Not Too Late for Holiday Airfare Sales

Dec. 17, 2008— -- Looking for a $39 airplane ticket? Believe it or not, you can find one.

AirTran has launched a fare sale with one-way tickets as low as $39 from Atlanta to Charleston, S.C.

This season, the airline has a lot of company. Carriers can usually command top dollar around the holidays, but with the economy and travel in a slump, they are launching air fare sales to attract customers.

"There are spots of the country that are getting ridiculously good deals," Rick Seaney, president of FareCompare.com, told ABC News. "The airfares are out there, it's just a matter if there are seats on the flights that you want."

Seaney said travelers may have the best luck flying on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. As for the trip home, he added, "If you can return on the Monday or Tuesday after New Year's you can save several hundred dollars, although that may conflict with your work schedule."

Despite the slowdown in travel, planes will be full this holiday season on peak travel days because carriers have cut back on the number of flights they're offering. The Air Transport Association is predicting 43 million passengers will travel over the winter holiday, from Dec. 18 through Jan. 7. That would be a nine percent decline from last year.

In other deals, United is offering a $125 one-way fare from New York to San Francisco provided travelers buy a return ticket and stay at least three nights.

Not surprisingly, some of the best travel deals are for after the holidays. Staring Jan. 6, Southwest will fly travelers from Denver to Burbank, Calif. for $99 one way, or from Baltimore to Islip airport on Long Island, N.Y., for only $49. Travelers who want to take them up on the offers will need to buy those tickets before the end of December.