- Travel
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Discount Tickets
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Tower Air flies from LAX to JFK, and sometimes offers $300 round trip fares. |
 America
West flies from LAX to JFK (and some flights to La Guardia), making stops or
connections. The web site is hard to navigate, and airport names revert to
"Phoenix AZ" whenever you circle back to look for another flight (As
if I might want to go to Phoenix). But if you take the time, it
can pay off: on 4/26/98 I found that a flight in July leaving LAX at 7 AM, stopping once
(probably in Phoenix), arrives JFK 5PM; return two weeks later at 9PM, arrives LAX 2AM --
cost: only $300 plus tax.
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 (AA) A great web site. To use it, you should be an
AAdvantage member (which we are, but if you're not, I think they'll sign you up for
free). "Shop by price" and "Shop by schedule" are offered.
"Price" is too pricey. "Schedule" offers other airlines (using
the Sabre system), and then lets you click on a "Bargain Finder". When I
tried it, it worked. The $500 AA flight came up, then Bargain Finder found two UA
flights and another AA flight for $315 each. Click to sign up for email notification
of special fares. |
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American Trans Air (TZ) has a Sabre-like interface. Click "Special
Fares" to see a list of fares offered to Internet customers only. Visit scenic
Indionapolis, Indiana! Click to sign up for email notification of special fares. |
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(CO) CO.O.L Travel Assistant "searches through thousands of records to
find the best flight for you". Well, it did OK for flights to EWR -- about $328
per person round trip plus tax. Worth the searching. Click to sign up for
email notification of special fares. |
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Click "Fares" then click "Quick Flight" to get Delta's
lowest fair between two U.S. cities. Not as good as CO.O.L -- about $362 per person
round trip plus taxes. |
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Northwest Airlines To check fares, pretend to be ready to purchase
tickets on-line. Then select the "Just checking Fares" option. Also,
click Cyber Fares, which change every Wednesday at 12:01 AM Central Time. My sample
fare was over $500. A little high, but on the plus side, I do
get to see Detroit! By the way, do you get their
logo? It's a compass, pointing -- you guessed it -- Northwest. |
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Southwest Airlines flies to Baltimore/Washington (BWI) but not to the New York City
area. I love the fare structure, and the web interface to it. Click
fares, click the cities, and voila! A complete list of fares, including special
promotions with a clear explanation of the restrictions. Good job, Southwest.
Now expand into Newark! |
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There was once a pretty nifty web site,
twa.com, but it needed some work. It let you select your
favorite routes, and then sign up for email notification of special fares on just these
routes. However, it doesn't show other fares -- just the specials. St. Louis
was their hub. Airline deregulation hit TWA very hard, according to wikipedia.
Eventually, they went out of business, merging with American Airlines on
December 1, 2001. |
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This web site stinks. They claim that "In the future, you will be
able to arrange your travel on-line from the US Airways website." But for now,
"for fare information or to reserve your tickets, please contact the US
Airways Reservations Desk at 1 800-428-4322 or your travel consultant." What a
fountain of information! |
 This
really was the lowest airfare -- $286.40 from LAX to Newark on TWA -- it's the discounted
airfare of $358 minus 20%, just like the banner says. To get this fare, you must fly
TWA, visit in St. Louis, and you must buy a non-refundable instant-purchase ticket. |
 priceline.comIt's
an exciting new way to buy airline tickets. You name the
price you want to pay and priceline finds a major airline willing to release seats on
flights where they have unsold space. Tickets can be requested up to six months in advance
of departure. For leisure travelers who don't need to fly at a specific time of day or on
a specific airline, priceline is a great new alternative. |
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Cheapairfares.com lets you use the Sabre reservation system, does ticketing,
passes some savings on to you. |
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