Summer travel season's end approaching, and so are deals

Now comes the end of the summertime travel season. Deals are floating in and out of the travel-scape. Act quickly and you can save a bundle. Snooze-you-lose.

Let's review a few of the hot spots for tickets. Some of the best bargains are for travel between now and the first week of December. But we'll try to take a longer view into the fall.

The two closest Outside destinations, Seattle and Portland, are on sale -- kind of. Anchorage-Portland has been available for $400 roundtrip all summer long. That's a blessing, especially since Alaska Airlines was charging $576 roundtrip to go to Seattle for most of the season. The Anchorage-Portland fare is valid through Aug. 22 with a seven-day advance purchase on Continental. Alaska allows the $400 fare for travel through Sept. 7, 2010.

Anchorage-Seattle rates still are too high, in my opinion. They've mellowed out during the month of August and into the fall, though. Now, Alaska's price to Seattle is $496 roundtrip. Continental is charging $50 less: $446 roundtrip.

If you can make your plans quickly, you still can get a great deal to San Francisco for around $400 roundtrip on Alaska Airlines. All travel must be complete by Sept. 5, 2010.

If you want to go to Denver in the fall, consider flying Delta Air Lines or Frontier Airlines. Alaska and United end their nonstop flights in early September. With that, their great bargains stop as well. Frontier Airlines is flying nonstop from Anchorage to Denver until Oct. 10 (although they drop to four flights a week in September). Until then, you can get a roundtrip ticket for as little as $313 roundtrip, including all taxes and fees. Whoa. That's fabulous. But Delta has daily flights through Salt Lake City.

Speaking of Frontier Airlines, they offer a great deal to Minneapolis, if you travel on certain days. Fly from Anchorage to Denver, then on to Minneapolis on Aug. 25 or 26. Return on Sat., Sept. 11. The cost? $355 roundtrip, all-in.

I price-check all of these itineraries, because these end-of-season deals are moving targets. Let's check a few on the East Coast.

Between Anchorage and New York, fly to Kennedy Airport for as little as $479 roundtrip. You can use a mishmash of Alaska Airlines and Delta, or fly Continental or Delta. They all have the fare in late August, September and October. It's a great deal.

Fly from Anchorage to Washington, DC for as little as $447 roundtrip on Continental. Delta and American also have this deal, but it was harder to find seats. Last week, this itinerary was available on Alaska Airlines for as little as $385 roundtrip. Things change.

Fly between Anchorage and Hartford, Connecticut for as little as $486 roundtrip. Sure, it's a little more than New York, but a lot less than Albany or Boston! I found tickets on Continental -- although other carriers offer the fare. Continental had more seats available on different dates.

Right now, we're tracking deals to Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and a handful of other destinations. But right now, they simply are not worth writing home about.

Stay tuned, though. These deals come and go, especially as summertime flights wind down. Don't be afraid to subscribe to my Twitter feed or Facebook page, where I regularly post changes in addition to maintaining my own web page.

Scott McMurren is an Anchorage-based travel marketing consultant who has lived in Alaska for three decades, spending much of that time traveling the far-flung corners of the state. Visit his website at www.alaskatravelgram.com.