Airfare Expert: Is it too late for summer deals?

— -- Attention, procrastinators: We have a bit of good news for you; there are some deals out there, some hidden in plain sight and some just hidden. Here's how you can find them.

Weren't there supposed to be no last-minute deals this summer?

Despite my earlier predictions, airlines may have made a slight miscalculation on the appetite of travelers for high-cost airfare. True, there were no last-minute airfare hike attempts on the part of the airlines, but while prices at the gas pump have been dropping, there's been no corresponding movement on the part of airfares. That may have set the stage for some to hit the road instead of the airport security checkpoint.

How do I find summer airfare deals?

As always, sign up for airfare alerts and let technology do the work for you. But when you receive an alert, be prepared to book immediately (if you like the fare) because that deal could disappear in minutes, as sale inventory is very limited this summer. Here are some other things you should know about:

Elastic summer shopping windows. We've seen some unusual movement on sale launches this summer, which is likely a result of airline anxiousness - they want to be certain their planes are packed. Look for an occasional sale launch on Monday instead of the usual Tuesday, and sometimes the "book by" date will stretch into Friday instead of the traditional Thursday deadline; both AirTran and its new owner Southwest have been experimenting with this. Yes, Tuesday at 3 p.m. is still the best overall time to shop for airfare, but since some airlines are jumping the gun this summer, it's worth your while to start perusing prices on a comparison fare site a day early.

Look for one-off sales. Last week, Virgin America launched an unusual 8-hour sale, and we've also seen AirTran launch Friday-only sales more than once. This is where your airfare alerts prove themselves - also subscribe to your airline's Twitter and Facebook feeds to catch these.

Look beyond the airfare sales. Don't believe everything you read about a sale. FareCompare.com recently posted an item about some Hawaiian Airlines deals featuring discounted fares starting Aug. 21, but then our editor dug a little deeper and discovered the same cheap fares sprinkled well before that date. This is where a comparison site and your own flexibility come in mighty handy.

Compare, compare, compare. Use a website that shows a wide variety of airlines, and a wide range of dates throughout the summer. You will be surprised at the pockets of deals that pop up.

FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney is an airline industry insider and top media air travel resource. Follow Rick ( @rickseaney) and never overpay for airfare again.