Summer fares cool as competition heats up

More travelers are taking off from smaller airports, and for that reason some of the best summer fare deals are now at Los Angeles International Airport, travel analysts say.

With low-cost carriers ratcheting up the competition and early indications that demand for air travel won’t be like what it was last year, families planning summer vacations are already finding better deals this year.

“When we look out over the next 90 days, fares are slightly lower than average,” said Mike Fridgen, marketing and product development director for Farecast.com, a website that tries to predict whether fares will go up or down.

Last year, strong demand and limited capacity kept fares high, but it appears that the demand this year is sluggish and competition is much stronger, particularly from low-cost carriers at smaller airports.

Indeed, when major U.S. carriers reported their earnings last month, many said a weak domestic market and increased competition could keep the lid on ticket prices despite higher fuel costs.

However, there has been no letup on international travel, so it’ll get harder to find deals to fly overseas, analysts said.

Amy Ziff, editor at large for online travel service Travelocity.com, said international fares were likely to rise about 4%, with fares to Asia being among the highest.

“We’re seeing that fares are down in Europe, which may have to do with the lower value of the dollar there, but travel to Asian countries are up,” Ziff said.

Some other trends to consider:

Trips to Hawaii, Seattle and Portland, Ore., from Los Angeles-area airports generally get more expensive as you travel later in the summer.

Considering a trip to Hawaii for Memorial Day weekend? Try LAX, which had fares that were $150 cheaper than those at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

And check the Internet often. Ziff said her online service once tracked more than 40,000 fare changes in a given day.

-- Peter Pae