Would you like to fly from Anchorage to Houston for $334 roundtrip? How about Anchorage to Salt Lake City for $326 roundtrip?
USAirways, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines, is cutting the price for travel to United's hub in Houston and Delta's hub in Salt Lake City. There is a two-week advance purchase required. The rates are valid in November and December (excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas). Travelers will also find these rates available through April, 2015.
Why?
Because both Delta and United are undercutting USAirways on flights into its major hub in Phoenix.
And, just in case Delta and United aren't getting the message, USAirways has dropped the fare three different times in the past week.
Many travelers don't care why the fare is lower -- they just want a better price on their itinerary. But I think it's important to understand the value of a competitive marketplace. Absent competing airlines, the fares are free to drift higher and higher.
What interesting is the price-cutting from Anchorage to Phoenix is not that dramatic. With four airlines competing for the traffic, there is plenty of downward pressure on the rates. Both Alaska Airlines and USAir offer nonstop service from Anchorage to Phoenix for as low as $379 roundtrip. United is offering one-stop service through Denver for $356 roundtrip. And Delta offers connecting service either through Seattle or Minneapolis for $376 roundtrip.
There are other sweet spots in the airfare landscape right now:
Anchorage-Las Vegas nonstop on Alaska Airlines for $339 roundtrip
Anchorage-Los Angeles/LAX on Delta or USAir for $350 roundtrip (Alaska Airlines offers nonstop service for $373 roundtrip)
Anchorage-Palm Springs for $370 roundtrip on Alaska Airlines
Anchorage-San Diego for $380 roundtrip on USAir
Anchorage-Santa Barbara for $380 roundtrip on USAir
For travel to the East Coast, three destinations stand out:
Anchorage-Boston for $480 roundtrip on Alaska Airlines
Anchorage-Ft. Lauderdale for $490 roundtrip on United Airlines
Anchorage-Orlando for $490 roundtrip on United Airlines
All fares are subject to change without notice -- and they change all the time. The best rates are in the markets where the airlines are mad-mad-mad. In this case, that's Anchorage-Salt Lake and Anchorage-Houston. If you're thinking of traveling to either of these cities (or starting there and flying north to Anchorage), today would be a good time to get your ticket. Right now, actually.
Update, 8:30 p.m. Oct. 21:
This evening, USAir has added a little extra spice to this mini-fare-war with United and Delta. Here is a list of the new, lower fares now available to Delta and United hubs across the country. This is pretty typical when airlines continue to up the ante in order to get other carriers to back off of their "fortress hubs," such as Phoenix for USAir.
Anchorage-Atlanta (Delta hub) $356 roundtrip, valid through Feb. 10, 2015.
Anchorage-Washington, DC (United hub) $356 roundtrip, with lots of availability in November and early December. Very limited dates in January and February, 2015.
Anchorage-Denver (United hub) $356 roundtrip, through Feb. 14, 2015
Anchorage-Detroit (Delta hub) $356 roundtrip through Feb. 9, 2015
Anchorage-San Francisco (United hub) $356 roundtrip through Feb. 20, 2015.
Anchorage-Chicago (United hub) $356 roundtrip (limited dates) through Feb. 8, 2015.
Alaska Dispatch Publishing