Frontier Airlines's $25 Sale Might Break The Internet

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The discount carrier is offering deals on flights to cities like Miami, New Orleans, and Austin.

Good news if you're planning some U.S. travel this fall: Budget carrier Frontier Airlines is kicking off a $25 (yes, you read that correctly) sale on many major routes. The deals begin at $29 per person each way—there's a $5 off discount code that can be applied at checkout—while some fares go as high as $49.

Deals include Charlotte to Philadelphia for $60 round trip, Atlanta to Las Vegas for $98, and St. Louis to Orlando for $100. You must buy the tickets before September 12, but we'd advise buying earlier than that since many of the routes are already selling out. Last year's sale, where some tickets were as little as $15,broke company sales records.

Of course, like most online fare sales, there's some fine print, so make sure you check out the specific route you're interested in for any blackout dates. As well, if you're a Frontier first-timer, keep in mind that the airline has fees for both checked and carry-on bags. It also has a "Discount Den" similar to many airlines' frequent-flyer programs, which gives members discounts on bag fees. Frontier also charges for in-flight food and drinks, and you can pay extra to board early.

Written by Lilit Marcus, www.cntraveler.com

Set Your Own Price For Lufthansa Premium Economy Class Upgrades

Passengers can test the new travel class with myOffer

Beginning tomorrow, Saturday, November 22, the new Lufthansa Premium Economy Class will be offered on all routes flown by a Boeing 747-8 from Frankfurt (including to Bangalore, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Beijing, São Paolo, Seoul, Tokyo-Haneda and Washington, D.C.). Right on time for the launch of Premium Economy, Lufthansa passengers have the option, for the first time ever, to bid on an upgrade from Economy Class to Premium Economy. Using myOffer, customers that have a valid Lufthansa Economy Class ticket can make an individual bid for an upgrade into Premium Economy Class, following the motto: “Your upgrade at your price.” With a bit of luck, passengers flying on the routes that have the new Premium Economy will be able to enjoy the benefits of the new travel class on their long-haul flight. 

Here is how it works: passengers who have booked an Economy Class ticket can use the quick link on the website LH.com to “My Bookings” to log in and call up their booking. If it qualifies for myOffer, a notice for this will appear. It will link them to the myOffer page, where an upgrade bid can be placed. Bids can be edited and retracted up to 72 hours before the scheduled departure of the flight. After that, the bid is binding.

The selection process, which takes place between 72 to 36 hours before departure, takes into account the bid amount, as well as other criteria, including the amount of seats available in Premium Economy Class and the number and value of the bids that have been placed.

All passengers that have placed a bid will receive an email 48 to 24 hours, at the latest, before the scheduled departure, that informs them whether or not the bid has been accepted. If their bid is accepted, the credit card on file will be charged with the corresponding amount. The affected passengers will also receive an updated e-ticket. If the bid is not accepted, the passengers will fly in Economy Class as planned and will not incur any additional costs.

Premium Economy allows every guest to travel with two pieces of luggage weighing 51 lb each, which is twice as much luggage as in Economy Class. For an extra EUR 25, passengers can also enjoy the comfort of the Lufthansa Business Lounges before their departure. Every passenger is greeted on board with a welcome drink. Premium Economy passengers will find a high-end amenity kit at their seats that includes practical travel accessories, an electrical plug and a bottle of water. The meals are presented on menu cards and served on fine chinaware.. In addition, passengers can also enjoy the diverse range of in-flight entertainment on a large monitor in the seat in front of them.

myOffer is now available for all Premium Economy Class destinations. For technical and legal reasons, tickets excluded from this myOffer include tickets that were purchased in India or Japan and tickets that were part of a group booking.

Additional information about myOffer and Premium Economy Class, as well as routes that are already available, can be found at the following link: www.LH.com/premium-economy-myoffer

Travelore Tips: Three Ways To Find The Lowest Airfare

Contributed by Wendy Perrin, CNTraveler.com

"Google 'best time to buy airfare' and you'll find 50 different competing theories. And they're all wrong," George Hobica told me over lunch the other day. George is the founder of AirfareWatchdog, the airfare deals site that includes some low fares not found on other sites. "Don't listen to anyone who says there's a magic time or day to buy airfare. There is no secret time. You need to look four times a day -- minimum -- every day of the week, as far in advance as you can."

Sounds like a ton of work. Not nearly as simple as looking on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. Eastern or on Wednesdays at 1 a.m. But George has just compiled his "12 Tips for Finding Low Airfares, 2014 Edition" to make your airfare shopping easier. You probably already do many of the 12, as do I, but I thought I should share three nifty new takeaways from lunch:

Keep your airfare search results page open on your computer screen all day.
Whatever airfare search site you're using, just leave your Web browser window open on your computer screen and hit "Refresh" at least four times a day. Airlines change fares all day long, says George, and "even if the fares don't change, the number of seats available at that fare will change."When you can be flexible with your travel dates, use Kayak or Google Flights.

Flexible date search allows you to look for airfares within a certain window of time and pinpoint the least expensive days to fly within that window. I've always used ITA Software for this, but George recommends two tools that may be easier for many people to use. At Kayak, register your email address, click on "Flights," then click on "More search options" and choose "Flex Month." As for Google's Explore Flights tool, you can specify a trip length and month, allowing you to search for the lowest fares within whatever window of time you've got.

If you are flexible about your destination as well, use Adioso.
When you're open to suggestions for where to go and you just want a great airfare, Adioso works well because it lets you search not just for a specific destination city but for an entire region. Instead of having to limit your search to, say, "New York City to Copenhagen," you can punch in "New York City to Europe" and see what's available in, say, April or May.

Of course, the easiest way to get around time-consuming airfare shopping might be simply to have low fares emailed to your inbox. AirfareWatchdog's fare alerts include discounted promo-code fares as well as low fares on Southwest Airlines that other sites' alerts may not include. Personally, my favorite of the three types of fare alerts is the "Departure City alerts" because I want to know what surprise deals crop up from my home airport as well as other airports within a reasonable driving distance of home.

12 Travelore Tips For Finding The Best Airfares

No question about it, airfares on some routes are higher than they were four or five years ago, although Airfarewatchdog airfare searchers frequently find hundreds of fares crisscrossing the country for $250 or less round-trip. And even though fares seem higher, let's not forget that, adjusted for inflation, most fares are actually lower than they were 10 or 20 years ago. That said, here is my best advice for making your airfare dollars go further.

1. There's no "magic" day or lead time to buy the best airfare.

A lot of airfare experts think they're clairvoyant, so they know where airfares are headed or how far in advance you should start looking for a fare. The latest myth is to buy exactly 54 days in advance. Others say buy on Tuesday at 3 p.m. or Wednesday at midnight or when the moon is full (just kidding). But airlines are unpredictable, and anyone who claims he or she knows that airfares will be lower or higher in the coming months or the coming days should trade in their crystal ball. No one can accurately predict where airfares are heading, any more than we can predict the stock market. Think about it: if they really knew, they'd put every other airfare search operation out of business, and that hasn't happened. Don't believe me? Here's what an airline revenue manager has to say about this.

2. So search often, over a long lead time, and pounce when there's a deal

Fares fluctuate throughout the day, and the number of seats offered at the lowest fares also changes frequently. Or someone might be holding the only seat at the lowest fare and not book it, so it goes back into inventory--and then it will be yours. So if you don't like the fare at 10 a.m., check at 2 p.m. or the next day or the next week and pounce when the fare is affordable. It's easy to leave open the browser page where you're searching for a fare and keep on hitting the refresh.

3. Airfare alerts by email

This is perhaps the easiest way to track airfares. Many travel web sites offer emailed airfare alerts, letting you know when fares go down, and they all have something to offer. Do a browser search for "airfare alerts" and you'll see what's available. They all work a bit differently so sign up for more than one. One thing to note: these sites use essentially the same airfare data provided by the airlines' computer systems or ITA Software (which is now owned by Google), so they won't include discounted promo code fares, and they don't include Southwest Airlines (airfarewatchdog's fare alerts do, however, include hand-picked fares on Southwest).

4. Sign up for the airlines' email feeds and frequent flyer programs

Speaking of promo codes, the airlines want to develop a relationship with you, so they'll send you special deals, such as 50 percent off promo codes or two-fers, if you sign up for their emails. Here are links to US domestic airline sign up pages and for international airlines. We signed up for Virgin America's frequent flyer program and because we hadn't flown them yet we keep on getting promo code discount offers to give them a try.

5. Use Twitter

Email is great, but some of the most amazing airfare deals last only a short time (even if they're valid for travel over a long period), or you open the email too late. Twitter is more immediate. Our advice? Follow @Airfarewatchdog where we tweet unusual airfare deals every day of the week and alert followers to promo codes and other airfare deals.

6. Be a flexible travel date flyer

If you don't care when you go as long as the fare is low, try a flexible date search. It's getting harder to search airfares based on flexible travel dates now that many sites (Orbitz, Hotwire, Travelocity and Expedia among them) have eliminated their flexible date calendars. But Kayak.com still has a good one (you must register as a user to see it under Flights/more options/flex month). Another good site is Adioso.com and Google has two sites worth exploring: Google Flight Explore and Google Flights.More about flexible travel date search. 

7. Search airline sites individually, but online travel agencies are still useful
Many airlines have "private" sales, reserving their very best fares for their own sites. These are different from promo code sales mentioned above. International airlines such as Aer Lingus, Iberia and Qantas regularly offer lower fares (i.e., $100-$400 less) on their own web sites compared to what you'll find on Kayak or Orbitz. And yet, you shouldn't ignore online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity, because these sites will tell you if it's cheaper flying out on one airline and back on another (United won't tell you it's cheaper to fly out on United and back on American).

8. Use Priceline for last minute trips

If you don't have a 7-, 14-, or 21-day advance purchase window to buy your fare, your best bet is the "name your own price" feature of Priceline.com. True, you won't know the exact flight times or airline you're flying until to pay for your trip, but you can save 50% or more.

9. Use consolidators, but beware of the restrictions

Consolidators specializing in premium cabins will have some great deals, and the airlines themselves will often heavily discount their premium cabins in the summer and just before Christmas, so check the specials on their web sites. Sites like Vayama.com, airfare.com and Asia.com also sometimes sell consolidator fares, but read this to understand how these fares work and what the extra restrictions might be.

10. Consider the extra fees before you buy

If Southwest has a fare of $198 round-trip and United has one for $148, and you are checking three bags, then Southwest actually has the lowest fare because Southwest charges nothing for the first two checked bags, whereas United would charge you an additional $165 each way for three. (See Airline fee chart). 

11. Combine two separate fares rather than buying one fare

If you're flying to a destination in Europe, you might save money by purchasing one fare from the US to, say, Dublin, and another from Dublin onward on Ryanair.com (just beware of Ryanair's onerous fees). Same holds true for some destinations in Asia (fly into Singapore and catch a low cost carrier such as Airasia.com from there) and to some smaller Caribbean destinations via San Juan or the Bahamas. Even domestically, two fares are often less than one, such as the recent scenario where Dallas to Honolulu was selling for $350 round-trip with tax, but Houston/Honolulu was $800. As you're no doubt aware, you can fly Houston-Dallas for a lot less than $450! Just be sure to give yourself plenty of time between connecting flights in case one flight is delayed.

12. Buy tickets on an airline that will refund the difference if a fare goes down

Let's say you've found the lowest fare, and then the day after purchase your non-refundable fare for the same itinerary goes down. If you ask for it you can get a refund for the difference. But some airlines will charge you a costly "administrative" fee of $200 or more, wiping out any savings. Others will give you the entire fare difference in the form of a travel voucher without extracting a fee. All airlines used to do this but no longer. The only ones left are JetBlue, Southwest, and Alaska.