More Top Picks Eureka Mighty Mite
player ready...These are odd times in air travel. Routes you’ve taken countless times before with no sticker shock can surprise you now. When I plugged in Chicago to New Orleans more than two weeks out for a trip at the end of April, I found nothing less than $500 for what had usually been, say, $250 or so per person round trip. Tony Lucarelli of Bolingbrook was having the same sort of oh-no moment when trying to book a weekend into Las Vegas. Watching rates since autumn, he could find nothing under $600 for two round-trip tickets. So he and his fiancee jumped at a promotional $350 (for both of them) on no-frills Spirit into Los Angeles. That combined with a $109 car rental and $80 in gas, was cheaper and not terribly inconvenient. It’s about a four-hour drive from L.A. to Vegas. And they would have rented a car in Vegas anyway. Bottom line: Check airports within three or four hours on both ends of your trip.