You Can Still Fly Home for the Christmas, New Years Holiday, Especially If You Refinance Your Home, Says Bestfares.com

You Can Still Fly Home for the Christmas, New Years Holiday, Especially If You Refinance Your Home, Says Bestfares.com

ARLINGTON, Texas, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Flying cheaply during the peak Christmas/New Year's time frame is everyone's goal -- and if you started looking now, Tom Parsons, CEO of Bestfares.com, says you may be out of luck.

"The thousand-dollar question is whether I can fly home for the holidays for under $1,000," says Parsons. "With demand exceeding supply, the airlines are able to charge a significant premium on each seat."

Even travel to Florida -- battered by four hurricanes during the summer of 2004 -- is difficult if you're looking for a cheap ticket, says Parsons.

On Dec. 26, 2004, the major carriers offer 11 nonstop flights between New York's LaGuardia Airport and Orlando, notes Parsons. With an average seating capacity around 150 passengers, that means there are about 1,650 seats flying between LaGuardia and Orlando. As of today, there are only about 20 coach seats to sell. Prices on the major legacy carriers range from $571 roundtrip to $997 for one of those seats.

"The cheapest possible airfare offered by the major three legacy carriers between LaGuardia and Orlando is $118 roundtrip," says Parsons. "But with such high demand, one major airline is demanding and getting up to 8 times more money on this route."

Parsons suggests that when planning to travel for major holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Spring Break to book as far out as possible. Monitoring airfares for summer 2005 travel through Aug. 15, 2005, is a smart move, notes Parsons.

Following his own advice, Parsons booked travel for his "Brady Bunch" group of kids -- six in all on Sept. 9, 2004, for travel over the Christmas holidays. The price he paid for each of their tickets between Dallas/Fort Worth and Tampa was $305.20. During the first week of November, tickets on the same flight had climbed to $649 each. Today, that price on the same dates and flights is $1,075 per roundtrip ticket. Parsons says he feels sorry for those who didn't book in advance like he did, pointing that he saved more than $4,600 compared to today's prices. "That's a lot of ching-chang that would keep the average family from flying this season," notes Parsons.

Below are some samples of fares on selected routes purchased by Bestfares.com members, bought before the holiday rush and prices on the same routes and travel dates, today, Dec. 1, 2004.

Route Booked Travel Dates Price Today's price
San Diego-
Atlanta Feb. 26, 2004 Dec.23-Jan. 2 $331.70rt $876.50rt

Washington-
London July 22, 2004 Dec. 25-Jan. 1 $344.40rt $926.10rt

New York-
Jacksonville July 15, 2004 Dec. 23-Jan. 2 $216.70rt $1,114.70rt

Pittsburgh-
Honolulu Feb. 25, 2004 Dec. 24-Jan. 1 $617.88rt $1,148.85rt

Atlanta-
Salt Lake City Sept. 10, 2004 Dec. 25-Jan. 1 $255.40rt $1,196.40rt

Dallas-Honolulu Aug. 2, 2004 Dec. 20-Jan 1 $755.98rt $1,516.79rt



"As you can see, some fares more than quadrupled from when they were bought only two months ago to today," says Parsons. "The lesson learned here is that when you have to travel somewhere over a busy travel period, book early or be prepared to cash out your home's equity to afford a ticket to see grandma."

Bestfares.com's Tom Parsons, one of the most sought-after travel industry experts in the United States, has been chasing down hidden travel bargains and bringing them to the traveling public for more than 20 years. Parsons regularly appears on NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's The Early Show, CNN, Fox and MSNBC.

To schedule an interview with Parsons about airfare news, contact the Media Relations department at 800-576-8255, or by e-mail at media@bestfares.com .


Source: Bestfares.com

CONTACT: Media Relations of Bestfares.com, +1-800-576-8255, or
media@bestfares.com

Web site: http://www.bestfares.com/


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