Cheap travel: Fresno for $216, Aspen for $164 and more on United

By Troy Melhus

I'm sure you may have your reasons to take a cheap, last-minute flight to Fresno, Calif., which sits smack in the middle of the Golden State.

Whether you'd want to head to Fresno for family, its proximity to Yosemite, or to just check out some future coastline property, United Airlines is offering flights to the central California town for just $216 this weekend as part of its weekly E-Fares.

And Fresno is hardly the only destination on short sale. United is offering more than a dozen last-minute destinations up for grabs, including Aspen ($164), El Paso ($164), Syracuse ($166) and more.

All the details can be found at UnitedAirlines.com.

United isn't just limiting itself to this and next weekend. Hotwire.com's Travel Ticker notes that United is offering sale fares from the Midwest starting at $61 each way, through next Thursday.

Not to be outdone, Frontier is also offering a Midwest fare sale, starting at $69 each way, through Nov. 10.

And AirTran is offering a sale fare as well, with flights across the country starting as low as $44 one-way (Milwaukee).

If International is more your flavor, US Airways is also offering a last-minute deal this week from Minneapolis to London for $642 (Gatwick or Heathrow). Those tickets must be purchased by Monday, Nov. 9, with several bits of fine print.

Meanwhile Travelzoo notes that flights from Minneapolis to Orlando can now be found for as low as $179 roundtrip, including tax. Those deals can be found here at Fly.com.

And if you'd just prefer to stay closer to home, there are some deals out there on the Web for you as well.

Travel-ticker is touting a room special available at the Minneapolis W Hotel starting this month through January, with rates as low as at $109 per night on weekends (regularly $149). All those details can be found at Travel-ticker.
 

Troy Melhus • tmelhus@startribune.com