David Koenig of Associated Press reported this week that the major U.S. airlines raised prices on business travelers. Typically, budget travelers are not buying these tickets. They are the high-end seats that involve last-minute travel and often are funded through a corporate expense account. Long the bread-and-butter of major airlines, these tickets (and the often outrageous prices attached) just got a bit more expensive. According to Koenig, prices went up an average of $20 to $60 per round trip. Oil prices will get at least some of the blame. They are surging upward as reports of unrest continue in Libya.
What does all of this mean for budget travelers seeking bargain fares for spring and summer? At this writing, it appears you'll have to look a bit harder to find good fares, and those incredible fares are likely to be even harder to find in 2011. Keep an eye on the airline special offer pages and follow your favorite air carriers on Twitter. Recently, I found some nice fares to Mexico City from Dallas-Fort Worth. There have also been some sales on airfares to Florida in the past week or so. If you find something you like -- book it. It might not be around tomorrow.
Someone is slanting the vote if American is coming out so far ahead of everyone else as best mileage program. We belong to both American and United. It is easy to get a mileage flight on United. I ALWAYS have to use double mileage on American.
Sally, the vote is lopsided because AAdvantage has been posting links to Readers’ Choice on their social media pages. They’re taking an interest in winning and so are their fans. But there is still plenty of time for the other finalists to muster similar efforts. Voting ends March 8.