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Oh, Spirit Airlines! What would a travel blog be without you?? The double entendres, the imagery, the low fares that few if anyone can actually purchase… But this latest sale, as mentioned in the Consumerist earlier today, is a raising the bar, even for you: The MILF Sale.

Oh sure, the “MILF” sale portends to be the “Many Islands, Low Fares” sale, but we know better, Spirit. You’re talking about the lustful thoughts for a friend’s mom. And you know what: We have the evidence to prove it.

Have a look at these screenshots. You have to look quickly as the Flash passes, but thanks to a fast finger on the print-screen button, we see the seductive silhouette-shaped island north of Cuba…

My Caribbean geography may be a bit rusty, but something tells me that’s not any island I’ve seen. Better look quickly, as it changes to this more generic image:

Keepin’ it classy, Spirit!

Spirit has named sales before, after hurricanes, after Jeb Bush, and now, after the randy thoughts of teenage boys across America.

So: Whaddaya think? Are Spirit’s fare sale antics the marketing equivalent of a crisp snap of a towel in the postgame locker room? Or are these sales crossing a line into the obnoxious and offensive? Or, are they just plain stupid? Vote!

(Viewing in a feed reader? Click here to vote.)

Related:
- Spirit Airlines to Democrats: Drop Dead
- Downgrades: Spirit Airlines to charge for ALL luggage, coffee, and soda
- Is Spirit Airlines’ new club worth joining?
- Spirit Airlines’ CEO flips his customers the bird

The other day, FareCompare.com CEO Rick Seaney sent over an analysis of AirTran’s recent fare sale. “When is a fare sale not really a fare sale?” The answer: When the airline hikes its fares, only to lower them with great fanfare a few days later. Hooray for the status quo?

Rick suggests that this is tantamount to those stores that once lined the streets of midtown Manhattan, declaring they were going out of business. That is, until you saw that the name of the store was “Going Out of Business, Inc.” or something like that.

So how did AirTran join such esteemed company as the all-things-must-go merchants of New York City? Within a one-month period, Air Tran raised their fares three times — twice for three days, once for five days — and then brought them back to the previous level. Each time, their return to normal pricing was heralded with breathless press releases and a marketing blitz, announcing a sale.

Rick is right: This is an at best questionable, at worst deceptive business practice. Think about it: If a department store jacked up its prices for a few days, then brought them back to normal, customers might be filing complaints with the Federal Trade Commission. Perhaps AirTran thinks that the fluctuating nature of air ticket prices makes them immune to such charges, but I think they’re walking on some very thin ice.

So now they’ve been called out on it. We’ll see if they’ll change their tune, of they’ll just keep right on doing it. If enough people catch on, the phrase “AirTran fare sale” might be like the boy crying wolf.

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Summer is coming soon in the northern hemisphere, which means it’s time for the annual business class fare sales. As business travel slows, paid premium traffic slows along with it. So bring on the sales!

Many of these sales aren’t advertised as such. The airlines simply load a lower business class fare into the system, and it’s not necessarily available every day on every flight. These are usually “Z-fares,” i.e., they have a fare code that begins with the letter Z. These come with more restrictions than a typical business class ticket, and will often need to be purchased relatively far in advance — sometimes as far as 60 days.

Bottom line: Before you hit “purchase” on an expensive international coach ticket, check the business class fare.

Beyond the big carriers and their summer discounts, there are a couple other business class offers worth mentioning:

All-business class Silverjet is rolling out its own loyalty program — the Freequent Flyer Program, har har. If you join the club and buy a ticket on the airline, you get a redemption code for a free ticket. The promotion ends May 25, 2007.

Oasis International Airlines, the low-cost long-haul London to Hong Kong carrier (that plans to fly to Hong Kong to Oakland later this year) is similarly featuring a buy-one-get-one-free offer on their Hong Kong-London route. Buy one business class ticket for , get a transferable voucher for another business class ticket free. £1595 (~US$3200) including taxes buys you both tickets. Purchase the first ticket by June 15, 2007. The voucher is good through March 2008. (via RoadGladiator)

Related:
- Why are there no Y-UP fares to Europe or Asia?

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Jared Blank found a promo code for JetBlue online, but the deal is even better than he says. Sure, you can fly from New York to Pittsburgh one-way for $11 plus tax, if that floats your boat, but the code is valid nationwide, not just on that short flight. You can save $17 each way or $34 roundtrip off any JetBlue fare, including the rock-bottom cheapies.

To get the discount, you have to start your search on the coupon code page here to start. In the “promotion password” box, enter “SEVENTEEN” and click enter. Then run your search as normal.

Yes, it’s a promo aimed at young girls who read Seventeen Magazine. Yes, as an adult male, I worry about using that code and getting tagged as a perv by the feds. But no, that wouldn’t stop me from using it anyway to save some green on airfare!

Book between January 13 and February 14, 2007, and complete travel by February 14. Consider this an early Valentine’s Day love note from “Seventeen” to you, with every “i” dotted with a little heart.

Discount carrier Air Asia has a new promo: They’re giving away 1 million tickets for flights within the region. It looks like it’s available on most every route right now, including major routes like Bangkok-Singapore.

Of course, taxes come on top of this, but it’s still really cheap. For the BKK-SIN route, I found “free” seats that came to 1450 baht total, or about US$40 roundtrip. Hard to beat.

Click here for the promo page. Book by January 19, fly between April 1 and October 27, 2007.

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Reader Steven writes in:

I know that so called y-up fares can be a good way to sit in first class for cheap, but I can’t find them for flights to Europe or Asia. Can you help?

The reason you can’t find them, Steven, is because there are none by that name. International long-haul discount first (and business) class fares go by different names than their domestic equivalents.

Y-UP fares and their ilk are limited to North American flights, and generally refer to an upgrade from coach to first on two-class planes. See here for background on Y-UP fares, and see FareCompare’s Y-UP search tool to find these fares on routes you travel.

For Europe or Asia, you’re generally going to be looking for Z-fares. But there’s no handy-dandy search tool (yet) for Z-fares like there is for Y-UPs. (Neil and Rick, consider this a challenge!…)

Z-fares crop up from time to time, but aren’t available on every route. Traveling in summer or the December holiday season maximizes your chances of finding such a fare.

For international premium class travel, be sure to also consider the startup airlines like Maxjet, Silverjet, Eos Airlines, MiMa, and L’Avion. These offer all-business class flights to London, Milan, or Paris.

Related:
- First class for less than coach?
- More tips on finding discounted first class fares (Y-UP, Q-UP, etc.)
- Update/Correction re: discounted first class fares (Y-UP, Q-UP, etc.)
- Y-UP and Q-UP first class fares apparently not enough: Welcome M-UP and B-UP fares
- More trans-Atlantic flights, but lower prices?

French startup airline L’Avion, formerly known as Elysair, is offering 999 tickets between New York (Newark, actually) and Paris for $999 round trip. The first 999 buyers get the fare, so this is obviously limited.

And remember, this isn’t in coach. This is on board their all-business-class Boeing 757s. Travel much be completed by March 31, 2007, and there are no refunds.

Click here to book.

All-business class startup carrier Maxjet is running another fare sale. The deal:

$999 INCLUDING all taxes and fees for travel between London-Stansted and Washington-Dulles or New York-JFK, in business class. That’s a great deal.

Book before midnight on October 1, 2006 for travel between November 1, 2006 and February 28, 2007.
Use Promo code: ANNV06

Related:
- Another all-business class airline…
- All-biz airlines filling planes… and knife-wielding passengers’ stomachs
- Do we really need ANOTHER all-business class airline to London?
- MaxJet’s fatal flaw?

The business class deals keep rolling in. Up next: Continental.

The cheapest:
Newark to London-Gatwick, $1141 roundtrip including all taxes. Great fare for business class.

But Continental has also upped the ante for leisure travelers by offering these fares during the peak holiday travel season, and including a range of other cities besides London. See here for the broader sale details. Purchase by October 25, travel must be completed by January 11.

(thanks to reader Craig!)

Related:
- Attention Atlanta: British Airways joins business class fare sale
- Delta: New York-London in business class for $1141 ROUND TRIP including taxes
- First class for less than coach?

tags: travel | business class | low fares | British Airways

British Airways, apparently offended by Delta’s crazy-low business class airfares from New York to London, is matching the fare from Delta’s Atlanta hub. Atlanta to London-Gatwick in BA’s excellent business class is available on select dates for as low as $1271 round trip, including all taxes. (I found this fare on Orbitz with the arbitrary dates January 22 and 31.) The coach fares are similar to Delta’s New York fares, too.

One quirk of BA’s business class (”Club World“) is that half the seats face forward, while half face backward. See the layout here.

(thanks to reader Tom!)
tags: travel | business class | low fares | British Airways

I don’t give a lot of specific fare deals on this site, since others (here and here) are more closely watching fares than I ever could, but this introductory Delta fare is just too good not to mention.

Commemorating their new New York-London route (which they recently purchased from United Airlines), Delta has great deals across the pond.

For travel between New York-JFK and London-Gatwick:
$199 ($303 with taxes) for roundtrip economy-class
$999 ($1141 with taxes) for roundtrip business-class

$1141 roundtrip is cheaper than anyone else in business class, including Maxjet, for the dates I checked.

The fine print: Buy tickets by September 7. Travel may begin November 15, 2006 through March 21, 2007. All travel must be completed by April 20, 2007. Blackout Dates: December 15, 2006-January 7, 2007. Saturday night stay required and 30-day maximum stay.

Of course, seats are limited, etc., etc., etc., and this will require a bit of hunting to find dates that work, especially for the business class fares.

Also, Delta has branded these flights Delta 001 and Delta 002. I guess that makes this the new flagship service?

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tags: travel | Delta Airlines | business class | low fares

Yesterday, the site Seeking Alpha posted this tip for getting the best price for airfares:

What’s the absolute best time to purchase a ticket directly from the airlines? Turns out it’s Wednesday from midnight to 1a.m. in the time zone of the airline’s “home base.”[…] Why? That’s when the computer systems of most airlines get rid of the reserved but unbooked lower fare reservations.

Several blogs — at least 36 of them as of this writing — picked up on this tip. The problem is it’s completely wrong. It’s pure, unadulterated bunk, a long-running myth of the airline industry.

I consulted with the good folks at FareCompare.com, who reaffirmed my view. The Wednesday midnight rule is a myth. Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com sets the record straight:

- Held reservations don’t all expire Wednesdays.

“Held inventory is released every day at midnight so Wednesday is nothing special. Agencies who use Sabre, Worldspan, Galileo and/or Amadeus [the major GDS’s — the global computer networks used for booking tickets] can hold DOMESTIC inventory (sold status SS) without ticketing up to 24 hours during the day, and the carriers at their choosing come in the evening at Midnight and release un-ticketed inventory. The hold for international inventory is normally longer than 24 hours but is at the discretion of the airlines. Some airline websites have a hold feature, but it acts the same way as an agency: the inventory is lost at midnight if not ticketed, and the itinerary is repriced at the current inventory for that flight at time of purchase. For the most part all airline sites use the same policy.”

- Most fares that are put on hold aren’t that cheap to begin with.

“It’s not the low fare inventory that opens up at midnight. Low fare inventory is almost always ticketed immediately. Un-ticketed inventory is normally high priced business inventory held by a corporate agency for business travelers who are on the fence about going, or by government workers who have a special ‘hold until travel’ feature for negotiated routes.”

- Midnight isn’t necessarily the best time for new fares, anyway.

“New fares (lower or higher) are distributed at 10:00am, 12:30pm, and 8pm EST and loaded about 2-6 hours later in the GDS and airline sites. Seat inventory is controlled by automated revenue management systems, which continuously monitor current sales and consult historical models to decide on whether to release the lowest price seat inventory. The 8pm domestic ATPCO [Airline Tariff Publishing Company – the clearinghouse (owned by the airlines) for raw air fare/rule distribution] fare feed (5pm weekends) is loaded into the GDS and airline sites between 12:15am and 1:30am, which has the changed fares. But there is no correlation to getting a good deal, just because some inventory might be freed up at midnight. It is just as likely to free up at 2pm when the yield management system decides sales are soft in a particular inventory price bucket for a particular flight.”

- SHOCKER: Some agencies will try to get a better price than the fare they sold you. You just may not find out.

“Large volume non-online agencies do have a practice of ticketing later at night and trying to re-price all un-ticketed items to see if any fares or inventory have changed on a particular flight (sometimes they pocket the difference, sometimes the customer gets the benefit).”

- This is not news.

“There is nothing special about this process. It has been this way for years.”

There you have it. Myth busted. It’s Wednesday night as I type, and though midnight is approaching, I’m not banking on any airfare deals tonight. Neither should you.

Big thanks to Rick Seaney for the insights.

UPDATE: SmarterTravel.com took on the same question today, and they suggest that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (especially Tuesday) are more likely to have lower fares. I don’t buy it. The explanation is purely anecdotal; I’ll go with the boys at FareCompare who track airfares obsessively, who say the low fares can come on any day.

Related:
- Low fare alerts: Machine vs. human
- Flexible-date search alternatives for international destinations

tags: travel | airfares | FareCompare