A big thanks to reader @chriscottdallas for letting me know that American and Delta launched a new fare sale between Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and New York LaGuardia (LGA).

Last week, Delta started their new non-stop service between the two airports.  For the first six days prices held on the route, but over the weekend both airlines began offering round-trip weekend fares for less than $340.

You’ll find good availability in April:

Lots of availability in May as well:

These fares require a 10-day advance purchase and a Saturday-night minimum stay.   As long as inventory last, prices should be good through May 23.

By the way, both airlines have targeted promotions in place:

Delta – Fly from LaGuardia Airport and get a $25 Gift Card

American – Double Elite Qualifying Miles between LGA and DFW

Two other items….

I’ll have another update later today and will announce the winner of Friday’s reader giveaway.

And don’t forget that each Monday, AAdvantage sponsors the Frugal Travel Guys’ Deal of the Day: share your tip for a chance to win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles.

Late yesterday evening, American launched a Leap Day Fare Sale to several domestic and international destinations.  From the email that I received:

Savings like this only come around once every four years. American Airlines and American Eagle are offering you our best prices across the U.S. and to Europe, Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Plus, this special sale includes amazing deals for First Class and Business Class travel to international destinations.

I took a look at some fares from Dallas and didn’t see anything that looked crazy cheap. Most of the fares from DFW were inline with some of the previous fare sales.

Los Angeles, JFK, and Miami had (what looked to me) to be some pretty good prices, especially in Business Class. For example, JFK to Santiago is available for about $800 round-trip in Business Class. You can find fares from LAX to Tokyo (Narita) in Business Class for less than $3,000.

You’ll find fare deals from more than 120 markets, not just the big hub cities.   Here’s a list of links and travel dates:

Domestic — Main Cabin
Begin travel by June 8, 2012
Complete travel by June 12, 2012
Purchase tickets by March 1, 2012

International — Main Cabin
For Europe, begin travel between April 2, 2012, and May 17, 2012
Other destinations begin travel between March 14, 2012, and June 8, 2012
Complete travel by June 12, 2012
Purchase tickets by March 1, 2012

International — Business Class
Begin travel between March 14, 2012, and June 8, 2012
Complete travel by June 12, 2012
Purchase tickets by March 1, 2012

International — First Class
Begin travel between March 14, 2012, and June 8, 2012
Complete travel by June 12, 2012
Purchase tickets by March 1, 2012

The fare sale ends 11:59 p.m. (CT) March 1, 2012.

Spot any great deals from your home airport?  Share them in the comments section.

I always have some business or vacation travel on the planning calendar, so I use AA.com fare alerts and Kayak price tracking to keep me from missing out on a fare sale to one of the destinations on my watch list.

So when I get the weekly American Airlines Net Saver email, I almost always glance at prices, but unless there’s just some stupid cheap price to someplace I’d like to visit, I don’t pay that much attention. 

Every summer I escape from the Texas heat by fleeing to Montreal. I’ve been hoping for some decent fares during August but haven’t seen anything arrive in my inbox, so I went online to AA.com to look at fare sales.

And while I still can’t find a decent fare to Montreal, the rest of the world in on sale.

Europe.  Central American.  South America.  First Class.  Business Class.  Coach.  The last time I saw fares this low was back in the early days of the recession in 2008 and 2009.

Anyway, I don’t write about fare sales very often, but I thought that these were worth mentioning.

South America – Business Class Flight Deals

If you’re planning to visit South America or you’re participating in an Elite Status Challenge, here are some really great prices on business class fare to the region:

American Airlines is offering discount Business Class airfare to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Belo Horizonte, Brazil now at AA.com. Purchase your tickets on AA.com by February 16, 2012. Begin travel by February 25, 2012. All travel must be complete by February 29, 2012.

For example, you can buy a round-trip ticket from Dallas or Los Angeles to Buenos Aires for less that $4,000. That’s about $3,000 less than the usual fare.   The sale ends today, go here for more info.

Europe Flight Deals

If you’re thinking about taking a spring break in Europe, here are some unusually cheap fares. While it’s often easy to find a decent price on flights to London, this sale offers the most number of cities I’ve seen in a while.

Immerse yourself in history with a European vacation. Stroll down ancient cobblestone streets, shop the finest boutiques and explore countless museums. Find special prices from American Airlines to Europe on AA.com. Purchase your flight by March 8, 2012, , and begin travel by April 1, 2012, to save. All travel needs to be complete September 26, 2012.

Go here for more info.

Flight Deals to and from Miami

If you wanting to visit Miami, or you looking for some mileage run opportunities, take a look at these two sales:

Main cabin

American Airlines announces great flight deals for travel between Miami and select U.S. cities. You must purchase your tickets by February 28, 2012, to save! Travel is valid for these sale prices through June 12, 2012.

First Class

American Airlines is offering discount First Class airfare between Miama and select U.S. cities now at AA.com. Purchase your tickets on AA.com by February 28, 2012 for travel through June 12, 2012.

Here are some sample fares:

Coach
Boston – Miami $127 each way
Newark – Miami $100 each way
San Francisco – Miami $181 each way
Dallas – Miami $140 each way

First Class
JFK – Miami $538 each way
Washington Dulles – Miami $622 each way.

Go here to look at coach fares and go here to view first class prices.

The Texas Rangers have signed Japanese pitching ace Yu Darvish as a starting pitcher and to celebrate the occasion American has launched a 24 hour fare sale on flight from Dallas to Tokyo.

In honor of the newest big star headed to the Lone Star state, American Airlines is having a one day sale! For today only, American Airlines is offering a great sale fare to Tokyo, Japan. Purchase your flight on AA.com by January 20, 2012, and begin travel February 1, 2012 through March 31, 2012.

That’s right, travel round trip from Dallas/Fort Worth to Tokyo for only $1134 including taxes and fees!

The $1,134 price isn’t random: Yu will wear number 11 and Rangers legend and CEO wore number 34.

Even better, Business Class tickets are $3411 (which is about half the normal price)!

There are a few restrictions:

• Tickets booked on AA.com must be purchased at least 11 days prior to departure or within 1 day of making reservations, or 11:59 p.m. (CT), January 20, 2012, whichever comes first.

• Travel Period: Fares are valid for outbound travel from February 1, 2012 through March 31, 2012.

• Valid Travel Days: Sale fares are valid for travel daily.

• Min/Max Stay: A 3-night minimum stay is required and a 1 month maximum stay is allowed.

• Flight Applications: Fares are only valid on AA Flights 61 and 175 to Tokyo, and AA Flights 60 and 176 from Tokyo.

Go here for complete details.

oneworld member Japan Airlines is pretty excited about their new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, so much so that they’ve even got a special website (in Japanese) to show off the new plane (hat tip to Pak’s JAL Blog).   

Their partner American Airlines must be pretty excited too, because they created a dedicated webpage to promote the start of JAL’s 787 Dreamliner service between Boston and Tokyo:

American Airlines continues to open more doors to Asia. Working with fellow oneworld member Japan Airlines, we will launch nonstop service between Boston and Tokyo Narita on April 22 on a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Boasting advanced technology and an innovative cabin environment with larger windows and new lighting features, the 787 Dreamliner provides a peaceful and comfortable environment across the Pacific.

And to celebrate the occasion, American is offering a big fare sale, Double AAdvantage Miles and bonus Business ExtrAA points.

Double AAdvantage Miles Offer

Fly the brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Tokyo!
Earn Double AAdvantage Miles

EXPERIENCE THE LUXURY OF THE 787 DREAMLINER.

AIRLINE: Japan Airlines (includes codeshare flights booked as an American Airlines flight and operated by Japan Airlines)

AWARD: Double Miles

BONUS CODE: BOSTY

DATES: Travel between April 22, 2012 and June 30, 2012.

OFFER: In celebration of the new nonstop service on Japan Airlines between Boston and Tokyo Narita, earn double miles every time you fly the route on a new Boeing 787. This offer is valid for travel on purchased, published Business Class and select Economy Class fares from April 22, 2012 through June 30, 2012.

Here are the fare classes that qualify for the offer:

Offer applies only to AAdvantage members who purchase and fly on purchased, published Business Class fares booked in J, R, D or I

Economy Class fares booked in Y, W, B, H, K, M, L, V or S on American Airlines marketed flights

Business Class fares booked in J, C, D, X or I

Economy Class fares booked in Y, W, B, E, H, K, M, L, V or S on Japan Airlines operated flights

Double Business ExtrAA points:

To celebrate the new service, we want to reward you with unlimited double Business ExtrAA points for travel on the American Airlines marketed (AA) flight operated by Japan Airlines between April 22 and June 30, 2012.

Register your company for this offer by June 30, 2012, using promotion code BOSNRTDBL.

And just like the double miles offer, you’ll need to book your into a qualifying fare class:

AAdvantage double mile offer is valid on Japan Airlines operated nonstop flights for travel between Boston (BOS) and Tokyo (NRT) from April 22, 2012, through June 30, 2012. Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by Japan Airlines (booked under the AA flight number).

Here are the fares that qualify for the offer:

Offer applies only to AAdvantage members who purchase and fly on purchased, published Business Class fares booked in J, R, D or I

Economy Class fares booked in Y, W, B, H, K, M, L, V or S on American Airlines marketed flights

Business Class fares booked in J, C, D, X or I

Economy Class fares booked in Y, W, B, E, H, K, M, L, V or S on Japan Airlines operated flights.

A round-trip from Boston to Narita will earn 13,402 base miles, so with the double offer you’ll earn 26,804 AAdvantage miles, which is enough for a round-trip domestic award.

Registration is required before you travel.

Go here to sign up for Double AAdvantage Miles offer using registration code BOSTY.

To sign up for the Double Business ExtrAA points, go here and use registration code BOSNRTDBL.

Sorry about the headline. I know it’s kind of corny. And while there’s no connection between American’s new fare sale to Brazil and Mike Tyson, I’ve been waiting a few weeks for a Brazil related bonus offer just so I could share this video. It’s Mike Tyson singing “The Girl from Ipanema” on a Brazilian television program.

I saw the excellent documentary “Tyson: a film by James Toback” a couple of years ago, so when I came across the video over at Open Culture, I had to watch.

He’s actually pretty good.

Moving on….

American is offering some of the lowest fares to Brazil that I’ve seen since for some time. And it’s not for off-peak travel, the fares are good during the peak of Brazil’s summer travel season:

American Airlines is offering discount airline tickets to Brazil. Purchase your tickets by January 19, 2012, for travel to Brazil February 22, 2012, through April 29, 2012. All travel needs to be complete by July 28, 2012.

One way fares start at $405 from 44 U.S. cities to these destinations:

Belo Horizonte (CNF)
Brasilia (BSB)
Recife (REC)
Salvador (SSA)
Rio de Janeiro (GIG)
Sao Paulo (GRU)

You can even find cheap round-trip tickets from Honolulu to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo for $1,369 including taxes (if you’re curious, travel time is about 32 hours each way and will earn you 17,802 round-trip AAdvantage Miles).

If you’re interested in maximizing the redemption value of your miles, these long flights to Brazil present a great opportunity to redeem your miles (25,000 miles plus a $350 co-pay) for an upgrade to Flagship Business Class (a ticket that often cost more than $3,100 one-way ).

Using Expert Flyer, I was able to find decent upgrade availability in early and late March, and much of April. There were fewer dates in February, but considering that that it’s mid January and summer in Brazil, it’s remarkable that there were any at all.

Fares are valid any day of the week, but there are some restrictions:

Fares are not valid for travel March 31, 2012, through April 9, 2012.
A 3-night or Saturday-night minimum stay is required, based on travel days.

Go here for full details.

Keep your friends close, and your airlines alliance partners closer.  Last week (American Airlines partner and oneworld member) LAN launched a big fare sale with some fares dropping by as much as 50 percent from New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to many destinations in South America.

From the LAN “Big Deal of the Year” offer on their website:

Our BIG DEAL of the year is the biggest and best sale yet! So grab your seat before December 12, 2011 to travel between March 1 and June 30, 2012 to beautiful destinations including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. There is no better time to plan and book next year’s vacation with saving of up to 50%. Hurry, the BIG DEAL OF THE YEAR will only be around for 2 weeks!

Bad news: These fares book into Q class, so they don’t earn AAdvantage miles on codeshare flights. Correction: I was wrong (see the comments section).   These fares will earn AAdvantage Miles.

Good news: American has quietly matched the fares so you’ll earn full mileage on AA numbered flights.

Here’s a sample of some of the fares:

Miami to Lima – $399 round-trip, plus tax/fees
New York JFK to Buenos Aires – $799 round-trip, plus tax/fees

You must purchase you’re ticket by December 12, 2011 to travel between March 1 and June 30, 2012

Go here to the LAN US site to see a full list of fares and destinations, then go to AA.com to search availability.

A hat tip to The Travel Abstract who writes “I may be making a quick 3 month layover in the city where steak and wine porn is not taboo.  Hasta Pronto Buenos Aires!” for writing the post that brought this sale to my attention.

Some other news:

• From Points, Miles and Martinis: If you missed out on buying a oneworld MegaDo ticket, there’s still hope: Randy Peterson is giving up his seat and he and the other milepoint founders are giving it away in a random drawing.  Go here for details.

• Speaking of contests, several Boarding Area bloggers are supporting Passports with Purpose.  You can support building two libraries in Zambia and maybe win one of these great prizes:

From Points, Miles and Martinis: Win Two Free Nights At The W Hotel Atlanta!

From Mommy Points: Win a $100 Best Western Gift Card!

From Deals we Like:  Win a 2-Night Weekend Stay in NYC!

Loyalty Traveler:  Win 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points!

Cyber: I cringe when I hear the word and I cringed when I wrote the headline.  It’s a dorky word that’s outlived its usefulness, but it seems it’s here to stay and now we can add “Cyber Tuesday” the list of silly words generated by marketers.  But in what is probably an uphill battle, I’ve decided to disavow ever using the word again.   So…..

American just launched a big Tuesday after the Monday that comes after Thanksgiving sale.  Normally I don’t even write about fare sales but I’m finding heavily discounted international fares to cities along routes that are seldom ever discounted (at least from the Dallas market):

This sale has been extended through Tuesday! American Airlines is offering special fares from the U.S. to some of the most popular international destinations!  You must purchase your flight by 11:59 pm (CT), November 29, 2011, and begin travel January 3, 2012, through February 11, 2012, to get in on these great deals. All travel needs to be complete by February 16, 2012.

Here’s an example of two fares from Dallas:

• DFW to Shanghai Pudong (PVG) for $802.30 round-trip

• DFW to to Beijing (PEK) for $854.30 round-trip

I’ve been kicking around the idea of a China trip for a while now and I’ve been watching the fares.  These prices are at least 40 percent off the lowest price I’ve seen.  It makes me want to pull a Frugal Travel Guy and go to Beijing just for the miles!

Discounted fares are available from most US cities to several destinations in Europe, Asia, Central and South America.   Go here for the full list of fares from your city.

Central Park West and Winter in Central Park from AAdvantageGeek on Flickr

American Airlines and New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization, NYC & Company, just announced a 7 day sale for travel between Jan. 5–Feb. 16 from 30 North American cities: fares start at $49 one-way, and $69, $89, and $109 from most cities. This is from the press release:

“We are proud to once again partner with American Airlines to provide visitors to New York City with incredible value offers this winter,” said NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta. “By working with American Airlines, we are making it easier and more affordable than ever to travel to New York City, and combined with a range of savings and promotions through our Get More NYC Winter campaign, there is no better time to visit. Winter Restaurant Week, the first-ever Broadway Week and our On The House two-for-one Off Broadway ticket promotion are just samplings of what visitors can experience and enjoy this winter.”

During January and February 2011, NYC & Company will offer various promotions and savings under the Get More NYC campaign including the first-ever Broadway Week offering two-for-one tickets to almost all of Broadway’s hottest shows (Jan. 24 – Feb. 10), while more than 80 of the city’s top hotels will offer up to 25 percent off their best available rate from Jan. 2 to Feb. 28, when travelers book before Feb. 28. Other promotions taking place this winter include the upcoming NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2011 offering visitors prix-fixe meals at nearly 300 of the city’s high-end restaurants (Jan. 24 – Feb. 6); plus the Off Broadway promotion On the House offering theater enthusiasts two-for-one tickets to some of the city’s most celebrated Off Broadway shows (Jan. 24 – Feb. 13). Further details on all of NYC & Company’s winter promotions can be accessed at nycgo.com.

I don’t usually pay much attention to destination guides, especially for New York because there’s always so much to do and I’ve been there so many times.   I’ve got a long list of favorite things to do when I’m in the city and I have to make an effort to not try to do too much and to leave open the opportunity to discover something new.  I happened to come across the Conway Confidential New York City travel guide from American Airlines and travel writer Paula Conway and learned about the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene.   So if you’re looking for some new ideas for your next NYC visit, read through her travel advice.  I’m glad I did, I found something new that I might not have otherwise discovered and the Brooklyn Flea was great.

Don’t forget that you can earn Double AAdvantage Miles if you’re traveling from Indianapolis, Cincinnati, or Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Go here for all all the details.