Many travelers are poised with their calendars close at hand for the annual Permanent Fund dividend airfare sales. In particular, I fully expect a fare sale from Alaska Airlines closer to the distribution date of the annual dividend. If it's like previous years, that sale will offer some great deals for travelers in Alaska Airlines cities such as Kodiak, Nome, Petersburg and Bethel.
While we're waiting on the big event, let's take a look at some of the great deals now available for fall travel until early December. Many of these deals are also available between January and April 2015.
There is a cluster of bargains between Anchorage and Southern California. At the top of the heap is Alaska Airlines' nonstop from Anchorage to LAX. Between Oct. 15 and Dec. 14, you can fly nonstop for as little as $373 round-trip. Then, in January, the best deal shifts to US Airways on its flights through Phoenix for $380 round-trip.
US Airways, now a part of American Airlines, flies each night between Anchorage and Phoenix. It actually costs more just to fly on the nonstop to Phoenix than it does to connect and fly to a point beyond. That's the crazy pretzel logic of airfares: there is no correlation between the number of miles flown and the fare. It's all about the competition on flights between any given pair of cities.
Between Anchorage and Phoenix, take the nonstop on US Airways for $443 round-trip. On Nov. 3, Alaska Airlines resumes its thrice-weekly nonstop from Anchorage to Phoenix on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The price? Yup -- $443 round-trip.
Airports in the Los Angeles area are now benefiting from US Airways' low fares between October and early December, then from early January into April 2015. But be careful choosing your connecting flights, or you could be cooling your jets in Phoenix from seven to 10 hours. Here are some of the cheaper fares:
• Anchorage-Long Beach: $352 round-trip on US Airways
• Anchorage-Orange County/Santa Ana: $380 round-trip on US Airways
• Anchorage-Ontario, CA: $377 round-trip on US Airways
Fares between Anchorage and Long Beach will drop further starting on May 16, when JetBlue resumes its nonstop service. You can book flights right now for as little as $273 round-trip.
Two other popular destinations in Southern California are San Diego and Palm Springs. Both are available from Anchorage for as little as $380 round-trip on US Airways starting next month. You won't find the fares available during peak holiday flight times, though.
Looking east, Alaska Airlines is offering a good fare from Anchorage to Boston starting next month. Flights are available for as little as $484 round-trip -- all the way into the first half of 2015. This rate is about $100 more than the lower fares offered by Delta Air Lines and United Airlines last month. But any fare under $500 round-trip to the East Coast is a good deal.
Alaska Airlines is also offering a good deal from Anchorage to Austin, for as little as $460 round-trip. That's less expensive than any of their other destinations in Texas. The rate is available through the first half of 2015. By comparison, it costs between $640-$700 round-trip to fly on Alaska Airlines to either Dallas or Houston.
Starting Oct. 17, Alaska is offering nonstop flights from Anchorage to Las Vegas for $433 round-trip. Although the flights are nonstop, they're red-eye flights in both directions. In 2015, the schedule changes to daylight flights.
Although Delta pulled out of Fairbanks and Juneau for the winter, the carrier continues to serve Anchorage year-round. The airline has a good fare between Anchorage and Kansas City this fall for $460 round-trip.
Airfares abroad
Delta is also offering some great fares on select international destinations from its hub in Seattle. Fly from Anchorage to Singapore for as little as $897 round-trip.
You could also fly from Anchorage to Taipei on Delta for $796-$821 round-trip. These rates are good from late October through mid-December, then are available between January and April 2015. Availability is limited and it's best to search a broad spectrum of dates using a search engine like Google's ITA software to find the lowest-priced dates.
Fly from Anchorage to Bangkok for as little as $897 round-trip on Delta. This is the lowest fare I've seen to Thailand in quite a while. Like the other international rates, this fare is available starting in early November through mid-December, then again in January through April.
Looking further south, Air Tahiti Nui offers a package deal from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, that includes three free nights' accomodation in Tahiti. The cost for the airfare from LA is $1,225 per person for travel between now and Dec. 15, then again between Jan. 13 and June 30, 2015. Airfare to and from Los Angeles is additional.
To get that rate, two people have to travel together and stay in the hotel. There are "single supplement" rates for those traveling without a companion. You can also extend your stay in Tahiti to five days. Upgrades to deluxe oceanfront accommodations also are available for $75-$150 per person, depending on the hotel.
Many of the rates for fall and winter travel are significantly higher than the low-ball fares we enjoyed over the summer. But it could be worse. Consider, for example, the rate for nonstop flights between Anchorage and Minneapolis on Delta: $729 round-trip. Want to fly to Denver on United's daily nonstop? Prepare to shell out $735 round-trip. The nonstop flights to Chicago on both Alaska Airlines and United are a bargain, relatively speaking: just $523 round-trip. Anchorage-Seattle? Today's rate is $495 round-trip on Alaska or Delta.
As always, fares are subject to change without notice. And they change all the time.
Scott McMurren is an Anchorage-based travel marketing consultant who has lived in Alaska for three decades, spending much of that time traveling the far-flung corners of the state. Visit his website at laskatravelgram.com or follow him on Twitter for breaking travel news.