Airlines are looking to make a profit by raising fares and charging fees, but the news for travelers isn't all bad.
We've been seeing lots of sales, so you can still get a deal if you buy when the price is right. For example, during October, we saw round-trip fares from Dallas as low as $138 to Boston, New York and Orlando and $148 to San Diego, plus taxes and fees.
The airlines have been losing money, and until the business traveler comes back, they would like to raise leisure fares to compensate. They're in a Catch-22 situation, however, because the leisure traveler won't fly unless fares are cheap. Leisure fliers are going to benefit as long as the business traveler stays away from flights. Even with increases in regular fares, you're paying less on many routes than you did last year.
Besides raising fares, one way airlines increase revenue is by collecting fees for luggage, ticket changes, kids flying solo and more. Southwest is still offering two free bags, but it has added fees such as $10 to jump to the front of the boarding line, and it's allowing pets to fly for $75 each way. Always check for fees; they can vary among carriers.
Competition can be fierce out of Dallas, with flights by three low-cost carriers: Southwest, AirTran and Frontier. Each one runs sales almost weekly. Some of these sales are better than others. If you have plenty of time to book, you should be able to land a good deal. Southwest has even offered two knock-your-socks-off sales this year, with one that ran Oct. 27-29. Fares were as low as $25 to $100 one way, and on some routes they were the cheapest we've seen since July 1996, when Southwest celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Some really good news for Dallas travelers is that we can fly to more cities on low fares since Southwest and AirTran are adding new routes.
AirTran is increasing service to the Caribbean with new flights to Aruba, Montego Bay and Nassau, and the carrier will also begin service to Key West.
This year we've seen Southwest announce new service to Boston, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and New York LaGuardia. It also plans to add flights next May to the Northwest Florida International Airport, under construction near Panama City. Southwest will add more nonstops to St. Louis as American is pulling out, so we will continue to see low fares on that route.
If you want to travel to Europe, we usually see big discounts for travel in the off-season months of January and February. While some sales for this travel period have started, we haven't yet seen great fares. Be on the lookout for sales. The airlines have been charging fuel surcharges on these routes for a while, and as fuel continues to rise they probably won't remove them. Surcharges at press time averaged $60 to Dublin, $100 to Germany, $200 to London and $260 to the rest of Europe.
Landing fees are increasing in Europe. London had some of the cheapest, but now it's one of the expensive cities to land in. Make sure you see the total price of your ticket, including all taxes and fees, before you book.
The Internet keeps both business and leisure travelers well informed. We update our fares every day, and even when there is no sale, you could see Snooze-You-Lose fares. We recently saw 24-hour Snooze-You-Lose fares with $78 round-trip flights from Dallas to Atlanta or Chicago. These fares were valid for travel through August.
Tom Parsons is publisher of BestFares.com: www.bestfares.com
(c) 2009, The Dallas Morning News.
Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
We've been seeing lots of sales, so you can still get a deal if you buy when the price is right. For example, during October, we saw round-trip fares from Dallas as low as $138 to Boston, New York and Orlando and $148 to San Diego, plus taxes and fees.
The airlines have been losing money, and until the business traveler comes back, they would like to raise leisure fares to compensate. They're in a Catch-22 situation, however, because the leisure traveler won't fly unless fares are cheap. Leisure fliers are going to benefit as long as the business traveler stays away from flights. Even with increases in regular fares, you're paying less on many routes than you did last year.
Besides raising fares, one way airlines increase revenue is by collecting fees for luggage, ticket changes, kids flying solo and more. Southwest is still offering two free bags, but it has added fees such as $10 to jump to the front of the boarding line, and it's allowing pets to fly for $75 each way. Always check for fees; they can vary among carriers.
Competition can be fierce out of Dallas, with flights by three low-cost carriers: Southwest, AirTran and Frontier. Each one runs sales almost weekly. Some of these sales are better than others. If you have plenty of time to book, you should be able to land a good deal. Southwest has even offered two knock-your-socks-off sales this year, with one that ran Oct. 27-29. Fares were as low as $25 to $100 one way, and on some routes they were the cheapest we've seen since July 1996, when Southwest celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Some really good news for Dallas travelers is that we can fly to more cities on low fares since Southwest and AirTran are adding new routes.
AirTran is increasing service to the Caribbean with new flights to Aruba, Montego Bay and Nassau, and the carrier will also begin service to Key West.
This year we've seen Southwest announce new service to Boston, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and New York LaGuardia. It also plans to add flights next May to the Northwest Florida International Airport, under construction near Panama City. Southwest will add more nonstops to St. Louis as American is pulling out, so we will continue to see low fares on that route.
If you want to travel to Europe, we usually see big discounts for travel in the off-season months of January and February. While some sales for this travel period have started, we haven't yet seen great fares. Be on the lookout for sales. The airlines have been charging fuel surcharges on these routes for a while, and as fuel continues to rise they probably won't remove them. Surcharges at press time averaged $60 to Dublin, $100 to Germany, $200 to London and $260 to the rest of Europe.
Landing fees are increasing in Europe. London had some of the cheapest, but now it's one of the expensive cities to land in. Make sure you see the total price of your ticket, including all taxes and fees, before you book.
The Internet keeps both business and leisure travelers well informed. We update our fares every day, and even when there is no sale, you could see Snooze-You-Lose fares. We recently saw 24-hour Snooze-You-Lose fares with $78 round-trip flights from Dallas to Atlanta or Chicago. These fares were valid for travel through August.
Tom Parsons is publisher of BestFares.com: www.bestfares.com
(c) 2009, The Dallas Morning News.
Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
