Air Fare Cuts Extended to Hawaii and Alaska

This summer’s seemingly unending air fare wars finally have spread beyond the U.S. mainland to Alaska and Hawaii, markets that rarely go on sale.

Delta Air Lines on Friday matched United Airlines by slashing fares to Hawaii by 30% and then went one up by cutting ticket prices to Alaska. Airline industry analysts predicted that other major U.S. carriers would be forced to match the latest cuts.

The United fare cut does not apply to flights from major West Coast cities, however. A United spokesman said that Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle were excluded from the promotional fare because of previous price cuts. The lowest-priced round trip between Los Angeles and Honolulu costs $289.

The Alaska and Hawaii fare cuts for the rest of the nation follow a pattern now in effect for travel between virtually all U.S. markets.

Under the promotion, prices are cut an average of 30% for travel between Sept. 14 and Dec. 14 as long as tickets are purchased by Aug. 31 and at least 14 days in advance of travel. As in all such promotions, sale seats are limited.

The fare cut means a round-trip fare between Chicago and Honolulu will be reduced to $489 from the previous $730. A New York-to-Honolulu round trip will cost $569, down from the previous $720.

With the latest offers, it becomes difficult to find a market where air fares are not on sale, said Tom Parsons, editor and publisher of Best Fares magazine.