With airfares steadily marching upward, along with airline fees, swapping homes makes travel more affordable.
Next, we did a quick search for round-trip airfares on flights between Houston and Los Angeles.
Airfares and hotel rates in Istanbul are down about 4% to 5%, according to Kayak.
These costs are quantifiable, making it feasible to calculate the tradeoff with higher airfares.
The tactic can work best in summer when discount airfares are harder to find.
The rising cost of gas and airfares is a huge factor for many buyers.
Travel agencies say consumers have started to balk at sky-high airfares and increasingly opt for cheaper destinations.
Search for "airfares to Los Angeles" and you'll probably get another interactive experience above TripAdvisor and Expedia.
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Airfares, meanwhile, jumped 14% between March 2010 and March 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Kayak.com, the metasearch website, studied more than a billion US domestic airfares available for purchase throughout 2011.
Airfares should remain mostly flat for the remainder of the year because there are two opposing forces at work.
As we are already seeing, the price of gasoline, airfares, and ultimately baby diapers will all rise as well.
If you answer yes, you're in luck, because you'll get the lowest airfares.
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But airfares had sunk to very cheap levels during the recession, driving several mergers and pushing American into bankruptcy reorganization.
Farecast was a travel site that predicted whether airfares on a given route would rise or fall in the future.
Hotel rates are not rising as fast as airfares so smart travellers can still score deals, even during peak season.
Tourism, inspired by bargain hotel rates and airfares, was supposed to provide a kick, but visitor traffic has been discouraging.
It can cover that if airfares and its load factor--industry jargon for the percentage of seats filled--return to pre-Sept. 11 levels.
Net result: airfares should not rise or fall too much in coming months barring a spike in fuel costs or economic collapse.
And if you want those low airfares, we need low airport costs.
Average airfares there have steadily risen over the past three years, coinciding with the merger of Houston-based Continental Airlines into United Airlines.
Most travel sites find it relatively easy to sell airfares, hotel accommodation and car hire online, but packages have proved more difficult.
The budget traveler normally looks up at various sources over the Internet for best deals on airfares, hotel stays and special holiday packages.
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Regulators faced the same dilemma in the 1970s when they dismantled controls over airfares and routes that had controlled the airline industry for decades.
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Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, said less competition, both now and in the future, means an overall increase in airfares over the long term.
George Hobica, president of the consumer airfares web site Airfarewatchdog.com, agreed.
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After all, we have social media to arrange gatherings of any size you want, with none of the costs of room rental, airfares, hotels, and schwag bags.
When travel was robust in 1999 and 2000, delays became rampant, customer service went into a tailspin, airfares shot higher and airlines became a target for outrage in Congress.
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While airlines might offer best airfares, they do not offer the convenience of bundling hotel stays and holiday packages, which is where online travel agencies still have an edge.
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