August 20, 2003 -- Are the stars in the right position for low airfares? No, it's just mid-August, and all the major airlines are trying to drum up business for fall with sale after sale.
As a result, what we've got right now is less about specific sales than about a general atmosphere of great fares, where prices are being matched, lowered, and matched again. We suggest using a major travel agency site to compare fares. Here are some of the sales that are setting the pace at the moment:
United's "Go, go, stay" sale combines low fares and free hotel nights. Book at United's discounted rate and spend three nights (including a Saturday) in a Hilton hotel booked through Hilton or United, and you get the third night free. United's best fare is international, not domestic: a gorgeous $330 roundtrip including tax between New York and London, for outbound travel between Sept. 2 and Oct. 31. Most of United's domestic fares are competitive, but not extraordinary: for instance, Denver to New Orleans for $198 plus tax roundtrip and Chicago to the West Coast for $248 plus tax.
Book flights online here and get your hotel at www.hiltonhhonors.com/gogostay. To find out what the special hotel rates are before you book, call 800-HHONORS or an individual hotel and ask what the "Go, go, stay" rate is. You may find lower hotel rates through consolidators such as Expedia or Priceline, but three nights for the price of two is a compelling deal.
American Airlines has a slew of competing and overlapping sales. Their Fall & Winter Sale sets compelling roundtrip fares for trips through January 16 if you book now, and includes a lot of smaller markets. American is offering literally hundreds of routes for $198 roundtrip plus tax, including trips like Albuquerque to Cleveland, Burbank to New Orleans, and Portland (OR) to Hartford (CT). Their sale is so broad that an airport near you is probably included, wherever you are in the US.
American's sale is almost certainly in part a reaction to Southwest's ongoing systemwide sale, where all fares on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are $39-99 each way and travel other days is capped at $139 each way, as long as you buy 14 days in advance and make your purchase by August 28. Long trips like Albuquerque to Islip are $198 roundtrip, where short trips like Chicago to Nashville are a mere $78. Southwest's fares often go this low, but they almost never go lower than this, so now is a great time to buy.
Many of the fares in Delta's current sale look higher than American and Southwest fares, but don't count them out entirely; if you're trying to go from Louisville to Tallahassee to visit family, $152 is a great roundtrip fare. Buy these tickets by August 24 to get the best fares.
Northwest's sale is also a mixed bag. For instance, they're offering Nashville to New Orleans for $122, slightly above Southwest's $112 roundtrip sale fare. But $218 for Orlando to Seattle is quite good.
Other sales come from ATA (www.ata.com/sales/general/030808_pg1.html) and US Airways (www.usairways.com/promotions/specials/wwsav.htm), and we've previously mentioned (and praised) JetBlue's and Spirit's current sales.
What's a traveler to do in such a crazy, cutthroat atmosphere? Search methodically. If you've got time, we suggest using the following resources:
1. Search for your airfares on Expedia (www.expedia.com), Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), and Orbitz (www.orbitz.com). Between them, the "big three" have Web fares from all the major airlines. (The domestic fare sales listed on Orbitz are really just combinations of the sales above.)
2. Double check your chosen fare on an airline's own site to see if you can get additional discounts.
3. Check for your route online through Southwest (www.iflyswa.com), JetBlue (www.jetblue.com), ATA (www.ata.com) and Spirit (www.flyspirit.com) -- the major travel agencies don't always report their fares correctly. Also check any other small airlines you know fly out of your town. And enjoy your low fall fares!
