Travel

Might Santa deliver airline tickets? Here are some affordable options.

This year's holiday shopping season kicked off with a bang, including some awesome airfare deals for travel early next year.

Alaska Airlines is offering its own Cyber Monday sale, which lasts through the end of the day Monday. Travel is permitted Jan. 8 to March 6. Rates resemble the airline's October PFD fare sale -- so it's worth a look if you're traveling in January or February.

Here are some of our favorites. Each way between Anchorage and:

• Juneau $114

• Kodiak $122

• Seattle $209

• St. Louis $224

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• Chicago $249

Or fly between Fairbanks and:

• Anchorage $95

• Seattle $254

• Honolulu $279

• Los Angeles $299

Some good prospects between Juneau and:

• Seattle $194

• Las Vegas $229

• San Francisco $249

• Santa Rosa $249

That's just a sampling. There are many more, as well as good deals from other airlines.

United Airlines

We're seeing more deals on United now that the airline is offering year-round nonstop service to Seattle and Denver. Check these wintertime deals:

• Anchorage-Boston for as little as $478 roundtrip via Denver (more dates available at $481).

• Anchorage-Phoenix for $467 roundtrip. Great price for peak-season sun-seekers.

• Anchorage-Texas for $509-515 roundtrip. Pick a small town: Laredo, McAllen, Brownsville, Midland, Lubbock -- anywhere but Houston or Dallas.

• Anchorage-West Virginia for as little as $503-$509 roundtrip. Parkersburg , Morgantown, Clarksburg or Beckley, WV. Or, pick nearby towns in Pennsylvania such as Johnstown or Altoona. Why ask why?

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And here's a whopper for a quick trip to Texas: $317 roundtrip from Anchorage to Austin ONLY on May 16, returning May 18, 2013. I am not making this up!

Delta

Anchorage-Los Angeles for $349 roundtrip. This is one of the cheapest tickets out there, which, of course, is good news. The bad news? It's via Minneapolis.

USAirways

Roundtrip from Anchorage to Long Beach, Calif., is just $390 roundtrip. This price is available just a few days in January and February, when the average temperature is about 58 degrees. The outbound flight from Anchorage includes a two-hour layover in Phoenix. It's the return connection is a killer: five hours and 50 minutes. Gah!

Stay tuned for more great deals next year, particularly in May. That's when both Alaska Airlines and jetBlue start their annual cat fight for the Anchorage-Southern California market. And that means low fares. Right now, you can purchase tickets for travel in May for as low as $327 roundtrip. Also, international carriers Icelandair and Condor will launch their summertime flights over-the-pole.

Keep an eye on the Anchorage-Seattle market. JetBlue says it's going to offer nonstop flights--and that means fares will be lower. Remember: when airlines are mad at each other, the traveler wins.

Scott McMurren writes a regular travel column. Reach him at AlaskaTravelGram.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Alaska.TravelGram

Scott McMurren

Scott McMurren is an Anchorage-based marketing consultant, serving clients in the transportation, hospitality, media and specialty destination sectors, among others. Contact him by email at zoom907@me.com. Subscribe to his e-newsletter at alaskatravelgram.com. For more information, visit alaskatravelgram.com/about.

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