Bad Economy Means Cheap Airfare

For many families, summer time is travel time. A fact not lost on the airlines, who traditionally raise airfares to sought-after destinations during the summer months. But this year may be different because many airlines are now doing whatever it takes to fill seats.

“If you want to travel and you can do it in the next few months, now is a great time because you can get great fares to almost everywhere.”
-Gailen David, SkySteward.com

So if you want to plan that summer vacation or quick trip, here’s a few tips: don’t wait till the last minute and shop around. Remember to be flexible with your travel dates and times. Also, check out the prices for surrounding airports.

And where you find the most competition between airliners — is where you’ll find the best deals.

“All of a sudden they’re desperate — and you’ve got them competing against each other and they don’t want everyone to run to one airline that’s having a sale, so they match each other. It really has a ripple effect.”
-Gailen David, SkySteward.com

But these low prices are preparing for lift-off. Future travel trends include the grounding of more planes to keep seats full and an expansion of the a la carte approach where you select different price points for different levels of service and amenities.

“I’d rather pay at home than you know say it’s $10 for the first bag, another $2 for the headphones, another $10 for a meal.”
Jaret Keller, Air Traveler

“If they’d let you know in advance all the little extra charges, that would be fine. It would be more convenient. Then you could pick and chose what you want.”
-Jerome and Sonya Goodman, Air Travelers

Bottom line? When airlines compete, you win. And it’s not just airfare specials going on right now: some airlines are tripling frequent flyer miles and others are offering first class tickets at economy pricing… so before you check in… check it out!