As many of us can attest, the cost of airfare is up — up 4.4% for the first quarter of this year (2008) compared to the same time period last year (2007) according the BTS press release.

But not so fast …

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) also notes, these Q1 2008 fares are actually cheaper than the first quarter of 2001 – 4.6% cheaper (and remember, this is before the pricing chaos in the wake of 9/11).

The release has some unusual background info:

Average fares are based on domestic itinerary fares, round-trip or one-way for which no return is purchased. Fares include taxes and fees. Averages do not include frequent-flyer or “zero fares” or a few abnormally high reported fares. Average fares in this release may not be comparable to BTS fare press releases before the second quarter of 2007 which did not exclude frequent flyer fares or abnormally high fares. Bulk fares continue to be excluded as in earlier releases.

Let me translate for you — or at least, attempt to give you my take:

The other day someone sent me a link to a story on Wired.com (not one of my usual travel haunts) with air travel buying tips that don’t quite “jive” with mine.

I looked over the tips provided based on the observations from Farecast (now a Microsoft Company — I know them well as I spent many an hour in Seattle teaching them the ins and outs of airfare).

The main premise of the article is that “Shopping Early” for airline tickets doesn’t yield any results.

This statement and a few other tidbits in the article — well, I don’t quite agree — so lets break it down …

It appears that the 20^th attempted airfare hike this year is going to sail through without any issues as tonight Northwest Airlines and US Airways completed the matching of the other 4 legacy airlines (American, Continental, Delta & United) by raising prices $20 to $40 roundtrip across the bulk of their respective route systems.

Southwest Airlines initiated the 20^th attempted airfare hike of 2008 Thursday by raising fares by $10 - $20 roundtrip for travel starting 2^nd of November.

The legacy airlines took this rare opportunity to not only match Southwest but to “double-up” on the hike, raising most routes by$40 roundtrip.

As usual the legacy airlines tiptoed around most Southwest overlapping routes to stay competitive.

I do not expect to see the same torrid pace of airfare hikes in the latter half of 2008 as the first - at the current pace we would end up with 40 attempted airfare hikes this year (we had 23 attempts in 2007).

Many airlines have a plethora of new “fee charges” which will help blunt some of the rising cost of fuel for the rest of the year — but all bets are off if oil “travels” through $160 a barrel and beyond.

Catch the 2008 Airfare Hike Timeline Here.

Southwest Airlines is now taking reservations thru early January (was 30th October until today). It wont be long until overlapping routes on other airlines drop for travel after end of October.

The next few days will be the best of the year to start shopping for holiday travel.

I’ll be posting more details as the legacy airlines and other low cost airlines drop their prices — enjoy!

Since many seem to be in a “show me the price increases” mood and I have the luxury of one of the worlds largest database of current and historical airfare — I thought it might be fun to see how many comments it was possible to get on one blog post — so here is a challenge:

I will post the 2008 price comparison information for the cheapest domestic U.S./Canada roundtrip business airfare (inside 14 days advance purchase) and leisure airfare for any city pair requested in a comment (1 per person per comment).

I am heading to Seattle in a few months so I’ll make the first comment post (prices are the cheapest for the category that day including all fuel surcharges and 7.5% sales tax) :

This week I seem to be Mr. Popularity (but don’t worry, it won’t go to my head). The reason for this is all the grim airfare news — airline losses, predictions of new rate hikes, and more “extras” that passengers have to pay for.

The networks asked me to do some analysis, and here’s the schedule:

• This evening, ABC’s World News will credit FareCompare with datawe provided
• Thursday night, I’ll be on the CBS Evening News
• This week, an interview I did with NBC will be featured in stories appearing on local NBC stations across the country

If you get a chance to watch, drop me a comment; I’m always interested in your feedback.

The BTS (Bureau of Transportation Statistics) released its report on average airfares for the fourth-quarter of 2007. Overall, the average cost of airline tickets is up 4% when compared to the fourth-quarter of 2006, and the average price of airfare has reached the highest fourth quarter level since 2001.

While airfare increases are affecting travelers all over the country, some cities are feeling the brunt a little more than others. Keep reading for Top 5 lists of airports with the highest average airfares and the greatest increase in average airfares from last year…

The question everyone wants to know the answer to, is the subject of my latest, weekly column for ABCNews.com.

This is a column that’s loaded with tips and tricks, and some good old-fashioned advice.

Plus, I bust some common (and erroneous) myths along the way. Check it all out, simply by clicking here.

Earlier this week, I was contacted by someone who caught a radio spot I did last year. He and his wife want to travel to Europe from May 21 to May 31. They are flexible on destination cities and hope to depart from Madison, Milwaukee, or Appleton. They’re willing to fly out of Chicago, but it’s not their first choice.

They had found airline tickets from Chicago to London for $599, but they’re hoping to find something less if they can, having traveled to Dublin before for just over $300. I would like to walk through the process that will help them (and others with similar vacation plans) find the cheapest flights to Europe, but first I would like to point out some things currently affecting the price of airline tickets to destinations across the Pond…

I’m starting to get in the groove now! Today is my second column for ABCNews.com; in case you missed it, I am now one of their regular (weekly) columnists.

My latest? Well, I talk about finding the cheapest airfare — how it’s getting harder than ever — but how it can still be done. Click “more” for details.

Starting in May, JetBlue will begin flying out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The lower cost carrier will add 3-flights a day between LAX and New York and one between LAX and Boston.

But, wait just a minute! Doesn’t JetBlue already fly out of Los Angeles??? Keep reading!

See Rick Seaney’s new column on ABCNews.com on merger mania!

Answer: Arnold Palmer

Yes golf is a passion of mine and no, I haven’t gone crazy — let me tie up these “very” tenuous loose ends.

Tiger just recently tied Arnold Palmer’s record for PGA tour wins (62) and whilst I was reviewing our internal 12:30 domestic airfare report for deals…

I noticed Northwest Airlines today appears to be celebrating this achievement by dropping prices up to 75% to/from Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

Yes Latrobe, the airport maybe better known as “Arnold Palmer Regional Airport” (after it’s native son …)

Latrobians should checkout these new low airline ticket prices …

In a word, yes. But, how about any tickets at all?

Well, I suppose you could find a ticket on eBay, and you could take a last minute flight to Phoenix, but chances are, it won’t come cheap.

Only one thing to do: Hello, Super Bowl XLIII! …

It would appear the main reaction (so far) has been “Grin and Bare It” — according to Continental Airlines we are still buying airline tickets in record numbers at what can only be described as record prices.

Continental passengers paid 11.6% more in the last three months of 2007 than the same time period in 2006 with “record revenue”…

We cheapskates know that airfare prices can change at a moment’s notice, so we’re constantly looking for the very best deals.

But being a savvy shopper can be incredibly time-consuming and frustrating - unless, you know what I know.

Keep reading for what I consider to be some very special insights, AND, an “insider” international airfare “trick” you’ll just love.

United Airlines is starting the new year off with a bang. They’re offering a range of deals on airfare for both domestic and international travel. You can also find cheap airfare sales to Europe, Asia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, both coasts of the U.S., and more.

Keep reading to see a sample of some of the airfare deals United Airlines is offering…

As 2007 winds down, I thought it might be fun to do a little experimentation with our new “Best Time to Buy” database that will be rolling out early in 2008 and take a look at the price of travel on official U.S. Holidays.

Certainly extra long weekends invite many to checkout airline ticket prices and as always I am intrigued to find which departure and destination cities are the best overall for travelers, so putting on the “Geek” cap on this morning I put together a ranking I would like to share…

Saw this thought-provoking article in the Buffalo News; it was written by a young woman asking that military personnel get bigger discounts on airfare.

The author focused on her own fiance (stationed in the U.S); she said, he gets just a day or so notice for leave, and receives only a 5 to 10% discount off his last minute fare (which we all know is still very expensive).

She says, we ask a lot of the military; we “boldly ask them to not only lay down their lives, but also their wallets.”

I did a quick and highly unscientific search and found United has some good deals for the military and American says it “may offer Military Fares in some markets.”

Readers? Airline execs? Please send me your comments.

If you haven’t already, take advantage of our Email Alerts; a sweet and simple way to get the cheapest fares first.

And now, it’s all part of My Trips, which offers much, much more; you can read all about it here, but know that this simple (and fun!) service lets you be choosy (find a specific fare, fly your favorite airline, opt for Coach or First Class). Check out the My Trips section on FareCompare. And sign up—it’ll make your vacation planning incredibly easy, and save you big bucks—we promise.

And, speaking of First Class, check out this section, where we show you how to fly First Class, at Coach prices (yes it can be done!).

For the most part, the filing of airfare is completely automated nowadays and the airlines have gotten many of the kinks out of their systems that caused them periodic heartburn in years gone by.

Millions of airfare can and do change each day (we see this each and every day) and one would think this volume would be ripe for a ton of mistakes like the $33 business class airfare on Alitalia, from Toronto to Larnaca, Cyprus last year - but that isn’t really the case.

Many times $0 airfare isn’t necessarily a mistake — not in Europe, where airlines like Ryanair and EzJet periodically offer ridiculous numbers of “free” tickets (you have buy early, pack very light and not be overly hungry to get the best deal) –or in the U.S., where Skybus and Spirit Airlines regularly get great press on their sub $10 airfare. So, in the spirit of holiday fun, I thought it would be enlightening to review some mistakes we found (along with our alert users) this year:

If you asked me a year ago if I thought anyone would be writing about me — I would have told you that they must be crazy — but I guess at this point I should realize it isn’t.

Several friends in Ft. Worth sent me a note about this article that came out on the front page of the “Work & Money” section of the Star-Telegram this morning (obviously I knew they were doing something because they came to shoot a picture at our office) — I still find it all a bit surreal.

If you get a chance to read Trebor’s article/profile on “Airfare Guru” — which I should use instead of the “About” section on this blog — it might surprise you where I see things heading for domestic travel in the coming years…