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Is $39 the new one-way airfare for short hops?

Virgin America’s doing it. JetBlue’s doing it. Even AirTran is doing it. Has $39 become the new sale fare for one-way short hops? If you’re flying between a few select destinations such as San Francisco (SFO) to San Diego (SAN), Long Beach (LGA) to San Jose (SJC) or Chicago (MDW) to Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP), then you can save a few bucks through these sales. Check out these three sales for how to get fares as low as $39.

JetBlue Sale—Deal: The “Return to Leisure Sale” is offering $39 one-way seats (pre-tax) between Long Beach and San Jose starting May 21. When: Book by Feb. 29 at 10:59 p.m. for flights with a seven-day advance purchase to get promotional fares starting at $49 each-way (pre-tax). If you want the $39 Long Beach (LGA) to San Jose (SJC) fare, you must book 21 days in advance. For the other fares, you must fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. I tried three times to find fares from Long Beach to Las Vegas for $49, but $59 was the cheapest I could find in March. Contact: JetBlue.com, (800) 538-2583, ($10 extra to book by phone)

AirTran Sale—Deal: AirTran does have a sale going on right now, but because most of their destinations are in the Midwest or East Coast, you won’t be seeing any flights out of Los Angeles for $39 each way (pre-tax). They do have flights between Chicago (MDW) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) for the $39 fare. From Los Angeles (LAX), the cheapest sale fares were $139 one way (pre-tax) to Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, Ft. Lauderdale, Memphis, New Orleans and more. When: Book by March 6 for travel through Nov. 5, 2008. A 10-day advance purchase is required. Blackout dates apply. Contact: AirTran, (800) 247-8726

Virgin America—Deal: You only have a few days to take advantage of the introductory fares between San Francisco (SFO) and San Diego (SAN) for $39 each way (pre-tax). When: The rules require you to purchase tickets seven days in advance and complete travel by March 12, 2008. When I tested it, I found the offer still good after March 12. For similar flights in August, the price went up to $59 each way (pre-tax). Contact: Virgin America, (877)-359-8474, ($10 extra to book by phone)

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Image: AirTran.com]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 3:56 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Business Travel, Frequent Flier, Last Minute, Los Angeles, Midwestern States, News, Tips & Advice, San Diego, San Francisco, Weekend Getaways. 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.

2 Comments on “Is $39 the new one-way airfare for short hops?”

needapedia Says:
February 27th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Yes, this is very true. It’s amazing how Virgin America is starting to establish itself has a big domestic player. The bottom line is, consumers want flying to be fun, not misery. Virgin America is doing just that, with $39 fares.
Christina L. Says:
February 29th, 2008 at 3:59 am
There are rock-bottom fares and people should be taking advantage of them. It’s amazing that airlines can still offer these fares despite the extremely high oil prices. I just booked myself three roundtrip flights between Long Beach and San Jose on JetBlue. It’s more convenient for me to fly out of both airports, so it’s a win-win for both the airline and for myself! Thanks, JetBlue!