=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/04/14/f= inancial0946EDT0047.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, April 14, 2004 (AP) Airlines limit cheap seats to Europe SCOTT MCCARTNEY, The Wall Street Journal (04-14) 06:46 PDT (AP) -- If you want a cheap vacation this summer, go see the Liberty Bell. But if you want to listen to Big Ben, that other famous bell cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, airfares are going to be steep. It's shaping up to be a very busy travel season this summer, and airline= s, for a change, are jumping on the chance to bank higher airfares. Unlike past years, when deep-discount sales covered the summer season, early sales this year have often excluded travel between mid-June to mid-August. Peak-season tickets to some regions, especially Europe, are likely to be more expensive than they have been in three or four years. A Chicago-Rome round trip over the Fourth of July weekend was priced Tuesday at a whopping $1,720 for non-stop flights on AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. But don't despair; there will still be lots of airfare bargains available -- domestically, at least. With lots of competition in transcontinental markets, trips from one coa= st to another will be a bargain. Florida and the Caribbean, which can be popular destinations year-round, have lots of capacity and competition, which should yield cheap fares all summer. And with a flock of discount carriers including Southwest Airlines descending on Philadelphia, travel to that city will be particularly cheap. Overall, airlines say that traffic picked up measurably in the second ha= lf of March, and bookings have been strong so far. You can see that strength in how they are currently pricing summer-season tickets. A Chicago-London round trip leaving May 20 is $497 on American Airlines. Leaving June 20 will cost at least 83 percent more -- the lowest price on the same round trip is $909. On Delta Air Lines, the summer price more than doubles for a Boston-Paris round trip, to $1,247 for a June 20 departure, compared with $614 for a May 20 departure. The upshot for travelers is that it probably is best to buy early this year rather than hope for last-minute fare sales. Prices domestically are already attractive. And on trans-Atlantic flights, carriers seem determined to stick with their high summer fares, fare watchers say. "They can always have a late sale and blow it out if tickets don't sell. But so far, they're protecting the summer seats. They're hoping to make big bucks this year," says Tom Parsons of Bestfares.com. One example of that: In January and February, Continental Airlines offer= ed no seats at all in its five lowest-fare categories between Newark, N.J., and Paris for travel in June, July and August, Mr. Parsons says. U.S. airlines desperately need a profitable summer. Most have suffered huge losses for the past three years, and are saddled this year with very high fuel prices. J.P. Morgan just widened its estimate of first-quarter operating losses for the airline industry to $900 million from $300 million. For some carriers, any chance of earning profits for the full year rests on flying full planes at high prices this summer. Trans-Atlantic travel is one area where profits for airlines should be high. Capacity increases on the North Atlantic this summer will be modest -- in the 5 percent to 10 percent range compared with last summer, according to Craig Jenks, president of Airline/Aircraft Projects Inc., a consulting firm that tracks trans-Atlantic capacity. Most of the added seats have been aimed at strengthening alliances betwe= en airlines -- cautiously connecting a European hub to a U.S. hub, rather than opening new cities. Delta Air Lines, for example, is starting new service between its Cincinnati hub and Amsterdam, home of its new partner, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Northwest Airlines, also a KLM partner, is adding a third daily flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam. As a result, Amsterdam does offer some relative bargains over many European trips currently priced at $1,000 or more. Delta's fare for the Cincinnati-Amsterdam nonstop in mid-June is $874 round trip, compared with the carrier's Cincinnati-London nonstop, priced at $1,073 for the same dates. At the same time that seat additions overall will be modest, demand is likely to be very strong. The weak dollar is making the U.S. a bargain for European travelers. So both U.S. and European carriers expect heavy demand for tickets from Europeans headed to the U.S. And though the dollar makes Europe in turn more expensive for Americans, pent-up demand is expected to outweigh the added cost. After three relatively slow summers, "the market is due an upswing," says Mr. Jenks. If you just have to go to Europe, start with London, which is generally cheaper to get to than Continental Europe. (It should be, it's closer to the U.S.) From there, high-speed trains and discount European carriers like Ryanair and easyJet offer good, cheap service to many destinations. For bargain hunters, this may be a year to explore North America. Domest= ic airfares still should be relatively cheap because of the growing reach of discount airlines. American, for example, says low-fare carriers now compete on more than 80 percent of its domestic route network. And incumbent carriers like American also have been adding seats to markets, trying to beat back new insurgents. In the third quarter this year, which covers much of the peak summer season, airline capacity between New York and San Diego will be 94 percent higher than the year-earlier period, according to J.P. Morgan. Boston-Los Angeles will be 91 percent higher. Travel deals should be plentiful. Analysts expect Southwest to bring back a broad summer sale at least once before Memorial Day. The low-fare carrier had a large sale in place for several weeks, offering round-trip tickets anywhere it flies for no more than $198 through Sept. 19, but that expired last week. Southwest said its recent sales pushed its March load factor, the percentage of seats filled, to 73.6 percent -- a record for Southwest -- and triggered strong bookings through May. Most airlines matched Southwest's prices on competing routes for summer travel, but one carrier has held out hope for more expensive pricing domestically. Continental matched Southwest's deeply discounted prices only through June 11, betting it won't have to sell seats so cheaply this summer. With Southwest, Frontier Airlines, AirTran Airways and America West Airlines all competing or lining up to compete in Philadelphia this summer -- and US Airways Group Inc. aggressively matching prices to hang on to customers -- the City of Brotherly Love offers unusual bargains this year. Even over the Fourth of July weekend, sure to be one of the busiest of t= he year, deals are available. A round trip from Los Angeles to Philadelphia non-stop on Frontier is only $198. JetBlue Airways and AirTran have joined the fray in Caribbean markets, driving prices there lower. A round trip from New York to San Juan in mid-June costs only $188. Capacity between New York and San Juan will be up 31 percent in the second quarter compared with a year ago, according to J.P. Morgan. Aruba used to never go on sale, Mr. Parsons notes, but now Continental, Delta, American and US Airways all fly there. Prices are cheap to Freeport, Grand Bahamas, with AirTran offering round trips there in June for $285. More sales are likely this summer. But even in the Caribbean, some summer fares may be sharply higher in less-competitive markets. American is offering sale fares from Dallas to St. Thomas for $380 round trip, plus children 2-11 years old for only $190 round trip. But that ends June 2. After that, the price jumps to $789 round trip, with no price break for kids. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP