Airlines Slash Fares Again, but Is This a Sale?

Several U.S. airlines announced another wave of fare cuts Thursday, this time slashing coach prices up to 50% for summer travel nationwide, but some analysts complained that the sale masks even better bargains that are already available to travelers.

Northwest Airlines sparked the latest round of lower fares, and the Minneapolis-based carrier was promptly matched by Trans World Airlines, USAir, United Airlines and Continental Airlines.

The new fares are highly restrictive. They generally require a 21-day advance purchase, and tickets must be bought no later than April 12. They apply to travel between May 1 and Sept. 9, and require a Saturday night stay.

Also, the biggest savings are for off-peak travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For instance, Northwest’s new fare for travel between Los Angeles and Minneapolis is $378 round trip on those days but $441 on other days of the week.

Analysts said the new sale does not reflect a concern among the airlines about the summer travel season. Indeed, as Northwest and the others were cutting their fares, Merrill Lynch & Co. raised its estimate of some airlines’ prospects, triggering a surge in the carriers’ stock prices.

Rather, the sale was launched because “there is a segment of the population that is motivated by price,” said Northwest spokesman Jon Austin. “By asking them to make travel plans earlier, we can stimulate additional business.”

But critics said the fare cut is only the latest in a steady string of “sales” that often confuse and, at times, mislead consumers.

The seemingly endless price cuts “make one wonder whether these are sales or whether these are the prices the airlines have really decided they want, and that they simply raise them in between fare cuts,” said Terry Trippler, publisher of the Airfare Report, a Minneapolis-based newsletter.

He noted, for instance, that Northwest itself already has Los Angeles-to-Minneapolis fares that are cheaper than the “sale” fare it announced Thursday. One such fare is $278 round trip--or $100 less than the new, 21-day advance purchase fare, he said.

Austin confirmed that Northwest already offers some cheaper fares between the cities. But he said those fares are even more restrictive, and have more limited availability, than the new sale fares and that they reflect earlier price cuts Northwest made to stay competitive with rival airlines.

“We are not misrepresenting that the sale is anything but what it is: a sale off of our normal fare structure,” Austin said. “In some markets, there may be cheaper fares available.”

Trippler said such sales benefit Northwest even if it has lower fares available for the same routes, because the sales are marketing tools that can prompt consumers into inquiring about air travel.