Airlines cut holiday fares

Lower fuel prices and reduced demand for travel have U.S. airlines slashing some holiday ticket prices, say travel agents.

Travelers who can avoid flying at the most popular times and days are finding some of the lowest-priced plane tickets in years, said Tom Parson, chief executive of Bestfares.com.

Forget the early bird getting the worm, Parsons said. There is no reason to buy tickets in advance anymore.

Last month, the big U.S. airlines cut seat capacity by 7 percent, while passenger traffic fell 10 percent, meaning planes still had empty seats — a trend expected to continue through December, Brian Ek, a spokesman for Priceline.com told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Saturday.

We took a look at fares and found that depending on the route and travel dates, fares can be down as much as 10 percent over last year, Ek said.