Mid-Week Travel: $29 Bucks Each Way to SoCal

United, American, Southwest, Alaska and Virgin America have all lowered airfares to Southern California. Travel for just $29 each way + tax, which comes to $78 roundtrip w/taxes. The fares are good for Tuesday and Wednesday travel through September 8, 2009. Click here and search by "flexible dates" option.

How to Bid Better With Priceline

Mike Grasso

If we think back just 10 years ago, our options for finding the best travel deals were fairly limited to travel agents and other good folks "in the know." Fortunately now we have a potpourri of resources, particularly online, that enable us to find a customized travel deals that meets our needs in term of value and taste. One website, a particular favorite of mine, called biddingfortravel.com takes finding great values to the next level. 

As their website states, their primary goal is to promote informed bidding when using Priceline travel products. Many of us are familiar with the popular "name your own price" line pioneered by Priceline many years ago.  Under this method, you can bid for travel (cars, airline tickets, hotels) at a price you feel is reasonable without, at least initially, knowing who the supplier of the travel is. If your bid is accepted, then Priceline congratulates you and confirms the details of your itenerary, including which airline, car rental, or hotel accepted your offer. But how do you know if you over bid? What if that good deal could have been a great deal? This is where biddingfortravel.com comes in. 

Based primarily on user successes with Priceline's bidding system, biddingfortravel.com organizes their site by travel product and region, allowing you to scan recent Priceline bids in order to put in an offer that is likely to get accepted and ensures you don't overbid. So while a rate of $200US for the 5-star Intercontinental De La Ville in Rome would be a bargain (rack rates are over $250), a rate of $154 was accepted by Priceline - as reported on biddingfortravel.com.

Of course if you underbid, Priceline requires you to become more flexible (i.e: larger car, expand hotel search to a different region, etc.) then rebid. If you just want to increase you bid amount, you must wait 24 hours. So a review of the biddingfortravel site before you place a bid helps ensure your offer amount is within reasonable levels. 

$25 Off Coupon for AirTran Airways

Sign up for AirTran's Net Escapes emails and receive a coupon got $25 off a future online purchase. Once you sign up, the discount code is immediately emailed to you.
You must sign up for this deal by May 11th. The discount is valid for travel until January 15, 2009.

Delta: Get $50 back when you fly West Coast to New York

Delta just announced a promotion whereby you will earn a $50 AMEX Gift Card for flying valid coast-to-coast flights booked at http://www.delta.com/. The offer applies to flights to/from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland to New York's JFK between May 1st and June 30th. Click here for more information and to register.

Cathay Pacific's 2008 "All Asia" Pass now available

Cathay Pacific has just released the details of their 2008 All Asia Pass. With this pass, you can fly from San Francisco to Hong Kong and two other Asian cities for as little as $1099. The real value of the pass is the diverse network of cities to choose from and generous stopovers permitted. Under the "basic cities" plan, you have 24 destinations to choose from including Denpasar (Bali), Manila, Seoul, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. "Add on" cities include Kathmandu, Bangladesh, Mumbai, Dhaka, and destinations throughout China.

The pass allows up to 21 days of travel, so if three cities doesn't tickle your fancy, you can add other destinations from their listings.

More information on the 2008 All Asia Pass from Cathay Pacific can be found here.

San Francisco - Memphis, TN $178/roundtrip taxes included Frontier Airlines
Fare valid 7 days a week through next year.

Cathay Pacific 15,000 mile bonus flying SFO-Hong Kong

Likely to promote the additional San Francisco to Hong Kong flights beginning in October, Cathay Pacific is offering a 10,000 Asia miles bonus (economy class) or 15,000 Asia miles bonus (business or first class) for upcoming flights. Click here for more details and to register.
Cathay Pacific has been ranked one of the top airlines in the world for onboard product, cabin service and lounge access, and is part of the OneWorld alliance.

American Airlines: Fly 2 trips, 3rd one is free

American has joined other airlines the past couple weeks by offering some pretty decent promotions this fall. On Wednesday American airlines announced if you fly 2 non-stop round-trips in certain markets, you get a 3rd one free.

Qualifying markets include:

San Francisco - Dallas, Chicago

Oakland - Dallas

San Jose - Dallas, Chicago, Austin

You must book your trip between September 13, 2007 and November 15, 2007.Travel between September 13, 2007 and November 15, 2007.

To participate in this offer, simply register before you travel. Register online at www.aa.com/offers using promotion code AA25X. Read all T&C

Southwest, JetBlue and United are other airlines that have recently offered similar promotions, or bonus miles for flying routes in/out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

San Francisco to Orlando, FL $199RT taxes included. Frontier Airlines. 14-day advance purchase required, and the fare is available 7-days a week through early next year.
Visit farecompare.com or frontierairlines.com

Sacramento to Cabo San Lucas $220 Roundtrip incl taxes

HOT fare! American Airlines is offering Sacramento to Cabo, Mexico for $220 round-trip with taxes included. Valid September 1 to October 15th. Non-stop or 1 stop service via Dallas available. Visit Farecompare.com or AA.com for availability.

Intra-California Sale continues

After yesterday's $34 each way sale from Oakland to Ontario and Los Angeles on Southwest - the other main carriers serving the Golden State responded with their own deals:

United is now offering $78+Tax ($99 all in) roundtrip Oakland to Los Angeles
American is offering $78+Tax ($99 all in) roundtrip San Francisco to Los Angeles
JetBlue is offering $78+Tax ($97 all in) roundtrip Oakland to Long Beach.

Southwest has said it plans to fly from San Francisco to Los Angeles starting in November...
this ought to ensure healthy competition continues for Bay Area flyers.

DING! Fares today from Southwest Airlines are HOT!

Oakland to Los Angeles $36/each way + tax (That's $92 bucks roundtrip, taxes included!)
Oakland to Ontario $36-$39/each way + tax
Monday-Saturday travel September 1 - October 31 only

Sacramento-Philadelphia $70/each way + tax

Tue/Thu/Friday travel September 4-28 only

You must have the DING! fare program downloaded on your computer to qualify for these fares.
DING! is available at Southwest.com

Southwest Airlines: "Helllllo San Francisco"

Hot offer for passengers flying in or out of 'the City by the Bay'
Southwest Airlines is welcoming San Francisco flyers with a special Rapid Rewards promotion.
NEW Members of their frequent flyer program will earn 8 credits (that's half way to a free round-trip ticket within the U.S) and DOUBLE rewards for flying to/from San Francisco between August 26th and October 31, 2007 when booking at Southwest.com.

Southwest Airlines begins flying out of SFO this weekend after a several year "break" from the airport.

Visit this link for more information on the offer.