13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Fast-acting travelers benefit from airline price wars

Fast-acting travelers benefit from airline price wars

Indianapolis - The economy is derailing some airlines' plans for summer profits. But bad news for air carriers could be good news for Hoosier travelers.

At Indianapolis International Airport, travel bargains are now arriving. "We booked our flight back in February for $69," said one couple. They paid $69 each way to Orlando. But right now AirTran says they can get you there for $44.

"I didn't know that. I would have made my vacation plans for later," said one passenger.

"You couldn't drive to Florida for that," said another.

Southwest is fighting back and other airlines are flying in financial formation.

Dr. Phil Powell is with the IU Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis. "Sometimes the height of travel season you would not see sales like this, but the economy is in such a rut those usual rules don't apply," he said.

Airlines are trying to fill seats, but can you find those low prices?

AirTran has advertised flights from Indianapolis to Charlotte for $39 each way. The cheapest we could find was $89, but if we changed our travel dates to July 22nd - Wednesday - we got as low as $59.

As for those $44 fares to Orlando, we found a bunch for $59. On Southwest, which advertises a special $30 to Chicago, the cheapest we found for July 22nd was $77.

"That's pretty good, really," said travel agent Linda Sabek with the Travel Authority. She says the lowest fares are usually harder to find. "The vast majority of the traveling public knows that these are lead-in prices. They're probably going to pay more. Then you add in security taxes and airport facilities charges," she explained.

The special fares are flying fast. At AirTran you must book my midnight Thursday night; at Southwest by midnight Wednesday night. So if you are flexible with your travel dates, Sabek said, "Now really is the time to travel."

Powell says fare wars usually only last a few weeks. "Airlines usually realize they can't make any money selling seats at these prices so they basically go a couple weeks to boost some customer loyalty."

Frontier is also offering discounts until July 14th. You can use those tickets through the new year. Southwest and AirTran's are good through November.