Holiday plane tickets are going fast — despite higher fares

Airline tickets for the holidays are disappearing faster than Santa Claus on Christmas morning, but flying outside a peak day — like Christmas Eve — could save travelers more than $100 a ticket.

While booking a flight this week will cost, in some cases, hundreds more than if a ticket was booked last month, holiday sales and inventory crunches are translating into steals for customers. A one-way flight to Boston on Christmas Eve costs $158.09 on Delta; a flight to Los Angeles at the same time on United costs $79.20.

"The numbers are strong. Planes will definitely be full, particularly to popular destinations," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said. Delta was one of many airlines that offered a holiday sale to customers. "It's an opportunity for them to literally wait until the last minute for travel."

According to AAA, 87,000, or 15 percent of Utahns, are expected to fly out of town for the holidays — a 3.6 percent increase from 2004. Last December, there were more than 1.5 million passengers going through Salt Lake International Airport.

In total, 35 million passengers will travel globally on U.S. airlines over the 16-day winter holiday period (Dec. 18-Jan. 2), the Air Transport Association said.

The Deseret Morning News researched flights on three major airlines and one travel Web site for holiday airline travel three days before and the day before Christmas. Prices for the same times, places and airlines were also recorded six weeks ago. Although deals are still available, they are minimal. On average, for the cheapest one-way, economy class tickets from Salt Lake City to nine major U.S. cities, tickets should have been purchased well in advance.

"You just have to plan ahead. It's not more difficult and it's not necessarily more expensive this year. You just have to plan ahead to do it," said Marilyn Buckholts, travel agent and owner of Big Fun Travel, based in Salt Lake City.

Buckholts, who specializes in large group and family travel, said this year's hottest holiday destinations are Mexico, Hawaii and Southern California. To ensure good deals and desired seats, groups will not find the kind of flexibility that was available months ago. Some holiday sales may have similar prices, but "the inventory's not there. There might not be the seats you want."

"Tickets are very inflexible," she said. "Airline tickets are like gambling. Once you decide on a fare, the price is either going to go up or down or stay the same. It's a gamble. Often I'm asked, 'Is (price) going to get better or get worse?' There's no way to tell."