Savvy travelers know that you should not only look at low-cost airlines to find cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages. Legacy airlines (such as American, Delta, and United) often match or undercut low-cost airlines prices to remain competitive and protect their market share.
Low-cost airlines, including Frontier and JetBlue, carry 30 percent of domestic passengers daily.
Older, larger airlines (often referred to as legacy airlines) have responded by lowering prices when faced with low-cost airlines moving into established routes that they fly in order to retain market share and prevent their competition from getter bigger.
Low-cost carriers usually offer between five to seven fares on a single domestic flight vs. as many as 30 fares, with varying restrictions, offered by a legacy airline on a domestic flight. Legacy airlines consider whether passengers will be connecting to other flights in setting their prices.
Since all major airlines want to be competitively priced, competition between airlines often is focused more on service than price. For example, JetBlues newer planes offer additional leg room, TV, friendly service, and a new terminal at JFK. Passengers have shown that they are willing to pay more for these services.
If price is your sole factor in deciding which airline to fly, experts recommend using one of the major travel Internet companies, such as Cheapfares.com, Expedia.com, or Orbitz.com, to find the cheapest available fares.
www.cheapfares.com