Travel

Who doesn't love a good airfare war?

Did you feel the rumbling Thursday morning? Early? It was the airlines firing off some heavy artillery at each other.

Pardon my glee, but I simply love a good airfare war. We just don't see enough of them here on the Last Frontier.

Early that morning, jetBlue came out with $99 air fares between Anchorage and Long Beach. Nonstop. All. Summer. Long.

Not to be outdone, Alaska Airlines matched the rate to LAX, where they offer daily nonstop service. Their competitive fare into Long Beach is just a few dollars more, because of additional landing fees. But Alaska went a step further (I love this part) by offering the $100 fare into Orange County as well. Flights into Burbank and Ontario were about $10 more each way. Still -- all the fares into the L.A. basin dropped by $150 roundtrip overnight.

Skirmishes continued throughout the day. By the close of business, Alaska Airlines had limited the cheapest rates ($116.40 one-way, including taxes and fees) to LAX departures through the end of June. And jetBlue continues to offer their $117.15 fare to Long Beach all summer long.

Alaska Airlines is offering double miles on their nonstop flights to LAX. jetBlue offers double points on their Long Beach flights. For both programs, travelers need to register prior to departure online.

Because there are more flights on more airlines, there are gobs of good deals in the middle of the peak summer travel season.

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For example, late-summer travel to Minneapolis now is available for as little as $495 roundtrip. That's about $100 more than it should be on Delta Air Lines, but Minneapolis is a "fortress hub". Travel between Aug. 7 and Oct. 10, 2011 to get the best rates on the nonstop flights.

Alaska Airlines has Hawaii on sale this fall. Fly nonstop from Anchorage to Honolulu for as little as $412 roundtrip, all in. Fly between Aug. 22 and Oct. 31, 2011 for the best deal.

Delta also is offering a great deal to New Orleans for late-summer travel between Aug. 7 and Oct. 10, 2011: just $375 roundtrip.

Alaska Airlines also has a good fare to San Francisco for travel Aug. 7-Oct. 10: $415 roundtrip. I know--it seems pricey, since it's almost twice the price of a ticket to L.A. If it makes you feel better, Alaska's price for Anchorage-Portland is $616. No, I am not making this up.

Speaking of Seattle and Portland, remember the "free stop" trick on Alaska Airlines. Instead of flying to Seattle or Portland directly, route yourself through L.A. Fly to L.A. either coming or going. Heck--sign up for the bonus miles. I did it--and saved $200. Unfortunately, you cannot book the "free stop" at Alaskaair.com . You can call your travel agent, though. When I asked the agent at Alaska Airlines about this, she first tried to charge me $15 to make the reservation. Then I told her that Travelocity priced the itinerary $200 cheaper than Alaskaair.com . After that revelation, she made the booking at no additional charge.

Are you traveling around Alaska this summer? Era Alaska is offering some special fares from Anchorage. To Kodiak, the rate is $149 each way between now and July 6. Between Anchorage and Homer, Cordova or Valdez, the rate is $99 each way, including taxes. Between Anchorage and Fairbanks, the rate is $119 each way. Headed west? Era's fare to Bethel is $159 each way through July 6.

There are lots of other cities on our watch list, including New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Denver and Hartford. The fares appear and disappear all the time. The airlines typically do not divulge when the put the fares in, nor do they call and say they're pulling them out. Accordingly, if you see a great fare, don't wait too long. The cheap seats could disappear before your eyes. And I expect we'll see some good fares from Frontier Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, Continental and USAirways. I do not think Air Canada even knows they have a flight to Alaska from Vancouver, BC. The lowest fare to/from Vancouver, BC on Air Canada is *gasp* $737 roundtrip.

Don't forget about traveling to Europe. Condor's nonstop keeps flying to Frankfurt, leaving from both Fairbanks and Anchorage all summer long.

For example, you can leave Anchorage on June 26 to Frankfurt, returning on July 16. The cost? $892 roundtrip, all in. Delta wants $2,273 to travel on the same dates. Edelweiss Air, which offers a flight each Monday between Anchorage and Zurich, wants $1,539 roundtrip. Or, fly from Fairbanks to Frankfurt on June 30, returning on July 14. The cost is $721 roundtrip, all in.

Remember, when the airlines are mad at each other, the traveler wins. It appears that somebody in the airline war room was really cranky this week -- and I couldn't be happier.

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 www.alaskatravelgram.com.

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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