Last week I decided to give Bing.com a try on an airline route I know pretty well: Florida. With relatives there I try to make it to the panhandle state at least once a year.

So last week I plugged in my destination, with less than satisfactory results: $250 roundtrip to Tampa - and that included a layover.

Bing’s advice: Wait.

Knowing that route myself, I agreed.

This week that patience paid off.

That’s because this week AirTran announced its fall and winter sale. (I saw fares there for as low as $69 each way to Boston.)

And as is usually the case, this feisty, low-fare, Atlanta-based airline manages to get the major airlines to pretty closely match its sale fares.

Example: My fare to Tampa via AirTran was down to $150, plus tax and fees. (Came to about $190).
I liked what I saw, but I also know I’m not much for layovers. (Who is?)

So I plugged the same route into Bing. With a quick click to nonstop flights, I found the same flight I’d seen the week before, to Tampa, down to $188 plus tax, for a total of $209.

Is saving more than two hours and having a direct flight worth $20?

I said yes. Tampa here I come.

Details of AirTran’s latest fare sale are here:
http://www.airtran.com/sale/

- - -

That’s not the only fare sale out there.

United Airlines continues with its last-minute air travel deals out of Minneapolis, with flights this weekend going as low as $112 to Chicago (roundtrip!), to Vail, Colo., for $196. (Not to mention the fare to Chicago next week: $88 round trip.)

Only hitch hiking could be cheaper.

The usual fine print applies. Find out all the details here:
http://travel.united.com/ube/efares/us/eFares.do

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