Okay everyone, ready for some serious South America travel news? So LAN—which is really a group of airlines including LAN Chile, LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina, LAN Express and LAN Colombia—made all kinds of changes, for the better, to their routes and in-flight service today, February 1.

· First off, LAN Colombia (which only really started as an airline in December 2012 after LAN took over Colombian airline AIRES) is now flying direct from Miami to Bogota. The inaugural hit the skies earlier today, complete with a visit from Juan Valdez, who served the passengers their in-flight coffees. Fares for this new route, which runs four times weekly on Airbus A320s, are $400 roundtrip, including taxes & fees, if booked by February 6. Of course, you can go straight through to booking via their Facebook page. ]]> JetSetCD 2012-02-01T16:53:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/31/10558/7925

We have our doubts about group buying sites like Groupon, especially when we're getting emails for discounts on laser hair removal 80% of the time, but occasionally great deals do pop up, and one such sale starts today.

The deal: Pay $39, get $100 towards round-trip flights between Chicago-ORD and San Francisco-SFO or Los Angeles-LAX. Included in that $39 is also a code to redeem for a free session of Gogo in-flight WiFi, itself worth $12.95. The $100 you get can be used to purchase any class of travel...so you're that much closer to one of the big seats in First Class. ]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-31T10:56:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/30/6053/89861

So the time has finally come for airlines to reveal the actual cost of the airfare they’re selling. We talked about the rules and regulations earlier this month, but now the reactions are starting to pour in.

Notice that Delta happily advertises on their booking page that all ticket prices include all taxes—they note “One Price. Period.” However, that’s not the case for the head honchos over at Spirit Airlines, as they’re more than a little cranky with Uncle Sam and all the new airfare pricing mandates, to the end that they're flat-out insulting consumer intelligence. Right, tell us something we don't know about Spirit, you say. ]]> kjb 2012-01-30T12:56:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/3/62011/64365

January is a good month for consumers looking to buy some airfare, as in just a few weeks some new rules kick in about how tickets and flights are priced and promoted.

Starting on January 26, the way you buy flights is going to change just a little bit, but don’t worry as it’s an easy change and it makes things better. Airlines will now have to disclose the true final amount of your ticket, and that means revealing all fees, taxes, and other little tidbits that mess up your travel budget. So moving forward you’ll know how much the total airfare will set you back before you get to the spot where you enter your credit card information.

These rules and regulations should also effect airline advertisements and promotions, as they’re supposed to now promote only the actual full fares—inclusive of taxes, fees, and this and that. We’re thinking that could really bum out carriers like Spirit Airlines, but it’s good to know what you’re getting yourself into right up front. ]]> kjb 2012-01-03T10:24:49-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/29/02050/917

Take a pinch of premium airline and a dash of low-cost carrier and the end product will be low airfares with a whole lot of confusion. This week, Air New Zealand launched a new fare on domestic services by using a little of this recipe. They're calling it grabaseat™ and, by the looks of it, ANZ is attempting innovation by offering cheap prices so long as you're willing to abide by tighter rules.

grabaseat™ is ANZ's solution to budget carriers, but isn't offered on all flights. The fare is so basic it only allows for 7kg (15 lbs.) of carry-on baggage; anything over that will be a further charge. Since most of these fares are offered on flights that don't even have overhead compartments—in the case of their Beechcraft—the 7 kilo limit might make boarding a bit easier. If flying with nothing but a camera isn't your idea of fun, then you will have to cough up about $10 US to check a bag.]]> jetflyboy 2011-11-29T08:45:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/6/55659/53621

Got a $20 bill? If this was 1964, you'd also have a domestic flight on American Airlines for that little cash. We know this because we unearthed a vintage American Airlines pamphlet advertising the '64 World's Fair in New York City, plus airfares to it from other parts of the USA.

Only a few weeks ago we marveled at the price of an AA ticket from California to NY listed in this very same booklet. Cross-country roundtrip was only $145 back then, a figure which would roughly equal $1,052 today, adjusted for inflation. Of course the last fifty years haven't seen such a hike, so we've got a whole new perspective on airfare deals right now.

And then we flipped to the inside back cover of the booklet, and discovered the prices for a domestic AA ticket. Holy moly $15.35 from Washington DC and $13.50 from Boston. Okay sometimes—during their @JetBlueCheeps Twitter sales, JetBlue occasionally beats even these low-low prices, but dang. It's all just another reason to wish you lived in the days of Mad Men.

[Scan: Jaunted]]]> JetSetCD 2011-09-06T09:35:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/8/17/1151/12323

Our love for artifacts of retro travel isn't exactly a secret, and we recently scored a vintage American Airlines pamphlet advertising trips to the World's Fair of 1964 in New York City.

This is the famous World's Fair that gave us the now-dilapidated fantasy structures that dot Corona Park in Flushing, Queens, and which exalted the advances of space travel. It was a fair people traveled to by airplane, and a jaunt from the west coast to the east coast for the event could be a family's big trip. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-08-17T15:53:32-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/