Airlines entice travelers with holiday season sales By Chris Woodyard and Dan Reed, USA TODAY Airfare deals are going, going but not quite gone for Thanksgiving and the= =20 year-end holidays, even though many airlines have reduced the number of=20 planes they are flying. (Related chart: Low fares for Thanksgiving travel)= =20 And holiday leisure fares, while slightly higher than after the Sept. 11=20 attacks, remain much lower than in 2000, say Southwest, Northwest and=20 Continental. "The world is on sale today" for holiday travel, says Tim Griffin,=20 executive vice president of Northwest Airlines. But the supply of seats=20 could dry up quickly. A third of holiday fliers, and about 60% of frequent= =20 travelers, book a month or more ahead of time, notes Teri Franklin, product= =20 manager for online travel booking site Expedia. Complicating bookings this= =20 year is the fact that most major carriers are shrinking, leaving fewer=20 seats for holiday travelers. For example, American =97 the nation's largest= =20 airline =97 has cut 13% of its seats since 2000. Airline capacity overall has shrunk 8% since September 2000, hurt by=20 cutbacks in business and leisure travel in the wake of the terrorist=20 attacks and the economic slowdown, the Air Transport Association reports.=20 That is a factor in the best bargains for those who can leave early or stay= =20 late during the Thanksgiving rush. For instance, a Continental Airlines=20 round trip from Newark, N.J., to Los Angeles leaving the day before=20 Thanksgiving and returning the following Monday was $285 last week on=20 Orbitz.com. And an Oakland to Baltimore round trip from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1=20 could be bought for as little as $208 last Thursday on Southwest. Because Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday this year, travelers can choose= =20 from among a wider variety of travel dates. While travel agents say flights= =20 to Hawaii are almost fully booked for the holiday season, many Caribbean=20 destinations are still available. David Ewing, an international business consultant based in Miami, says he's= =20 on a waiting list to fly to Hawaii using frequent-flier miles. So far, no=20 luck. But "it all depends on the current war situation," he says. If=20 tensions heat up, some travelers might cancel and make way for him and his= =20 wife. "The key to finding a great rate around the holidays is flexibility,"= =20 says Geoff Silvers, marketing director for Orbitz. "Business travel is=20 down, which creates a great opportunity for leisure travelers," he says. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (I95.5FM) http://www.i955fm.com (Radio Station I95.5FM) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************