuse to San Juan or Aguadilla, Puerto Rico or Santiago or Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
$95 New York to Nassau, Bahamas

Taxes are additional. A five-day advance purchase is required, and these fares must be booked by January 18, 2005. Travel for all Florida destinations must be completed by February 15, 2005. Travel to Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic destinations must be completed by May 25, 2005.

Sales fares are most often available for midweek travel. All fares are nonrefundable, and nontransferable. Changes can be made online prior to scheduled departure for $20 with applicable fare adjustment.

Song (tel. 800/FLY SONG; www.flysong.com) has joined in the cost-cutting celebrations with its own discount fares that match JetBlue's on many sectors and even beat them on fares to the Bahamas.

Sample one-way fares include:

$55 New York, Newark or Boston to Orlando
$55 New York or Boston to Tampa
$65 News York or Boston to West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale or Fort Myers
$84 New York to Nassau, Bahamas

Taxes are additional. Tickets must be purchased by January 15, 2005 with at least five-days advance purchase required. Valid for travel until February 15, 2005 with no blackout dates but seats are limited and non-refundable.

Southwest's (tel. 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com) "Fly South for the Winter" Internet-only specials include low price fares from the Northeast and Chicago to Florida destinations including Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay, and West Palm Beach. One-way fares to any of these destinations are available at one low price -- $49 plus taxes from the following departure cities: Albany, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Hartford, Long Island, Manchester, New York and Philadelphia.

Seven-day advance purchase required and bookings must be made by midnight (PT) January 16, 2005. Valid for travel until February 17, 2005. Fares are nonrefundable but may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines. Seats are limited.

And last but not least, Spirit Airlines (tel. 800/772-7117; www.spiritairlines.com) is sharing the spirit of the new year with its super-low priced sectors.

One-way selections, based on a round-trip purchase include:

$47 Chicago to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, or Tampa
$48 Atlantic City to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, or Tampa
$69 Detroit to West Palm Beach, Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, or Tampa
$74 Providence to Fort Lauderdale or Fort Myers
$99 Providence, Washington DC, New York or Chicago to Nassau, Bahamas

Taxes are additional and some restrictions apply. Flights from Atlantic City are valid until February 15, 2005 and those from Chicago to Florida are valid until February 10, 2005. No restrictions on validity dates are provided for remaining sectors.

Major US carriers are scrambling to match prices on similar routes as well as the big three booking sites of Expedia (www.expedia.com), Orbitz (www.orbitz.com) and Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), so be sure to comparison shop (Orbitz is even throwing in a "free" Blackberry PDA with certain purchases made online). USAir (www.usairways.com) announced a sale as we went to press, and, more importantly, the industry is all a-jitter waiting on the formal announcement of a complete fare-structure overhaul at Delta (www.delta.com). Stay tuned for news on that. In the meantime, with prices this low, it's hard to imagine that seats won't fill extremely quickly so I'd recommend booking soon. Escape the blistery winter this year -- sun, beach and relaxation await you.