CNN || Bright spot for fliers: Holiday fares lower than last year

Amid climbing luggage fees and a flurry of surcharges, holiday airline ticket prices are a bright spot for cash-strapped travelers.

Domestic holiday fares last week were running up to 15 percent lower than last year, according to Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, a consumer airline ticket research Web site.

"The main reason for that is oil prices," Seaney said. "There's been a free fall in prices during the recession from November (last year) all the way through June," he said.

"The bottom line for consumers is that the free fall in ticket prices from November to June, which have slightly bounced off the bottom the past few months, are still historically good deals," he wrote in a follow-up e-mail.

Still, flexibility and keeping an eye on fare fluctuations will probably yield the best deals.

"I think the best time to buy the fare is when it seems really cheap to you," said George Hobica of AirfareWatchdog.com. Prices can often change as much as three times a day for certain popular routes, he said. Signing up for regular price alerts from AirfareWatchdog, FareCompare and similar sites keeps travelers informed as prices fluctuate.

FareCompare.com advises travelers to shop early and book tickets for holiday travel by the end of October for the best prices.

Traveling on the busiest days will always cost more, Hobica said. In fact, late last month, many large airlines initiated a $10 surcharge on tickets for three of the busiest travel days -- the Sunday after Thanksgiving (November 29), January 2 and January 3 -- and followed up by adding the charge to more peak days through 2010.

Hobica said the extra $10 seems "kind of like much ado about nothing," given the usual predictable and substantial price increases on peak travel days.

The surcharge is "kind of good for consumers, because it tells them which days to avoid in both costs and hassle," Seaney said.