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Take Advantage of Current Fare Sales to Head Ho-Ho-Home or Get Away from it All

Whether it's cross country or well out of the country, we've rounded up the best sales available. Don't delay though; seats are often limited and sell out quickly.

Dallas to/from St. Louis or Kansas City $100 Round-Trip Including Taxes

American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) and Southwest (tel. 800-435-9792; www.southwest.com) are duking it out between Dallas and either St. Louis or Kansas City. Fares are $49 one-way and travel is between December 13 and January 31, with no advance purchase. And if you use discount code FPX7HS3MY3VD in the AA.com discount code box at the very bottom of the booking form, you'll get an additional 15 percent off these already low fares (basically, it's like getting the taxes and fees for free, with a total fare of about $100 round-trip). Southwest is offering the same deal, but use discount code LUVSTL (of course, its flights are between Dallas Love Field and St. Louis or Kansas City, same travel dates).

India from LA or San Francisco from $1,057 Round-Trip

Cathay Pacific (tel. 800/233-2742; www.cathayusa.com) is having a sale to either Delhi or Mumbai from both Los Angeles and San Francisco that'll save you a bit of money. If you depart January 11 and return on the 18, 2006, for example, the sale fare from Los Angeles to Delhi, with taxes and fees comes to $1,138 round-trip (base fare is $883 round-trip with $250 in taxes), whereas the lowest fare on Travelocity is on Air India for $1,264 round-trip. If you depart on January 24 and return on the 30th, San Francisco to Mumbai is also $1,138 round-trip versus $1,314 on Cathay Pacific through Travelocity. Even better, since the flight will be flying through Hong Kong, you're allowed a free stopover in Hong Kong, paying only for the airport fees. Availability in January and February is rather limited, so if you want to travel either month try to be flexible with your dates. Travel between January 1 and April 1, 2006. Tickets must be purchased by December 15, 2005.

Save $20 off Spirit's Round-Trip Fares to the Caribbean

Spirit Airlines (tel. 800/772-7117; www.spiritair.com) is currently offering $20 savings on all round-trip tickets purchased through their site to the Caribbean. Their fares are typically low already, but the additional savings makes for an even more appealing bargain. For example, New York to Nassau is $88 round-trip versus $98 round-trip on American and Northwest; Detroit to Montego Bay is $188 round-trip versus $208 round-trip on American and Delta; and Dallas to St. Thomas is $188 round-trip versus $208 round-trip on American. The fares are still relatively easy to find. Travel Tuesday or Wednesday between December 20, 2005 and March 29, 2006, and book your tickets before 11:59PM, EST on December 14. Also of note, the other airlines' fares are only travel through February.

Online Only Sale with Alaska Air

Alaska Airlines (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com) is having a system-wide sale that's available on their site only. The majority of the fares are not bad: Portland, OR to/from San Jose is $69 one-way versus $79 one-way on American, Delta and United; San Francisco to/from Vancouver is $113 one-way versus $135 one-way on Delta; and Los Angeles to/from Seattle is $99 one-way versus $104 one-way on United. Round-trip purchase not required. Travel January 5 and February 15, 2006, with a 21-day advance purchase. Tickets must be purchased by December 22, 2005

Big Southwest Sale for Phoenix

The weekly Click 'n Save special from Southwest Airlines (tel. 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com) is highlighting Phoenix this week, but many other destinations are included and some competitors are matching. Phoenix to/from Chicago Midway is $89 one-way, no round-trip purchase required (also $89 one-way on the major airlines, but their last day of travel is March 7, 2006); Phoenix to/from Las Vegas is $34 one-way (versus $49 one-way on US Airways); and Phoenix to/from New Orleans is $104 one-way (matched by US Airways, but travel through March 1, 2006 only). Fares range from $34 to $124 one-way and as always you may do better with a Southwest Ding fare (sign up for Ding service on their site if you use a compatible Microsoft Windows operating system). Purchase by December 15, midnight Pacific Time; travel January 3 through March 31, 2006; and comply with the 21-day advance purchase requirement. These fares are available only on Southwest's site.

Weekly Sale Between Denver and Five Cities

Another regularly featured sale, this time from Frontier Airlines (tel. 800/432-1359; www.frontierairlines.com), features Denver and includes the following urban areas:

  • Akron/Cleveland
  • Dayton
  • Detroit
  • Kansas City
  • Omaha

The fares are still easily available, and are pretty good. Denver to/from Detroit is $218 round-trip in the sale, versus $238 round-trip on the other major airlines; and Denver to/from Akron/Cleveland is $198 round-trip with the sale and $238 round-trip on the other major airlines. Travel Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday between January 4 March 1, 2006. Blackouts January 16 and February 17 and 20, 2006. Tickets must be purchased by midnight, MDT, December 14.

Thailand From $699 Round-Trip!

Malaysia Airlines (tel. 800/552-9264; www.malaysiaairlinesusa.com) is offering two major Thailand destinations, Bangkok and Phuket, from both Los Angeles and Newark for $699 round-trip, which is a pretty good fare. For example, flying from Newark to Bangkok, departing on February 18 and returning on March 1, 2006, the total fare with taxes and fees comes to $921.60 round-trip ($699 for the fare and $223 in taxes) versus a next lowest $1083 on Eva Airways through Travelocity. Los Angeles to Phuket, departing April 17 and returning on April 25, the total fare with taxes and fees comes to $935 round-trip ($699 for the fare and $236 in taxes) versus $1,157 on Singapore Airlines through Travelocity. Only downside (or perhaps not) with both itineraries: an overnight in Kuala Lumpur is required. So far, the fare is still easy to find. Travel January 9 through May 31, 2006, with no minimum stay and 3 months maximum stay. A longer stopover in Kuala Lumpur is permitted for an extra fee. Tickets must be purchased by January 31, 2006.

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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