Itching to get out of town at the last minute? Southwest just launched a last-minute Memorial Day flight sale, with discounted routes across the country. Keep in mind these are discounted off holiday weekend pricing. You need to buy your cheap flights three days in advance and no later than May 27 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Sale fares are valid for travel through June 1, 2010. They weren’t kidding about last minute!
One way flights include:
Burbank to Tuscon for $165
Dallas to Oklahoma City for $79
Denver to Midland/Odessa for $138
Long Island to Cleveland for $149
Los Angeles to Boise for $191
Lubbock to Albuquerque for $101
New York to Baltimore for $94
Oakland to Spokane for $132
Portland to Reno/Tahoe for $88
Caveats: fares do not include federal excise tax of $3.70 per takeoff and landing, airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9, and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5 one-way. These fares are available only on southwest.com or swabiz.com.
boeingdreamscape/Flickr
I just got an email from Travelzoo that reminded me of the amazing air travel deals to be had this summer. Here are five quick tips!
1. Sign up for Travelzoo.com, a site that is ground zero for travel deals. I especially recommend their Top 20 Deals, Last Minute Deals, and Newsflash. You can sign up for particular deals via email and let them know what zip code you live in so they can tailor deals. Travelzoo also has international travel deals if you live in Canada, Japan, Hong Kong SAR, China, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, or Australia.
2. Sign up for the email lists of any airlines you like to fly, like Jetblue, Virgin America, or Southwest. Most airlines shares sales and deals first via email and offer free loyalty programs. I also like Airfarewatchdog.com.
3. Seek out a local Groupon-type site a few weeks before you travel. By signing up for an email deal list in, say, San Antonio, you will hear about super discounts on restaurants, shows, and services in the city you are planning to visit.
4. Consider alternative lodging, like couch surfing or individuals who offer spare rooms to travelers through organizations like iStopOver or RoomaRama. You can also seek out people to exchange places with on Craigstlist.
5. Fly mid-week for the best prices and no crowds! And remember to factor in baggage fees. Southwest does not charge for bags, but Virgin America lets you check up to 10 bags for $25 each as long as they are less than 50 pounds!
How do you plan to save money on your summer vacation?
mdanys/Flickr
I recently talked to Diana Castilla at News Net TV about travel deals for cheap hotel rooms and cheap flights. The segment is running Tuesday March 9, 2010 at 6 a.m. on KVMD (cable news channel 31 on Dish and Direct TV) or you can watch it online starting at noon.
If you are a student or educator, you can get a lot of cheap travel deals at StudentUniverse. Anyone can save money on a trip by renting a home or condo. Sometimes you can even arrange swaps!
If you are really pinching pennies, check out this post on 17 ways to save money in Vegas.
Reader Bob left four great travel tips as a comment:
I travel a lot and over the years I’ve learned a few trick… Hope these are helpful..
1. Everybody knows about flying into alternate airports (e.g. OAK instead of SFO) but increasingly it’s cheaper to book a multi-destination flight to lower the fare. Last year I saved $300 on a RT from SFO to AMS by booking the outbound from SFO to TGL and walking away at AMS. Note that you can’t do that on the inbound since airlines will now cancel your entire ticket if you miss your flight at the origin. So inbound was booked from AMS to SFO.
2. In Europe, take advantage of the rail system. It is almost always cheaper to fly to LHR and train to Paris than it is to fly direct to CDG. Same is true for many other popular destinations.
3. If you can take it or leave it, haggle!! I’ve got amazing deals from airlines by calling them the day of the flight, pointing out that they were flying almost empty and offered them what I thought the trip was worth it.
4. Add a ’stop’ – a lot of times you can add a layover for little or no money. Just last month I added a Paris stop to my Istanbul trip for only $80 more by booking an open-jaw flight.
Happy traveling!
Have you noticed how many insane travel deals they are lately? Virgin America is successfully putting pressure on other airlines to reduce fares, which means you and I benefit!
If you are traveling for the holidays and haven’t booked your tickets, or are traveling in the next six months, here are my best money-saving travel tips.
- be flexible with travel dates if at all possible
- flying on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday is generally the cheapest
- sign up for the email list of various airlines you like to travel on because they often send electronic fare sale alerts, giving you the first crack at sales (especially for Virgin America and Southwest)
- comparison shop on Kayak.com
- but check the airline’s homepage for a reduced fare, too
- consider Priceline.com if you are flexible about travel times and airlines
- Southwest flights can only be booked through them
- sign up for TravelZoo.com, a site that finds incredible travel bargains and emails them to you (they are especially good for packaged vacations and event tickets)
- sign upfor AirFareWatchDog.com, which tracks specific routes for you
- pack light to avoid baggage fees (see below)
- use this coupon for free in-flight Internet access
Here is a summary of airline baggage fees so you can factor them into the cost of your trip.
American – $20 first bag, $30 second bag
Continental – $20 first bag, $30 second bag
Delta – $20 first bag, $30 second bag but get a $5 discount by paying ahead of time online
United – $20 first bag, $30 second bag but get a $5 discount by paying ahead of time online
Southwest – no baggage fees
For a full list of airline baggage fees, see this page on About.com.
Related:
Save on hotels by booking a time share or vacation rental.
Going abroad? Top 10 tips to keep it cheap internationally.
Staying home? Earn money by hosting travelers.
If you like cruises, read my resources for cruise deals.
In-flight WiFi on Virgin America flights is free between Nov. 10 and Jan. 15, thanks to a partnership with Google and a very competitive market for air passengers.
WiFi on Virgin America is usually $6 to $13, depending on the flight time and length.
The airline is also have a massive fare sales on certain flights when purchases today, including:
- $39 one way from SF-LA, SF-San Diego, LA-SF, SF-Vegas
- $59 one way from Seattle-LA or Orange county
- $99 one way from Ft. Lauderdale and SF or LA, SF to Boston or NY, LA to NY or Boston, D.C. to LA or SF
The best flights will go QUICK so don’t delay. These sale fares are good for flights between Nov. 10 and Jan. 15 with some blackout dates. Some caveats. Thanks, Andrew!
