Airline Hotel Travel Discounts

Singapore Airlines has posted 20 percent discounts on the world's longest flights: Its 18-hour-long, all-business class nonstops to Singapore from Los Angeles and Newark.

Image: Photograph courtesy of Singapore Airlines

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Hoteliers and airline executives have hit the panic button, and that means price breaks and bargains travelers haven't seen in years.

Demand for airline seats and hotel rooms is traditionally weak in January and February, and the travel industry always discounts lustily. But 2009 is already shaping up as the worst year for business and leisure travel since 2002, when U.S. markets were suffering from a post-9/11 slump. "We're no different than any other industry," the general manager of a swanky Florida resort told me last week. "There's no business and no immediate prospect for business. So I'm doing anything I can to fill my rooms. If I have to throw in free breakfasts or slash my rate, I'll do it. What choice do I have?"

Actually, travel is different. Business is much worse, reflecting its status as a leading indicator of economic hard times. The airlines, for example, thought they had prepared for the worst last fall when they cut about 10 percent of the nation's seat inventory from the schedules and grounded hundreds of older aircraft. But that has proved insufficient: Passenger demand has fallen even faster than the schedule cuts. Plummeting oil prices have helped carriers trim expenses—at last year's peak prices, energy represented half of an airline's costs—but it also means there's more room to slash ticket prices.

Within hours of each other last week, half a dozen domestic carriers launched domestic fare sales—and the others promptly matched. Besides fares not seen in years—JetBlue Airways, for example, cut prices from the Northeast to Florida to as low as $74 one-way and AirTran Airways posted a $64 price between Atlanta and Chicago—the sales are unusually long. If you can purchase tickets within the next week, some prices are valid for travel through June, a startling break since post-New Year's sale fares usually end in late March. And there is every indication that deeper price cuts are coming. Although Virgin America advertised a $139 one-way sale fare on its transcontinental routes, I found several days during February when prices on New York-San Francisco flights were as low as $109.

International fare sales are also coming fast and furious. Just before Christmas, British Airways cut business-class prices to Europe to as low as $2,000 roundtrip. And B.A.'s boutique carrier, Open Skies, is selling seats in its terrific prem+ cabin between New York and Amsterdam for just $1,000 roundtrip. If you buy during the next two weeks, the fare is valid for travel through the end of May.

Last weekend, Qantas Airways unleashed a four-day sale to Australia. Qantas rarely discounts, so it was surprising to see the airline knock about 20 percent off its lowest coach fares—and absolutely shocking to see that it was offering the discount for travel through mid-September. Two other well-regarded Pacific Rim carriers known as pricing hawks are discounting too. Cathay Pacific Airways has knocked as much as 60 percent off the price of business-class seats between San Francisco and Hong Kong if you book seven days in advance and travel by March 31. On some days, the fare is now as low as $4,700 roundtrip. And Singapore Airlines has even posted 20 percent discounts on the world's longest flights: Its 18-hour-long, all–business class nonstops to Singapore from both Los Angeles and Newark are selling for $5,995 roundtrip when you travel during the week and book 14 days in advance.

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