Frommers.com Airfare Deals and News for the Week of October 25, 2006

USA3000 (tel. 877/872-3000; www.usa3000.com) is at it again with their $10 discount on all flights booked by October 30, 2006 for travel through August 31, 2007. USA3000 serves the Caribbean and Florida from Baltimore, Chicago O'Hare, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Newark, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or St. Louis. Use the discount to reduce their already low fares. This airline sells all its fares one-way. To redeem, type in the promo code SIGNS in the yellow box when booking online at www.usa3000.com.

For reasons known only to itself, United Airlines (tel. 800/864-8331; www.united.com) reduced fares to and from South Bend, IN earlier this week, and Continental and some other airlines either matched or did them one better. South Bend can sometimes be a good alternate airport for folks living in or traveling to areas south and east of Chicago. Assuming the sale is still on by the time you read this, you can find some enticing fares listed on the Airfarewatchdog South Bend fares page, which also includes fares to/from Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Chicago too.

Sample fares include (all roundtrip before taxes):

• Boston $118
• Buffalo $118
• Ft. Lauderdale $138
• Miami $138
• Oakland $218
• Philadelphia $138
• West Palm Beach $108

United has also snuck in some new low fares to and from both Gunnison and Montrose, Colorado at a cool $250 RT. Travel to these ski resorts is Sunday to Wednesday and from is Tuesday to Friday. Fares appeared to be blacked out or sold out on some routes from December 17 to around December 31, but travel is valid until September of 2007 (that's next year, for those of you who email me and say, wait, September was last month!).

Sample routes (all $250 RT):

• Boston to Gunnison
• Dayton to Gunnison
• Nashville to Gunnison
• Syracuse to Gunnison
• Baltimore to Montrose
• Milwaukee to Montrose
• West Palm Beach to Montrose

American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) is offering a sale on travel to Shanghai, China. Below are some sample fares including taxes and fees:

Depart December 3, Return December 9

• Chicago to Shanghai $817 vs. next lowest $1,025 on Asiana
• Detroit to Shanghai $831 vs. $1,250 on Northwest

Depart January 19, Return January 30

• Boston to Shanghai $791 vs. $1,045 on British Airways via Orbitz.com
• Dallas to Shanghai $826 vs. $1,100 on United via Orbitz.com

As you can see, these are very good fares. Depart by February 10, 2007 and complete travel by March 27, 2007. Purchase your ticket by October 27, 2006.

Alaska Airlines (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com) is offering a 15 percent discount on flights between Washington State and southern California. To receive the discount, enter e-certificate code EC05606 when making reservations at alaskaair.com. Travel between November 7, 2006 and December 20, 2006. This offer expires October 29, 2006.

Sample one-way fares before taxes, fees and the discount:

Seattle to/from:

• Long Beach $99
• Los Angeles $94
• Palm Springs $109

Spokane to/from:

• Burbank $99
• Los Angeles $94
• San Diego $99

United Airlines (tel. 800/864-8331; www.united.com) is having a sale on travel to Mexico. Here are some sample fares including all taxes and fees:

• Depart November 4, Return November 11
• Chicago to Mexico City $553 vs. $382 on American
• Denver to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo $432 vs. next lowest $457 on American

Depart December 2, Return December 9

• Omaha to Mexico City $426 vs. $473 on Continental
• San Francisco to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo $444 vs. $462 on American

So it looks like you can save a few bucks on some routes, and if you're flying out of Denver you might even go nonstop to some destinations. Travel is permitted on Saturdays only to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. Travel to Mexico City must include a connection via Chicago O'Hare or Washington Dulles. All travel must be completed by December 13, 2006. Purchase by October 31, 2006.

British Airways (tel. 800/247-9297; www.ba.com) is having a business class sale to London for travel during the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. Below are some sample fares including taxes and fees:

• New York (JFK) to London $2,404 vs. $1,381 on American
• Atlanta to London $2,497 vs. $2,471 on American

Depart December 20, Return December 29

• San Francisco to London $2,985 vs. $2,600 on Continental
• Washington Dulles to London $3,040 vs. $1,748 on Maxjet (to London Stansted)

As you can see, comparable fares pretty much beat or match BA's sale. However, BA serves all these destinations nonstop and they offer completely flat beds in business class. Depart November 18, 2006 through November 25, 2006, and December 16, 2006 through December 31, 2006. A Saturday night stay is required. There is also a 21 day advance purchase requirement.

Belize City, Freeport, and Mexico City

Delta Air lines (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com) has discounted fares from Atlanta to Belize City, Freeport, and Mexico City. Below are some sample fares including all taxes and fees:

Depart November 20, Return December 5

• Atlanta to Belize City $557 vs. $562 on Continental

Depart January 17, Return January 27

• Atlanta to Mexico City $454 vs. $409 on Aeromexico (with Promotion Code: AMDZV from last week's column)
• Atlanta to Freeport $295 with Airtran matching

While other carriers are matching and beating Delta's sale fares, Delta flies these routes nonstop, so that's something to consider. Travel through February 7, 2007. Blackout dates vary by destination. Purchase your tickets by October 30, 2006.

Orbitz.com (www.obitz.com) no longer has a flexible date search option on its Web site. We have no idea if this is temporary or permanent, and Orbitz has not returned calls seeking comment. I guess they don't send out media releases when they have bad news to report, and this is indeed bad news, if it's a permanent move, for consumers, because it makes finding the baseline lowest fare between any two cities that much harder. In any case, you can still go to ITASoftware.com, which is the "brains" behind Orbitz anyway, and Zuji.com to do flexible searches on both domestic and international routes, and then book your seats any way you like.

Additional reporting by David Shan.

George Hobica is a syndicated travel journalist and blogger whose website, www.airfarewatchdog.com, tracks unadvertised airfare wars and other fare sales.