Frontier files Chapter 11, keeps flying; airfare sales

Good morning, travelers! American Airlines continues to cancel flights in its ongoing efforts to check the wiring on the MD-80 planes. The story might sound like a broken record, but it’s still very tough for passengers trying to get to where they need to go. Sean O’Neill at This Just In live-blogged an American Airlines news conference yesterday. Nice work, Sean.

Airlines | Frontier Airlines has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But before you panic, the airline plans to continue service while it reorganizes.

Travel TV | Did anyone watch “Three Sheets” on MOJO yesterday? I did. I thought it was great in a Saturday-morning-cartoons-for-adults kind of way. It was the most fun I’d had watching travel TV since “Rough Guides” with Magenta Devine. What I didn’t know was that this show is not new. Yesterday’s episode, in which Zane learned how to open a bottle of champagne with a sword, started the third season.

Local | What are your plans this weekend? If you have a hankering for something exotic but want to stick close to home, try the Thai New Year Day Songkran Festival on Sunday, April 13, in Hollywood.

Airfare deals | Both JetBlue and Southwest are having airfare sales right now.

In the JetBlue sale, you can fly from Long Beach (LGB) to San Jose (SJC) or Oakland (OAK) for $39 each way (pretax). Nonstop service between Long Beach and San Jose begins May 21, 2008. To get the low fare, purchase your ticket by April 16, 2008. All sale fares are for 14-day advanced purchase for travel completed by June 11, 2008.

Be careful with booking your Southwest sale tickets. Its big sale is for 14-day advance purchase with travel on Tuesday or Wednesday. But I received an e-mail from SWA this morning with Click and Go fares. Book by April 14 for travel April 18 – May 8 with only seven-day advanced purchase. The cheapest flight I saw was from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) for $49 each way (pretax). But it’s a national sale with heaps of destinations, so check it out if you can travel during that period.

Have a good weekend!

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Photo: O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Paul Beaty / Associated Press]

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 9:34 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Good Morning, News, Tips & Advice. 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.