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| The Basics | Find great deals in the new airfare war
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Delta's fare changes triggered an overhaul of airfares across the airline industry. To get the best deals, you need to know the new rules and new strategies.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
If you haven't booked an airfare recently, you're in for a shock. A lot has changed in just a few days.
Delta Air Lines, trying to avoid becoming the sixth major American airline to file for bankruptcy, introduced some dramatic changes in early January. If you missed the news, the airline has: - Capped one-way domestic coach fares at $499, or $599 for first class.
- Ended the Saturday-night stay requirement to get cheap fares.
- Done away with the 30-day maximum travel stay.
- Reduced change fees from $100 to $50.
The ripples from these changes are still working their way across the industry, but analysts say most airlines are matching Delta's moves, and the result is no less than a travel revolution.
"It was a readjustment of all the airfares in America," said Tom Parsons, CEO of Bestfares.com. "This is not a sale. . . . It's more like an extreme makeover."
Choices and flexibility
Here's what you need to know about the new airfare world and how you can best profit from the changes:
Don't fear last-minute travel. A family emergency or last-minute business trip used to mean paying first-class prices for a cramped, miserable middle seat in coach. While you may still be eating an elbow sandwich under the new fare structure -- those who wait usually get the worst seats -- at least you won't have to take out another mortgage to pay for the ticket.
Most airlines have matched Delta's caps on routes where they compete with that carrier. Some have reduced their last-minute fares on other routes as well, although typically not by as much. Parsons said American and Continental, for example, appear to have a $699 coach cap on certain routes where Delta doesn't fly.
Actually getting the seat may be easier on Delta than on its competitors, Parsons said. Delta's competitors have capacity controls, which mean they offer the capped fares on only a certain number of seats. Delta's system is "wide open," meaning if the seat is empty, it will be sold to you at the capped price.
It still pays to plan. That doesn't mean you should put off buying tickets when you have a choice. You'll still get a better deal if you can buy at least seven days in advance; even cheaper fares will be found with 14-day or longer advance purchases.
What could be even more important is that your choice of routes and seats will improve the longer in advance you can book your ticket. Cash-strapped airlines aren't planning to add lots of new planes or routes, warned Randy Petersen of Webflyer.com, even as demand for air travel is rising. That means even more crowded flights than before.
Fly when you want, how you want. Most airlines have abandoned the requirement that you stay over on a Saturday night to get the cheapest fares. Now you typically need to stay over only a single night, any day of the week.
The caps on fares also can make it easier for business travelers to fly nonstop instead of taking a bunch of connecting flights to save the company money.
You can still save money by flying certain days of the week. A midweek departure will cost less than a weekend exit on many routes. Aloha Airlines has a $139 one-way special between Burbank and Honolulu, for example, but only with a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday departure; any other day, the freight is $169.
Small airports are now a better deal. The compression of airfares has another side effect: It's suddenly becoming more affordable to fly out of smaller airports that aren't served by one of the discount airlines. You may no longer need to drive an hour or two or three to get a decent fare.
For example, folks living near Roanoke, Va., used to pay $598 to get from that airport to San Diego -- a fare that prompted many to drive three hours to Raleigh, where the going rate was $198, Parsons said. Now, the Roanoke fares are down to $338, and many travelers are likely to pay the $70 more each way to offset the hassles of travel and a bigger airport.
There are still a few, thinly served routes where the old airfare system is clinging to life, Parsons said. In those cases, it can still be worth the drive. US Airways is the only carrier serving the Hilton Head-to-San Diego route, he noted, and walk-up fares remain over $1,000. Drive an hour to Savannah, however, and you can get to San Diego for $499.
Students, snowbirds and long-term travelers, rejoice. Getting cheap seats used to mean you had to return home within 30 days of your departure. Delta ended that requirement, so that now you just have return within the year.
That means college students can book a flight home from school this summer and use the return half in September, rather than paying two separate, expensive fares. Snowbirds traveling to southern states will benefit as well, along with any leisure or business travelers who need to dig in for awhile.
And the downside . . .
Don't wait for rock-bottom fares to come back. What's gotten less notice in all the hoopla about the airfare revolution is that many of the cheapest fares -- the $29 door-busters to Las Vegas, for example -- have disappeared as well, Petersen said. Some of the discount carriers still have $39 one-way fares for selected routes, such as Chicago to Cleveland on Southwest or Dayton to Baltimore on AirTran. But typically, rates on the bottom end of the scale are higher.
"There's been a kind of compression," Petersen said. "The highest fares are gone, but so are some of the lowest."
Expect more competition for first-class seats. In recent years, airlines have made first-class upgrades nominally harder to obtain by requiring more frequent-flier miles. The airlines that used to charge 5,000 miles now charge 10,000 or 15,000, Petersen said; those that charged 10,000 now charge 20,000 or 30,000.
Those rising standards, however, only served to offset the vastly greater numbers of miles frequent fliers were piling up using credit cards.
The new caps on first-class fares, by contrast, are almost certain to mean more paying passengers in those seats with fewer available to the upgrade crowd. Again, advance planning can help you scope out the possibilities for upgrades; if none are available, you might decide to buy the seat while it's still available.
Fees are still an issue. Delta may have lowered its fee for changes, but not all airlines have matched that particular change -- yet.
And travelers still need to be on the lookout for other fees that have been inflating airfares, including Sept. 11-related security fees, facilities fees imposed by local governments and airline surcharges for fuel and other expenses. Not all fare-comparison Web sites include these fees, which could lead you to book a fare you think is cheaper that actually costs more than the one offered by a competing airline. If it's not clear what fees are included, call the airline and ask.
Choices on carriers
You don't need to fly a bankrupt airline. In the past, an airline Chapter 11 filing usually produced some cheap but risky deals as the carrier cut prices to lure travelers. If the airline shut down before your travel date, you weren't guaranteed a replacement flight on another carrier unless that airline flew exactly the same route and had the space available. (Any frequent-flier miles you'd accumulated with a liquidated carrier were gone with the wind, too; only travelers whose airlines were acquired, not liquidated, had a chance of keeping their miles.)
With Delta's changes and so much of the industry already in or near bankruptcy court, however, the good deals aren't restricted to the wobbliest airlines. If you find a good deal on Hawaiian, Aloha, ATA, US Airways or United, check out its competitors on the route, Petersen advised. Chances are good they're matching the deal.
Liz Pulliam Weston's column appears every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions in the Your Money message board.
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