E-mail's the ticket to last-minute airline deals

By Thurston Hatcher
CNN

(CNN) -- If you really want to get away -- quickly and cheaply -- just monitor your e-mail.

The Internet has become a treasure trove for many bargain-hunting travelers. And many of the best deals come in the form of e-mail alerts, direct from the airlines, for last-minute weekend escapes.

Subscribers to Delta's Web Fares program, for example, had a choice of trips last weekend that included Atlanta, Georgia to Chicago, Illinois for $118 round-trip and Dallas, Texas, to Boston, Massachusetts, for $158.

Options from American Airlines' Net SAAver program included a round trip from Miami, Florida, to San Francisco, California, for $319.

"For the people who really can pick up on a moment's notice, I think it's fabulous," says Shel Horowitz, author of the book "The Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty with a Peasant's Pocketbook" (Accurate Writing, 1995).

Short notice

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The deals typically surface midweek, broadcast in e-mail and on the airlines' Web sites for the upcoming weekend.

"It's designed to fill our airplane seats at times when those seats are more likely to be empty," says spokesman Mark Slitt of American Airlines, which now has 1.7 million Net SAAver subscribers.

The catch comes with the restrictions. Continental, United, Delta and others require that fliers leave on Saturday and return on Monday or Tuesday. With American, you can leave after 7 p.m. Friday, but the same restrictions apply on the return flight.

Spontaneity also is a necessity, although American now posts some fares a week-and-a-half out.

"It's last-minute travel -- not for people with small children, because you have to rearrange your schedule quite a bit," Horowitz says.

And some travelers will see far fewer last-minute options, thanks to where they live.

"The only problem you may see with Internet-only products is they're really geared around hub airports of these airlines," says Tom Parsons of Bestfares.com. "In most cases, what they'll do is run it from their hubs."

Fliers' digest

In an offshoot of its Web Fares, Delta also offers Fan Fares linked to sporting events. When the Colorado Rockies flew to Cincinnati, Ohio, for a baseball matchup against the Reds, fans could follow for $148. The same restrictions apply, including departure on Saturday and return on Monday or Tuesday.

If you prefer not to be deluged each week by airline e-mail -- or to have to surf a dozen airline sites (U.S. Airways and Southwest are among the others) -- there are several out there that do most of the work for you with a digest of weekly offerings.

Smarter Living will tell you all the last-minute travel deals for the arrival or departure city of your choice, along with the restrictions. And BestFares.com has a list of links to airline sites offering Internet deals.