High air fares aren't sticking everywhere

Farecast, a travel search site owned by Microsoft, shows that air fares in San Antonio, Texas dropped 12 percent this summer from the summer of 2007. Thank AirTran, which entered that market this year. In Austin, Texas, fares are up 5 percent, but they dropped to Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Phoenix, according to Farecast. JetBlue has expanded in those markets.

Fares are staying lowest in cities with the most discount competition, said Mike Fridgen, director of product management for Farecast. He says that if you don't live in a market with competition from a discount carrier, you're probably seeing fares rise.

And Farecast says fares for Thanksgiving travel are up 35 percent from last year, while Christmas and New Year's fares are 31 percent higher.

The overall increases are "as dramatic as I've seen it in all the years that we've been tracking it," especially leisure fares, Harrell said. Usually leisure fares could be expected to drop in the fall, but airlines "believe that they can keep these fares at summertime peak levels," he said.

The across-the-board increases were concentrated in the first half of this year. Of 22 fare increases attempted by airlines, the last successful one (meaning other carriers matched it) was July 2, according to faretracking Web site FareCompare.com.

For business travelers outside of those fortunate cities where fares aren't rising, some of the old tricks for getting cheaper fares become even more important. Advisers at business travel agency Carlson Wagonlit Travel are telling fliers to be more creative about using alternate airports, said Dale Eastlund, a senior director of corporate travel at CWT's Solutions Group.

He said fares from Minneapolis to Newark used to run in the $300 to $400 range. Now it is more like $1,600 — but flights to nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport are still around $300.

"There are alternatives," he said. "It's a matter of educating travelers what those alternatives are to save money."

Sherry Kragler, an associate professor of education at the University of South Florida who had just flown from Orlando, Fla., to Minneapolis, said she flies several times a year and fares have stayed nearly flat.

Fees like the $15 she paid to check her bag add up, but it's still "nothing too exorbitant, to where I'd cancel a trip," she said.