Advice to fall fliers: Plan now and pay less

When Seattle paralegal Laura Gold booked a trip in May to Maui for a friend's October wedding, she was happy to find an Expedia package that included nonstop flights for herself and a companion.

"We purposely booked early so we could get a better deal and a good flight," she said. Two months later, Expedia sent an e-mail asking her to call immediately. Delta Air Lines had canceled the flight.

Offered a new itinerary with a stop in Los Angeles on the way over and an overnight layover in Salt Lake City on the return, she applied for a refund, then spent several frantic hours searching for an alternative, finally rebooking on Hawaiian Airlines for $125 more per ticket.

"I probably worked on it five or six hours, looking at various airlines," she said. "Delta said it was because they were canceling a lot of their flights."

With Labor Day signaling the end of the summer travel season, fliers between now and the Christmas holidays will notice changes as the airlines struggle to fill seats and boost revenues.

The good news is that fares, far cheaper than they were last year when fuel prices skyrocketed, are likely to stay low, even for holiday travel.

Ticket sales down

"There's no sign that demand is picking up," says Joe Brancatelli, publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a newsletter for business travelers. "Airlines will have to keep prices down to fill whatever seats they do fly."

As airlines continue to cut capacity -- either by eliminating flights or using smaller planes -- the result will be less convenient routes and fewer nonstop flights.

The Air Transport Association, a trade group, estimates that domestic departures at U.S. airports will drop 22 percent between October and December, compared to last year. Some cancellations will be temporary.

Getting a refund

Policies vary on how far airlines will go to accommodate passengers when they cancel or change flights.

Alaska/Horizon's policy calls for letting passengers move their departure or arrival by a day with no change fee if a more convenient flight is available. It will also rebook passengers on another carrier's flight.

Southwest doesn't offer that option but will allow rebooking on another Southwest flight within a 14-day window without penalty.

Delta's policy doesn't include a guarantee of rebooking on another airline, as Gold found out when she asked for a more convenient Northwest flight.

Delta has acquired Northwest, a former partner, and is merging operations, so something evidently went wrong with that decision, said Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott.

"We look at ways to have as little impact as possible on their travel plans," she said. But the airline's written policy, outlined in a document called a "contract of carriage," published on its website, leaves the option of rebooking on another carrier "at our sole discretion."

Capacity cuts usually mean airlines can raise fares, the theory being that the remaining flights should be fuller with fewer seats available. They will be, but maybe not full enough.

"With the drop in business travel, the bottom line is they have to keep those planes packed with leisure travelers," says Seaney. "And the only way to do that is to discount because business travel isn't going to bounce back as fast."

When to shop

Seaney recommends shopping within a three-month window of when you plan to travel, and not booking too far ahead.

"Nobody should even be looking past January," Seaney says. "Any trip after that, you should be waiting."

Alaska still charges $15 each way to check the first bag and $25 for the second, while American and Virgin America now charge $20 each way for all checked bags on domestic flights. United and Delta, Continental and Northwest charge $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second if fees are paid online, but $20 and $30 if paid at the airport. US Airways recently bumped its fees to $20 and $25 if paid online and $30 and $35 if paid at the airport.

American, Delta and Continental added a $50 one-way charge for checking a second bag to some European destinations.

Check with your airline on changes or see www.smartertravel.com for a fee chart. The charges don't apply to first- and business-class passengers and elite members of the airlines' frequent-flier programs.

Some airlines have begun asking passengers to supply their full name as it appears on a passport or other government-issued ID and date of birth and gender when making a reservation, as part of a new Transportation Security Administration security-vetting program called Secure Flight.