Whether you are a resident of California or just enjoy traveling to “The Golden State” you are in a position to take advantage of some hot deals. Airfare deals are as sizzling as the summer temperatures in California right now and if you are looking to fly in or out of any of the state’s major airports you won’t have to look far to bag a great bargain.
Thanks to a surge in new airline competition at San Francisco International Airport tickets prices are going down. In the past few months Virgin America, Southwest and JetBlue have all begun service at the airport, and now the gloves are off as they battle with each other and United (which has a large San Francisco hub) to see who can fill the most seats on their respective planes.
Southwest just announced it is adding eight daily round-trip flights to Los Angeles from San Francisco for just $39 each way (plus taxes and fees). That fare undercut Virgin America’s new introductory fare on the same route of $44 each way (plus taxes and fees). But, remember those are introductory prices.
According to Kayak.com, if you waited to travel during the first week of December on either airline (San Francisco to L.A.) you will be paying $100 round-trip on both Virgin America and Southwest. In an effort to stay competitive American Airlines reduced its fares on the same route to $109 and Delta dropped their price to $119. Meanwhile, United is charging $119 for off-peak. Not wanting to lose out on customers, JetBlue is charging $102 round trip for the same dates between Oakland and Long Beach. Of course, airlines are notorious for having fluid pricing tactics so if you are interested in one of these bargains you should act fast.
Frequent fliers may stand to gain the most from the current airfare wars. In addition to its new fare deals, United also announced it is awarding double frequent flier miles for flights between San Francisco and the following six airports: Burbank, Las Vegas, L.A., Ontario, San Diego and Orange County. (The promotion covers flights booked by October 5th and flown by November 14th.) Southwest then followed up with its own frequent flier promotion. The airline is currently offering a free round-trip ticket to frequent flier members purchasing and completing three round-trips within California by December 31st.
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