Pretty certain this will not come as a surprise, but I am on a never ending search for cheap airfares. Below are those that I have found over the past few days and re-confined them this morning. I hope that these will help you out in your quest for miles, enjoyment of air travel or even maybe a “normal” vacation. These are all Economy fares. I created a separate site for the sole purpose of discussing and posting First & Business Class fares, sorted by airline: FandJfares.com
I hope you will join me there and add your expertise. Thanks and good flying!

• LGA-PVG (Shanghai)-JFK $789; American; round-trip 2/18-2/25 –Kayak
• EWR-PVG $850; United; round-trip same dates as above –Kayak
• JFK-DXB-PVG $878; Emirates; round-trip 2/2-2/9 –Kayak
• LGA-ATL-JNB $850; Delta; round-trip 3/6-3/12 3/6-3/12 –Kayak
• ROR (Palau)-NRT-SFO $1531; Delta “Y” fare ONE-WAY 3/23 –IATA.com
• GUM (Guam)-NRT-SFO $1238; Delta “Y” fare ONE-WAY 3/23 –IATA.com

Ok. Enough travelling for the moment. Let’s take a break and look at some airfares. Without which we won’t be able to plan another trip. This is another installment of “Where The Good Fares Are”

I search for international airfares using a random set of dates and somewhat random city pairings. I see relative value in these fares. They may be good for mileage runs, checking out different airlines, positioning or hell… even leisurely travel. Not an all inclusive list. I found all the fares today on Orbitz (where Planereality has an affiliate agreement) using January 11, 2012 through January 18, 2012. I used the “search 1 day before/after” function in Orbitz.  Fare listed include  fees and taxes.  You may want to do the same.  Labor Day Weekend fast approaching.  No hurricanes please.

ECONOMY CLASS

JFK-Dublin $540 Delta – search for fare

JFK-Berlin $647 Air Berlin – search for fare

EWR-Oslo $708 SAS – search for fare

IAD-CDG $699 Air France & Continental search for fare

LAX-Madrid $781 Iberia – search for fare

SFO-Beijing $939 Air China – search for fare

BUSINESS CLASS

LAX-Shanghai $3453 Air Canada – search for fare

Boston-LHR $2858 Virgin – search for fare

JFK-Madrid $2721 Air Europa – search for fare

Airlines advertise and promote airfare sales throughout the year. Typically there are numerous sales taking place simultaneously. A lot of travelers receive sale notifications via email, twitter or perhaps seek them out on an airline’s website. I typically ignore these fare sales as what looks good on the surface often turns out to be an average sale fare at best.
Example: fares to Europe starting at $225 each way. Wow! Cool!
But when you add fees, taxes and fuel surcharges, the fare prices out at well over $1000… A thorn in the side of the frequent flier’s existence!

I decided to take a closer look at some current airfare sales to compare the advertised price vs. what the actual fare costs. Here are the random 6 I priced out:

1) European Carrier
SALE: Fall travel from US to Europe from $284 each way
(fine print: up to $260 surcharge + weekend surcharge)
Only 1 route at the advertised $284 (BOS-LHR)
I priced random dates 10/13-10/17 for BOS-LHR
Outbound fare was $562.92
Return (most basic fare unavailable) $736.20
Total Airfare: $1299
56% More than advertised!
By the way, I looked at Kayak and there were 19 carriers cheaper than $1299 for same dates

2) US Carrier
SALE: Fall travel to Hawaii from $344 roundtrip
fine print:  travel from 8/22-12/15
I priced same dates 10/13-10/17
LAX-HNL was $237 outbound & $237 return for total of $474
LAX-Maui (OGG) was $623 round-trip
37% & 81% more (respectively) than advertised

3) Asian Carrier
SALES: LAX-NRT $766 R/T
travel between 8/16–11/15
used same dates as above
priced at $882 Total
15% more than advertised

4) US carrier
SALE: flights to CA (listed under “deals”)
but no base fare no travel dates provided
the airline did give example routes (in case you don’t know what cities are in CA)
JFK-SFO $318 Total
Nothing to compare; but this price has you leaving NY at 6am and returning at 12:30am

5) US carrier
Flights to Delhi
from $516 each way was cheapest city pairing (IAH-DEL)
travel from 9/1-/9/30
fine print: up to $190 surcharge & Saturday stay minimum
example dates 9/15-9/20
$515 outbound + $515 return
$1073 all in
12% LESS than advertised (taking into account maximum surcharge)

6) US Carrier
SALE: Europe travel between 8/14-10/27
from $295 each way (for FLL-MAN) round-trip purchase necessary
$239 outbound $219 return
total $615
4% More than advertised

I was surprised at the results, admittedly assuming every flight I priced would be significantly greater than advertised. It’s really a mixed bag though! The moral? Take a minute to look at the fare sales, but don’t get too excited about the base price. Paying a bit more attention to these sales may save me a few bucks.

CONTEST: First person to name the airline that is running each “sale” in the COMMENTS section will receive a $25 AMEX gift card for their next trip.  Offer expires at 12 midnight Eastern Standard Time (12 hours from time of post)  Example: 1) tree top airlines 2) fuji air etc….
Boarding Area bloggers & staff cannot win. Check back in the comments section for the winner.

I’m sure this goes without saying, but I spend entirely too much time researching airfares. But I finally just put the finishing touches on my next trip. Come to think of it, I actually need 1 more domestic flight.
Anyway, throughout the planning process I came across a few fares that piqued my interest. Some could be used as potential mileage earning opportunities, others just to enjoy a 5 star airline. These fares are being posted under “FARES” a.k.a. “Where The Good Fares Are”

I’m sure you can figure out where I am going next by looking at these fares. Or at least narrow it down… or, perhaps you don’t care, which is OK too.

Do you “Like” Planereality on facebook? That’s where I put the other 75% of the pictures and other stuff from the road.

Disclaimer Alert! I do have an affiliate agreement in place with Orbitz, but not the other sources referenced. The blogging gods say I am supposed to disclose this (as if blogging is a highly regulated industry) Basically, all this means is that if you click on the Orbitz link and buy a fare, I would receive a commission. Scandalous huh?

Fares.
One-way departing November 9, 2011; A mix of economy and business

• SIN-ICN-AKL: 1708 KoreanAir Economy; Y fare; Orbitz
• SIN-BKK-AKL: $744 Thai Economy; V fare; Thai.com
• SIN-AKL: $473 Emirates Economy; Orbitz
• MNL-CDG: $1546 Qatar Business Class; QatarAirways.com
• TPE-SFO/LAX: $1500 United Business Class; United.com

This is a series of posts that highlight relatively inexpensive Business Class (and sometimes coach) fares between random city pairs on somewhat random dates.  This particular edition is focused on fares originating from California. The list is nowhere close to all-inclusive, just fares that have caught my eye while looking around. All of the fares were found within the last hour on Orbitz, where Planereality has an affiliate agreement in place. Round trip, including fees & taxes.  Cheap fares, even using random city pairing are getting harder to come by.  Hope these help.

• LAX-Haneda (HND); $2904; 11/14-11/17 > AA, United, Delta -Orbitz
• SAN-Heathrow; $3597; 11/14-11/17 > Delta, KLM  -Orbitz
• LAX-Hong Kong; $3666; 11/14- 11/17 > Eva Air -Orbitz
• LAX-Guam (GUM); $2918; 11/14-11/16> United -Orbitz
• SFO-Shanghai; COACH $832 11/14-11/17 > United -Orbitz

This is a series of posts that highlight relatively inexpensive Business Class fares between random city pairs on somewhat random dates. The list is nowhere close to all-inclusive, just fares that have caught my eye while looking around. All of the fares were found within the last hour on Orbitz, where Planereality has a marketing agreement in place. Round trip, business class, including all fees. Here’s to you, sitting up front.

• Newark-Paris; $1723; 9/2-9/5 > OpenSkies -Orbitz
• LAX-Heathrow; $3006; 9/1-9/5 > Lufthansa -Orbitz
• Newark-Brussels; $1952; 9/1-9/6 > Brussels Airlines -Orbitz
• SFO-Seoul; $2505; 9/1-9/5 > Hawaiian -Orbitz
• Boston-Beijing; $3664; 9/1-9/5 > Continental -Orbitz
• Miami-Shanghai; $3587; 9/1-9/7 > Delta -Orbitz

A few weeks back you may have seen a post about a Swiss Airlines fare sale.  A faithful Planereality follower suggested airfare sales should be listed with all fees, taxes and surcharges included a.k.a “all in” 

This reader felt that listing just the base fare was a “buzz kill” -a term I have never heard anyone use (except myself)

I do indeed agree with said reader and thought his comment called for another installment of “Where The Good Fares Are”

This is a series of posts that highlight relatively inexpensive airfares between random city pairs on somewhat random dates.  Between the price of oil and the pick up (that’s relative too) in the economy, the real great fare are not as plentiful as they were a year ago, but here are the ones I just found on Orbitz.com

OBW- Would you rather see economy or business class fares here?

Example: Sept 1, 2011 – Sept 7, 2011 (Business Class- All In- Found on Orbitz.com)

• LAX-LHR: $2911 Brussels Airlines; $2990 Delta
• JFK-LHR: $2415 British Airways
• ORD-Frankfurt: $2471  Lufthansa
• SFO-CDG: $2984 multi airline itinerary
• DFW-Beijing: $3614 Continental/United

Many thanks to Dominik Menakker of Premimum Travel News for writing this article and sharing with Planereality how he goes about finding and booking discounted Business Class Airfare. Dominik’s business travel includes visiting clients all over the globe and he does not like to fly coach. Based on his experience of several years of global travel, he decided to open up a travel agency, specializing in Business and First-Class travel. Check it out.

1. Look Over the Rim of Your Tea Cup
You surely know that: You would like to book a flight on your favourite airline, but the prices are skyrocketing? Why not try another airline? There are plenty of options which not only offer awesome comfort on board, but also very reasonable, even great prices. You probably know the big carriers from the Middle East, but there are also other marvellous options. Sceptical? Get informed, compare products … and prices. You can save a lot, sometimes even over 50 %! However, don’t forget to find out if the airline you’re about to choose is offering the state-of-the-art cabin you look for on every aircraft used for long-haul flights. Many airlines still have two, three or even more different types of seats in their premium cabins in the air. Usually in helps to pay a visit to the airline’s website.
Often it’s also a good idea to combine different airlines or even alliances. Some online booking tools provide you with such offers. Also don’t hesitate to ask your travel agent for more information. Your wallet will be grateful!

2. Be Flexible
If you don’t mind choosing an alternative airport for departure you can save lots of money. Try Toronto instead of New York, Amsterdam instead of Frankfurt, Milan instead of Munich, Kuala Lumpur instead of Singapore, São Paulo instead of Buenos Aires and see the prices fall. Get yourself a cheap positioning flight to your alternative airport (you don’t need a Business Class ticket for a two-hour flight, do you?) and there you go. Sometimes you can even travel in First Class for less the price of a Business Class ticket that you would have had to pay when using your home base airport as first option. Worried about connections or your luggage? Ask your travel agent to put all flights together into one PNR, it’s possible most of the time.

3. Use Special Offers
You missed Turkish Airlines’ Valentine’s Special? Or Lufthansa’s Easter Special? Or US Airways’ Dividend Miles Special? Or Etihad’s Partner Special? Or British Airways’ Upgrade Special? No need to be devastated, there are more around and more to come. Specials pop up regularly, especially when there are holidays. Make sure to be informed in time as sometimes it might be hard to grab a seat. Of course you have something better to do than monitoring hundreds of websites, so subscribe to newsletters, read blogs or websites or – if you like – become part of a community like a forum or mailing list. Maybe you also have something to give in return, like a trip report or information about your favourite beach or hotels? It’s fun! But don’t forget that also your travel agent might come up with special fares that are not available to online booking machines. Savings of 15-20 % or even more on the bare flight? No problem.

4. Plan Ahead
Try to book in time. Not too early, because then specials usually aren’t on the market yet. But also not too late. If you find the right booking time (often up to 90 days before departure) you might get a Premium ticket for the price others have to pay for flying Coach, especially during public holidays when demand for business travel is low and main cabin is full.

I posted one of these fares in “Where the Good Fares Are” yesterday and went back and had another look at it. For the month of January I just came across some very solid business class fares from LAX/SFO/SAN to London Heathrow. The greatest availability looks to be from LAX, followed by SAN and then SFO. Even more attractive is that almost every major North American carrier shows availability and is price competitive. I saw many $2400 round-trips (business class the whole way) on 3-5 segments.   At least 3 of the carriers are featuring flat bed seats across the Atlantic. Only January (as far as I can tell); use a flexible search. Hope this helps. If you are so inclined… Expedia.com

Below are some pretty solid airfares I have come across in the past 24 hours.  HERE is the rhyme and reason behind this weekly post. The ones below are business class for mid-January travel. Fares…

• LAX – Heathrow $2337 (coach domestic; business across ocean) Expedia.com
• Miami – Shanghai $3395 Expedia.com
• Dallas – Seoul, South Korea $3419 Expedia.com
• NYC – Guam $3400 Expedia.com
• Amsterdam – Tokyo $2792 Expedia.com
• Rome – Tokyo $2928 Expedia.com

Here is another edition of Where The Good Fares Are. I try to make this post weekly, however, if no great fares jump out at me and/or I get sidetracked on other stuff, the post may appear less often. These are simply fares I come across in my research, where I feel the quality of airline, aircraft and destination combined might be attractive for those seeking international airfares. I do have marketing relationships with some, not all, of the travel suppliers I refer to.  The dates are fairly random, but I do try to avoid Friday, Saturday and Sunday dates. Use the flexible date function when you search. Fares include all taxes and fees that I am aware of. Fares are round-trip. OK, enough disclosures?

• LAX-Manila $2102.55; Business Class: 1/15/11 – 1/20/11 Hawaiian Airlines
• LAX-Papeete, Tahiti; $2829.48  Business Class: 11/11/10 – 11/19/10 Orbitz
• SFO-Taipei; $3262.38 Business Class: 11/17/10 – 11/24/10 $3262 Vayama.com
• JFK-Heathrow; $2363 Business Class: 11/25/10 – 11/29/10 Orbitz