O.C. Fare War Underway

Triggering a rare, short-lived fare war in Orange County, America West Airlines cut the price of all its flights from John Wayne Airport by more than half.

America West has 19 daily flights from Orange County with connections to 61 destinations through its hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas. Its four nonstop destinations--Reno, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Phoenix--are now priced at $98 round trip. The most expensive flight, to New York, is $398 round trip.

The reduced fares are valid through Aug. 3. They require a Saturday night stay and seven-day advance purchase, and travel must be completed by Dec. 16.

At least four other carriers--American, United, Continental and Northwest--matched America West’s fares.

Before this week’s promotion, America West charged $361 for a round-trip flight booked 14 days in advance to Phoenix, said Diana Real, an agent at Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates in Santa Ana. The current price, for travel booked a week in advance, is $98.

The price to Boston, previously $683 round trip if booked 21 days in advance, fell to $238. And a round-trip America West flight to Chicago, which Real said cost $428 last week, was priced at $178 under this week’s promotion. Fares are slightly higher on Friday and Sunday and do not include federal excise taxes of $2 per flight segment.

Round-trip flights from Orange County often cost several hundred dollars more than from Los Angeles International and other Southern California airports, but that occasionally changes with no notice.

“Every once in a while, airlines will have a bunch of empty seats and they do what we call a fire sale,” Real said.

Short-lived fare reductions started by one carrier and copied by others typically hit Orange County several times a year, said Ricci Zukerman, president of Worldview Travel Corp. in Costa Mesa. She said interest in the latest price-cutting is likely to be high because there have been no fare wars since January, an unusually long time.

Zukerman said business travelers won’t benefit much from the low prices because of factors such as the Saturday stopover requirement and higher fares on the heavy-demand days of Friday and Sunday.

But impulsive leisure travelers will jump at the offer, she said. “This is great for people who say, ‘Hey, I can get to Chicago for under $200. Let’s go!’ ”