Boston To Costa Rica: $330

Here’s a pleasantly low fare between Boston and San Jose, Costa Rica: $330. I’d even call it astonishing if I hadn’t seen a fare of $275 just a couple of months ago.

That’s round-trip, with all taxes and fees included, by the way.

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Southwest’s Philadelphia Sale Ends Thursday

Southwest is having a sale on flights to and from Philadelphia, with one-way fares set at $30, $60 and $90, depending on the distance.

The fares apply to travel between April 6 and May 26, 2010 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays only.  You must buy tickets before 11:59 p.m PDT, on Thursday, March 18, 2010. 

The sale doesn’t apply to all of Southwest’s destinations. Most Northeast airports, including Bradley, seem to be excluded. Fares don’t include taxes and fees. A round-trip from San Diego, for example, comes to $220, with everything included.

When comparing fares, remember that Southwest will let you check two bags at no additional cost.

Aer Lingus Europe Sale Ends Monday

If you’re planning a trip to Europe during the peak summer months, have a look at the fares now being offered by Aer Lingus.

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Democracy In The Security Line

Passing through airport security in San Diego recently I saw something that made me wonder about how the principles of democracy are applied in airport screening.

There was a separate line for first-class passengers that allowed them to walk right up to the screeners while hundreds of people waited in the general line.

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Milwaukee From $168, Round Trip

Got any peeps in Milwaukee? If you have any interest in visiting the city, now might be a good time to book.

If you’re flexible about travel dates, there are round-trip fares from Bradley as low as $128, coming out to $168 with taxes and fees, from Delta, Midwest and American. Many other cities around the Northeast have similar fares.

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Continental To Charge For Exit Rows

Continental Airlines will begin March 17 to charge a fee for passengers who sit in exit rows that provide extra leg room, as the Chicago Tribune reports.

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More Flights, Lower Fares To Europe, Costa Rica

American Airlines will add flights in April between New York and three destinations: San Jose, Costa Rica; Madrid; and Manchester, England.

I see some pretty good fares this spring on all three of those routes, which is probably not a coincidence. Any increase in supply can push prices down in the ultra-competitive airline business.

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Ski Time: Low Fares To Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Fares to Jackson Hole from northeastern airports typically run over $600 during ski season, but there is a limited opportunity in March to get a round-trip fare of $329, taxes and fees included, from Bradley.

Alerted by Airfarewatchdog, I checked out the fares on Kayak and FareCompare, and here’s what I found:

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The Latest On Checked Bag Fees

George Hobica over at Airfarewatchdog.com has updated his very handy chart of bag fees on domestic airlines.

Still free for the first bag: Southwest and JetBlue. Still free for the second bag: Southwest.

Keep this in mind when you compare airfares.

A Graphic Look At Seasonal Airfares

Just on a whim I took fare information from farecompare.com and put it in a chart.

This shows the lowest available round-trip fare between New York and Barcelona as of today, by month over a 10-month period. The shape of this is, I believe, pretty standard for transantlantic fares.

 Kind of explains the whole idea behind traveling on the spring and fall shoulder seasons, doesn’t it?