Couldn't ignore the deal that Frugal Bon-Vivant found with JetBlue. Essentially, if you purchase a ticket using Paypal for flights on JetBlue (travel to be completed by mid-August), you save yourself $50 on a future flight

Must book by July 20 to qualify for the deal. Took a while but found the link to the deal on JetBlue's website.

A few of the good airfare deals this week come from Continental Airlines and their sale for the Caribbean; KLM for flights out of the UK to all parts of the world; and a deal from Allegiant Air that offers a buy one get one free package deal for Las Vegas. Destinations near and far for this week's airline ticket deals.

Continental Airlines Caribbean sale - no specific book by date mentioned. Roundtrip purchase required. I tested out dates into January 2010 and there seemed to be quite a lot of options at their sale price of $210 roundtrip (add about $45 for taxes) between Newark and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sample Airfare - Roundtrip Newark / San Juan PR - $210.

KLM has a sale on pretty much all of its international destinations from the UK. I couldn't find any specific book by date. To secure the airfare specials, I found August and September dates to be the most successful. Sample Airfare - Sample roundtrip airfare London / Delhi from £272.

Allegiant Air - Fly free Vegas. " For a limited time, buy one air/hotel package and the second person flies free*:
* Minimum 2 night 2 person hotel package purchase required traveling on the same itinerary
* Purchase by July 22, 2009
* Travel from July 5, 2009 through January 31, 2010"

Don't forget to check the Air Travel Forum - lots of airfare specials/airline promotions are listed, as are plenty of opinions!

Airfare Travel Deals this Week - Cheap Airline Tickets

image by Arlene Fleming

With the crash of a Yemenia flight last week, I couldn't help but notice the renewed interest in the European Union's blacklist of airlines.

Yemenia had a solid safety record before its deadly crash with one survivor, and yet certain aircraft it flew had been cited for potential maintenance / mechanical issues. This however does not mean the airline was banned from flying in the European Union's airspace, unlike another airline that is based out of Comoros, but it has elevated the awareness of safety concerns.

Given too, that an air disaster on a massive scale over water occurred only weeks earlier in the shape of Air France 447 where over 200 people perished, the Yemenia crash is certainly going to be affected by the investigation of that crash - the fact that it was over water, poor weather conditions, an Airbus, and more strongly still, that the Airbus in question was about 20 years old.

Read more...

The Brazilian military has called off the search for bodies of passengers and crew of Air France 447, while the search for the black boxes continue (with little time left to track them before their signal transmissions cease). A timeline then, of one of the worst tragedies in air travel history...

An Air France flight en route to Paris from Brazil went missing after experiencing thunderstorms and turbulence somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean in the late evening of May 31, 2009 / early morning of June 1, 2009. It appears there were electrical malfunction issues about 4 hours into the flight. 216 passengers and 12 crew were on board.

Brief summary of what's known so far - Air France 447 Missing, Presumed Crash - Heading to Paris From Rio de Janeiro.

Read more...

A happy, and safe one to all those celebrating this Fourth of July weekend.

Whether you are away or at home - a round-up of some of the 4th of July festivities noted by Guides at About.com...

• The Fourth of July in Washington, DC
• Fourth of July Fireworks—The Best Places to View The Fireworks in Washington, DC
• 4th of July Celebrations - several cities across the United States are included.
• July 4th in the Los Angeles Area
• Fourth of July in New York City: Celebrate July 4 in Manhattan
• San Francisco Fourth of July 2009
• Boston Harborfest 4th of July Celebration

Great airfare deals this week. The focus is international this week as they really are amazing airfares for various far-flung destinations. More deals in the Air Travel Forum include destinations closer to home. Some are honestly the cheapest I think we may ever see...

Fare Compare - found an AMAZING deal for New York to Rio de Janeiro - as low as $343 roundtrip for late summer / fall dates. Some dates were available in August, September and October. Sample Airfare - $372 - roundtrip...including taxes and fees!

Qatar Airways - sale from London is on until July 10. Seriously good deals to Asia. Travel by August 31. Roundtrip fares include taxes! Sample Airfare - London / Delhi £263.

Cheapflights came through and found a real deal for Thailand. Book by July 31. The package includes 2 weeks of hotels, airfare, breakfast, tours - starting at $1199 (New York departure). What I love about this deal is it includes dates all the way into April 2010!

Don't forget to check the Air Travel Forum - lots of airfare specials/airline promotions are listed, as are plenty of opinions!

Airfare Travel Deals this Week - Cheap Airline Tickets

image by Arlene Fleming

Another sad day in air travel, with another crash involving bad weather, the ocean, and many passengers and crew.

Early into June 30, 2009 a Yemeni jet with 153 people on board (142 passengers and 11 crew) crashed into the Indian Ocean as it tried to land during very poor weather on the island country of Comoros. It's been reported that rescuers were successful in rescuing a 14 year old girl from the sea.

Yemenia Crash - 153 on Board, Number of Survivors Unknown

This special has a book by date of June 30 so it won't make it in for the Airfare Specials this Week on time. But it's a good deal, and Cheapflights was the one that found it.

One way airfares (based on roundtrip purchase) to Sydney from Los Angeles start at $289. What's nice about this special is that travel dates run into mid-December, traditionally a high season for travel to Australia.

Delta's Intro Australia Airfare

A few more airfare deals to add to the ongoing specials.

Southwest Airlines has an introductory airfare sale on now for its new services out of Milwaukee. Book by July 10.

Sample Airfare - intro airfares range from $49 to $99 one way. If you can book by Friday night (June 26) you can get even cheaper intro airfares - "The airline will begin service with a dozen daily nonstop flights to six destinations: 3 to Baltimore/Washington, 3 to Kansas City, 2 to Las Vegas, 2 to Orlando, 1 to Phoenix, and 1 to Tampa Bay. Southwest is offering all of these new flights with fares as low as $35 one-way (when purchased by June 26th), recognizing Wisconsin's place as the 35th state to join the Southwest network." Travel dates begin November 1.

Frontier Airlines is having a great sale - until June 30. Travel dates run from August 10 through January 15, 2010.

Sample Airfare - one way airfares start at $34.

New low cost airline Jet America - ready to begin service in July. Its main page is advertising one way airfares starting at $9 one way for its routes. I had a bit of difficulty finding seats for its Florida route, however I easily found the $9 fare on a Lansing MI to Newark route for several dates in July. No specific book by date listed.

Sample Airfare - one way airfare Lansing to Newark $9 - $24.60 including taxes for several dates throughout the summer months.

Don't forget to check the Air Travel Forum - lots of airfare specials/airline promotions are listed, as are plenty of opinions!

Airfare Travel Deals this Week - Cheap Airline Tickets

image by Arlene Fleming

Was given a heads up on this from About.com's Guide to Spain Travel, Damian Corrigan, who wrote: Passengers traveling on Thursday with Ryanair, the airline everyone loves to hate, should be sure to check in by 6pm on Wednesday (British time, 7pm in Europe) in order to avoid paying Ryanair's new 40 euro airport check-in fee (for each passenger), due to a planned closure of the company's website.

The site will be closed from Wednesday evening until 5am on Thursday morning (6am in Europe)...

If you think because the site will be down for online check-in that you'll get a break at the airport with them, you'd be sadly mistaken.

If you would like a primer on Ryanair's long list of fees, and some comparisons regarding luggage fees on airlines around the world you can check out If You Think That Airlines in the United States Charge Crazy Fees..., in which I mention our Guide to Spain's in depth Q and A with Ryanair and their extensive fees for passengers.

And Damian's coverage of Ryanair's site shutdown to online checkin.