2008 Fall Fare Sales

Air fare sales last about as long as it takes a leaf to fall to the ground on a blustery autumn day. But if you move fast, you can get good deals for air travel this fall – and in some cases, beyond.

American Airlines is offering deals between the U.S. and Canada for travel till Dec. 17, with a 14-day advance purchase and no embargoed dates. One example: Round-trip economy class flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Vancouver start at $384, before taxes and fees. American is also offering deals to promote new fall and winter service to several warm-weather Brazilian cities; travel must be taken between Nov. 2 and May 28, 2009, and again, tickets must be purchased 14 days in advance.

British Airways has a fare sale for travel between the U.S. and UK on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from Oct. 23 to Dec. 17. Round-trip economy fares from New York’s John F. Kennedy International to London Heathrow start at $472, before fees and taxes, and must be purchased 7 days before departure. But hurry; the sale ends Oct. 2 - Thursday.

Air Tran Airways has a variety of U.S. cities on sale for travel through Jan. 30, 2009. Tickets must be booked by Oct. 14, a 10-day advance purchase is required and holidays are blacked-out. The lowest fare sales are earmarked for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Airlines have been putting tickets for fall travel on sale since early August, defying pundits’ predictions that there would be few if any sales this fall from carriers that are busy eliminating flights and using smaller planes to save money. However, once the summer leisure travel season passes, fewer people take to the sky and an airplane’s load factor – the percentage of seats filled – lightens up.

In the traditionally slow fall travel season, airlines want to fill newly available seats. And they especially need to fill flights that take off at inconvenient  times – break of day, say – or on off-days – Tuesdays or Saturdays, when a lot of people can’t or don’t want to travel.

If you’re looking for affordable fall flights, here are rules of thumb that can help you get them:

First, act quickly. The airlines don’t reveal the number of seats they put on sale, but it is limited; if the deal is a good one, seats go fast. So must you. Ideally, you should book the day tickets go on sale. Most fare sales are announced at mid-week; late Tuesday and Wednesday are the most common times.

Second, make full use of the Internet .  Travel Web sites such as airfarewatchdog.com, cheapflights.com, farecompare.com and bestfares.com are good places to look. So, are airline Web sites such as American’s aa.com, British Airways’ ba.com and Air Trans’ airtran.com. Many sites issue fare alerts; sign up with an air travel site to get their e-mail alerts – better still, sign up with more than one.

Third, be flexible. If you can take an off-peak trip, you have a better chance of flying cheap

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