January 16, 2003 -- There's nothing like a fare war. Incited by the JetBlue/American/Delta three-way, America West is helping to keep transcontinental fares at historic lows; meanwhile, ATA and Alaska Air provide fare relief for Americans who've never set foot within 100 miles of New York City.
$158 Cross-Country Fares for Everyone
As we reported Wednesday, this week JetBlue announced $158 fares on a range of cross-country routes. In general, you must buy your tickets by Feb. 10 to get these fares, but we imagine they'll sell out much sooner than that. The JetBlue fares are good for travel on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday and apply to the following routes:
- Boston to Denver or Long Beach or Oakland
- New York to Long Beach, Oakland or San Diego
If you're flying from Boston and using an American Express card, you can also get a $25 American Express gift card if you book certain flights by Sunday. For more details, see our previous column here: .
America West wasn't about to let JetBlue get off scot-free with the lowest fares, so they lowered the price of their nonstops between JFK/Boston and Los Angeles/San Francisco to $158, as well. A 7-day advance purchase is required, you must fly on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday through April 14, and you must buy the tickets by (surprise!) Feb. 10.
JetBlue and America West fly into different airports on the West Coast. If you're visiting the Bay Area, Oakland versus San Francisco is a wash -- they're about equally close to San Francisco, and they're both served by public transportation. If you're taking public transit or shuttles, LAX is much more convenient than Long Beach, making America West the better airline; conversely, if you're renting a car, Long Beach is less crowded, making JetBlue the better choice.
More Domestic and Mexican Deals From Alaska and ATA
ATA and Alaska Airlines are also running sales right now, so we decided to cherry-pick some of their best fares for this column. Both airlines have far more sale fares than we're listing, of course, so we suggest that you look at their Web sites as well.
ATA's sale ends soon, on Monday the 19th. Most of their low fares apply on flights through May 23. For more information, see www.ata.com/sales/general/040113_pg1.html.
Alaska's sale is on through Jan. 29 for flights through May 26. The lowest fares are available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday flights, as usual. See www.alaskaair.com/www2/Promo/FarePromos/January2004Sale.asp for a full listing of flights and fares.
Fares from both airlines we liked include:
- Denver to/from Pittsburgh: $178 on ATA
- Orlando to/from Seattle, Portland or Spokane: $218 on Alaska
- LA to/from Mazatlan, Mexico: $238 on Alaska
- Indianapolis to/from Cancun, Mexico: $258 on ATA
- Anchorage to/from Boston, Burbank, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, Oakland, Ontario, Orange County, Phoenix, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Tucson or Washington, D.C.: $388 on Alaska
- Tampa/St. Petersburg to/from Honolulu: $398 on ATA
These fares may be matched by other airlines by the time you read this, so make sure to scour your favorite online travel agency as well as the airlines' own sites before buying.