As most online fare watchers have learned over the years, Wednesday has earned the reputation of being “fare day.”

If one hopped into a Wayback Machine, one could find a time when Northwest Airlines, for example, used to offer these ancient things called “Cybersavers,” which were last-minute, online-only available airfare deals to cities across the country.

The sales were ingenious ways to book unfilled seats on short notice. The airline would announce the sale on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m., and the flights departed three days later, for the weekend only.

While a few airlines still offer these last-minute deals, Northwest’s Cybersavers have more or less gone the creaky route of the typewriter: they occasionally get dragged out and dusted off, but mostly they’re a memory from the days back when Al Gore was still inventing the Internet.

These days Northwest (um, Delta?) offers what they call “Last Minute Packages,”and we subscribers occasionally will get uninspired mass e-mails announcing the same airfare/hotel/car rental package price offerings that can be found on Orbitz, www.lastminute.com and the like.

Ho-hum.

Personally I’ve never cared for these packages.

First, I generally like to travel to places where I know people — nothing like having a guided tour — plus it keeps you in touch. And when you can do that, you often find much friendlier (and less expensive) accommodations.

Second, many of these “deals” often shake out in the wash. You know the shell game: Any savings on the airfare is often countered by the lodging costs. And fuel charges. And security fees. And blah, blah, blah.

There’s a point to all this, of course.

It’s my long way of saying: “It’s Wednesday.”

And now that you’ve suffered some of my nostalgic grumbling, I’m excited to report that many airlines and travel companies still trumpet online deals by Wednesday of the week.

Whether that’s by old habit or by design, I don’t know.

What I do know is that by midmorning each Wednesday, my e-mail inbox is full of various spams from sites like Hotwire, Sherman’s Travel, and yes, even NWA.

Part of the reason we created this blog was to not only have a home where we could share our knowledge of these weekly Wednesday findings, but to give you the opportunity to share your findings as well.

So here are few of the highlights from my e-mail inbox this week that I’ve scoped out. If you have any to share with readers of this blog, please add them in the comments below.

(It should go without saying here, but I’ll say it anyway to make the point: No spam, please. The real deals only.)

Last-minute fares from United Airlines

United Airlines is offering nine last-minute deals to cities including Vail, Colo., Greenville, SC, and Reno, Nev. among others.

Check out the full list, with the fine print, here.

London on the cheap from United

United Airlines is offering a last-minute flight sale to celebrate its new London-Denver nonstop route. The infamous “sample fares” from various cities are located here.

Iceland calling

New reduced fares have been listed to Iceland on IcelandAir. Minneapolis fares are advertised at $606. Check out all the details here.

Vegas, baby

A package air deal to Las Vegas is being advertised as a “Hot Deal” from Worry Free Vacations. Fly out on Champion Air on May 4 and stay at the New York New York for four nights for just $336 roundtrip.

Hit the lakes in Wisconsin with Hotwire

Don’t feel like flying? Check out the Heidel House Resort on the shores of Green Lake, Wis. $89 a night during the week and $149 for the weekends. The deal includes two passes to the resort’s Evensong Spa, a $20 value. Valid May 1-June 30 and Sept. 1-Oct. 31.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 4:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.