Predicted airfare travel deals come true: British Airways, Southwest, American Airlines & Open Skies

This past week staff writers Peter Pae and Jane Engle wrote: “Travelers enjoying lower U.S. domestic airfares,” which talked about winter travel deals and expected price drops on the horizon from airlines, hotels and cruise companies. Here are some tips and travel deals both mentioned and predicted in the article, along with how you can grab them now.

Predicted Europe Deal: Looking to travel overseas? Europe is a bargain these days, considering that with lower fares and a stronger dollar, it’s about 25% cheaper to take a vacation there this winter than last year, said Simon Talling-Smith, an executive vice president with British Airways.

The airline, which has three daily departures from LAX to London, is expected to launch a major fare sale this week. On Friday, German rival Lufthansa slashed business-class fares from LAX to Frankfurt by half.

Delivered Europe Deal |  British Airways launched a three-day Europe sale today. New York has the best deals, with roundtrip flights between NYC and London starting at $396. But the West Coast has a shot at it too. Book by 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 for travel Nov. 18 – Dec. 17, 2008 and Dec. 24, 2008 – Mar. 22, 2009. Bonus: If you book during this time, you’ll also get 15% off land arrangements. Flights out of Los Angeles weren’t so cheap, but it’d be worth testing. The roundtrip flight I found between LAX and LHR in early March was $762, including tax. A week in Paris between LAX and CDG around Valentine’s Day was $771 including tax. Contact: British Airways 3-day sale.

Southwest Airlines 3-day nationwide sale | Travel this winter for fares as low as $49-$109 each way. To get the lowest rates, fly Monday through Thursday, and Saturday. When: Book by Nov. 13, 2008 for travel Dec. 2, 2008 - Feb. 11, 2009. Caveat: You have to purchase your tickets 21 days in advance. Tested: Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) in January was $119 roundtrip, including taxes. Contact: Southwest Airlines nationwide sale

American Airlines | AA also has a holiday fare sale — complete with a calendar for best travel dates — that started today. Note: See their chart for all the rules and purchase requirements. Contact: American Airlines Holiday Travel Air Sale

Open Skies business-class deal | If you’re on a business trip in New York — don’t come home. Play hooky and sneak off to Amsterdam or Paris — in business class! Open Skies has fares as low as $1,050 between NYC and Amsterdam (AMS), one-way, pre-tax. Premium seats start even lower at $550, one-way, pre-tax. Book by Nov. 21 or Nov. 24, 2008. Contact: Open Skies

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

[Photo: Fred Heredia / Your Scene photo contest winner]

Caption: Fred took his photo, “Top of the Rock”, at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.  He used a Canon 40D camera with Tamron 28-300 zoom lens.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 11:58 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Airline travel, Deals, East Coast, Great Britain, Los Angeles, Weekend Getaways, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.