Ticket Bargains

This summer's sky wars have created some astonishing anomalies in airfares. On most airlines, flying between Los Angeles and Phoenix costs $43 each way. But Pan American, which just started service between the two cities, will throw in a return trip for a penny. A typical coach ticket between Chicago and Seattle goes for $329. But Republic, which is trying to boost traffic, has lowered the cost to $189 on flights that make a 90-minute stop in Minneapolis.

Finding such deals can be difficult. Fares change so quickly that the Official Airline Guide, once the bible of the industry, has become useless for looking up rates. "It's embarrassing," says New York Travel Agent Helen Pomeroy. "Sometimes our business travelers tell us about new fares before we hear about them ourselves."

A bit of preflight research can pay off handsomely. One Los Angeles businessman had expected to pay about $1,500 to buy round-trip tickets to Detroit for his wife and two children. Then he spotted a newspaper ad for Delta's new Los Angeles-to-Toledo service that offers $49 one-way tickets for family members, when one adult pays full fare. By going to Toledo, 60 miles from Detroit, and renting a car to finish the trip, the family saved about $600.

Even "bargain-basement" prices can be bettered. On its New York-to-Miami run, TWA ordinarily promotes its $328 round-trip supersaver fares as a good buy, even though such tickets must be bought two weeks in advance and are offered only on a space-available basis. But because of heavy competition, the line has been offering one-way coach tickets, with no strings attached, for only $119, a $90 round-trip saving over its own supersaver fare.

Savvy travelers are picking up on the savings that can be made by taking advantage of routing peculiarities. A Delta ticket from Boston to Atlanta costs $197. But from Boston to Augusta, Ga., the fare is only $185, even though Augusta passengers must change planes in Atlanta. Travel agents suggest that at least some customers are now buying a ticket to Augusta and walking out of the airport in Atlanta with their carry-on luggage in hand, thus saving $12.

Few of the best discount fares are likely to last long. Most are promotional schemes to draw attention to routes or put pressure on competitors. But one promotion follows another. Says Chief Economist Daniel Kaplan of the Civil Aeronautics Board: "If you see a market where you say, 'My God, that fare is awfully high,' you can be sure that someone else has noticed and is trying to figure out if he can undercut it." While it lasts, the airline price war should continue to give passengers a bargain a minute.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.