Fare alert: check out those tickets to Panama City

by Grant Martin on

I hear that Costa Rica is all blown out by tourists and that Panama is the new hot destination in Central America. Why not check things out for yourself with some secret sales going on today bound for Panama City (PTY)?

Delta and American Airlines got into it this morning with some discounted fares from each other’s hubs. And while as of lunch time Delta availability is starting to dry up, I’m still picking up tickets in the sub 250$ range on American from several domestic cities into PTY. A quick dummy booking from Atlanta from June 12 to 16th yielded a paltry 227$ fare, while Cincinnati was 241$ and Salt Lake City was 227$.

The sale only seems to be good for flights only taking place in June. Time to buck up and commit to that summer vacation that you were going to take the wife and kids on. Too bad I’m all booked up for June.

Don’t forget about the double elite miles promotion that’s going on at American through June 15.

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More free miles: Northwest elite members get 50% bonus

by Grant Martin on

Perhaps as a result of some of the recent increased marketing (read: fare sales) lately or perhaps because of the pending mergers and passengers switching carriers, several airlines have been pitching to frequent fliers in an attempt to retain their business. I posted earlier on double miles promotions on Delta and American, two classic examples of the pitches.

Northwest just launched a similar promotion: now, any elite member who purchases and travels on a flight before August 31 is eligible for a 50% bonus on their earned miles. Real quick, since I know you guys hate numbers, you’ll thus now earn the following miles for a sample Detroit – Los Angeles leg:

Silver Elite: 1980 base miles + 990 Silver Elite miles + 990 bonus miles = 3960 miles
Gold Elite: 1980 base miles + 1980 Gold Elite miles + 990 bonus miles = 4950 miles
Platinum Elite = 1980 base miles + 2475 Platinum Elite miles + 990 bonus miles = 5445 miles.

So on a roundtrip you could be earning as much as 11,000 miles, or about 2/5 of a free domestic ticket. Neat huh? Of course you have to be an elite member to reap any of these benefits, which means you have to fly at least 25k miles a year anyway. So the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Sound like any tax plans you’ve seen recently?

Check out Northwest’s promo page if you want to participate.

Fare sales on the way

by Grant Martin on

I have to give the Times credit on this one. Last week I read an online article by Joe Sharkey in the travel section that suggested that fare sales might be coming and pretty much dismissed it as crap. In it, Sharkey pointed to a recent drop in demand that may be motivating carriers to launch discounts across the board.

Wouldn’t you know it — as predicted, fare sales are starting to pop up. Is it directly related to Mr. Sharkey’s predictions ? Is it aggressive competition between low cost and legacy carriers in a tight market? Is it tied to the astrological calendar? Maybe a little bit of everything. I’m personally still not sure, but the numbers are definitely looking good, especially for the summertime.

For example, the tickets between Detroit and New York I was looking at for June 14th weekend just went from 300 to 180$. Virgin America, and Spirit have launched a spectrum of fare sales across their routes, causing other carriers to post competing prices.

Keep an eye particularly on transcontinental fares above everything else. That market has recently become particularly saturated, so competition should be high and prices low. Maybe now is the time to schedule that wedding in California or party in New York City.

Make sure you get your act together quick too, these prices won’t last long.

Thanks for the tip, Joe.

East Coast got Memorial Day plans? Go to Anchorage!

by Grant Martin on

Memorial Day is right around the corner people and if you haven’t got plans yet you’re late to the party. I personally took advantage of some tickets from New York City to Mexico City, where I’ll be hanging out with my girlfriend in Teotihuacan and eating tacos until I turn green.

I booked in early March; holiday fares usually dry up well before the date, leaving latecomers high and dry by a few weeks out.

Lucky for you though, there’s a mini fare war for flights to Anchorage this May, which happens to include Memorial Day in the available dates. That means you east coasters still have a chance to book that last minute getaway to the nation’s largest state.

Departures are from Philadelphia, centrally located among DC, New York City and Baltimore for a paltry 385$. It also works in the other direction, so if any of you moose want to visit the City for a weekend we’ll have you. Book soon though, this fare has been live for a few days now so it won’t last much longer, especially during a holiday weekend.

You can do a flex search on Kayak to easily find dates around Memorial day or other times in May.

Stop and visit Blogger Catherine Bodry while you’re up there, I hear she leads ice climbing expeditions up the north face of Mt. McKinley.

Save 15% off your fall Southwest Airlines travel with this coupon

by Grant Martin on

If you have the foresight to have your fall travel already planned, Southwest Airlines just released a coupon code that will get you 15% off between August 23rd and October 30th.

Use coupon code DING15 to get your discount, but hurry — the coupon code is only valid through April 21. Much of Labor day is also blacked out, so if you want to travel over that weekend make sure you take a couple of extra days off and be flexible.

Still not good enough? Keep your ears tuned to Gadling. I hear we might have some tickets to give away in the next few weeks.