Low Fare Airlines Get Bigger in Smaller Cities
Honeymoon Newsletter - Volume 5, Issue
#3
Inside The World Of Travel - Article 1
Author: Sascha Segan, Frommers
March 22, 2004 -- After a long winter of depression, America's airlines are expanding again. New routes mean more competition and lower fares for everyone. We've been recounting a lot of the new routes in our newsletters over the past few months, and letting a lot of others slide. The arrival of Southwest and Frontier in Philadelphia is probably the biggest news of the year so far, and it's already brought truly brotherly fares to the City of Brotherly Love.
Behind the scenes, airlines have been bulking up their schedules all over. This week alone, we've heard about new service on United from Washington to Zurich and Sacramento and from Chicago to Osaka and Buenos Aires, and service on American from Miami to St. Lucia. JetBlue recently announced new service from San Jose, California to New York City, and Southwest keeps "connecting the dots" with nonstop flights between their various cities.
One of the most exciting trends, though, is how low-fare airlines are coming to smaller cities, giving people who live in these less populous burgs (or who want to visit them) new non-stop options. Many of these new routes are on the scrappy B-team of airlines, carriers like Southeast and USA 3000 that specialize in no-frills, low-cost (but safe) service. But some are from the A-list budget airlines -- carriers like Frontier, Spirit, JetBlue and America West.
We've rounded up a bunch of announcements here that we think represent the best new routes in terms of bringing low fares to the previously un-served. All these routes are on sale right now, so feel free to book your tickets.
| From | To | Airline | Start date | Round-trip fare |
| Baton Rouge, LA | Las Vegas | Allegiant Air | May 10 | $178 |
| Billings, MT | Denver | Frontier | May 23 | $198 |
| Bismarck, ND | Las Vegas | Allegiant Air | May 3 | $198 |
| Cancun, Mexico | Fort Lauderdale | Spirit Air | Dec. 18, 03 | $188 |
| Cleveland, OH | Ft. Myers, FL | USA 3000 | May 7 | $178 |
| Gary, IN | Sanford, FL | Southeast | May 11 | $138 |
| Kalispell, MT | Phoenix | America West | June 1 | On sale 3/21 |
| Myrtle Beach, SC | Ft. Myers, FL | Hooters Air | Dec. 18, 03 | $198 |
| Myrtle Beach, SC | Nassau, Bahamas | Hooters Air | Dec. 18, 03 | $198 |
| Peoria, IL | Las Vegas | Allegiant Air | March 3 | $178 |
| Sacramento, CA | New York | JetBlue | May 4 | $238 |
| Sacramento, CA | Washington | JetBlue | May 4 | $198 |
| Sioux Falls, SD | Las Vegas | Allegiant Air | May 6 | $198 |
| Spokane, WA | Denver | Frontier | May 23 | $198 |
| Trenton, NJ | Bedford, MA | Boston-Maine | March 29 | $198 |
We're sure the major airlines will strain to match the discounters' fares, but you should buy from the smaller airlines whenever possible -- after all, if they weren't in the business, the large airlines wouldn't lower their fares to match.
For more information, a free no-obligation quote, or to book your Honeymoon vacation with us, call us at 1-800-308-2518
