Why Airfare Discounts Have Returned

Tips on how to navigate the airline ticket pricing chaos and find the best deal.

ByABC News
November 18, 2008, 12:10 PM

Nov. 26, 2008 — -- The next time you hop on a plane, try this simple exercise: look around at your seatmates and guess whether they paid more -- or less for their tickets -- than you did. It shouldn't come as a surprise that some paid perhaps half what you did while others may have shelled out three times that much.

As they say, "timing is everything" and that is absolutely true when it comes to buying an airline ticket. Pick the right time, and you'll be in that small group on the plane that paid the cheapest price; pick the wrong time, and you'll be staring down the barrel of a $1,000 ticket.

Unfortunately the "right time" or what I like to call the "best time" to buy an airline ticket isn't something the airlines could tell you -- even if they wanted to.

Case in point: in the past three weeks, the domestic airlines initiated several holiday and winter airfare sales -- to spur on slumping demand -- mostly related to the unforeseen meltdown in the global economy. Only a few short months ago, the prospects of holiday discounts seemed unthinkable, as airlines slashed 200,000 seats daily to survive at $130 a barrel oil -- oil that now has collapsed to around $50 a barrel.

Those who "wisely" purchased holiday airfare early (me included) are now watching in disbelief as procrastinators slide in at the last minute -- and scoop up all these great deals. There is some hope, however, for those holding more expensive tickets: Alaska, United, Southwest and JetBlue will refund the difference in price for the same flight -- typically as a voucher for future travel -- while other airlines charge fees that range from $50 to $150 per ticket to make these changes.

Better get used to this.