Now that the holidays are over and travel demand is down, airline ticket
prices are dropping too, according to discount travel site Hotwire.com.

“Now through mid-February is an extremely cheap time to purchase
last-minute airfares, as airlines experience a drop in traffic between
peak holiday dates and traditional snowbird and spring break travel,” said
Gregg Brockway, Hotwire`s chief product officer. “We`re seeing
particularly good fares for travel throughout the month of January.”

For example, roundtrip flights from Seattle to Orlando flying in December
sold for an average of $376 via Hotwire. This same itinerary averages $234
for travel in January via Hotwire. San Francisco to Honolulu averaged $423
for December travel, while January travel averaged $324 roundtrip.*

Below are examples of roundtrip airfares purchased on Hotwire between
December 22 and January 4 for travel in January 2004:

—Boston - Ft. Lauderdale $181—Atlanta - Boston $190—New York -
Atlanta $190—Dallas - Denver $213—Houston - Chicago $214—Dallas -
San Francisco $247—Chicago - Montreal $268—Philadelphia - San Diego
$276—Los Angeles - Honolulu $297

Airfare purchases shown include all taxes and fees. Airfares are
round-trip and may have required advance purchase and/or Saturday night
stay. All purchases are nonchangeable and nonrefundable. Because prices
change all the time, Hotwire customers are encouraged to check prices for
themselves.
* Prices cited are based on the average of all tickets sold for these
particular itineraries via Hotwire.com for travel during the months of
December 2003 and January 2004. December travel tickets were purchased
between December 1-31, 2003; January travel tickets were purchased between
December 22, 2003-January 4, 2004.

Hotwire.com is a leading discount travel site with consistently lower
prices on airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and vacation
packages. Launched in 2000, Hotwire negotiates deep discounts from its
travel suppliers to help sell their excess inventory. Hotwire is a wholly
owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp . For more information, visit
http://www.hotwire.com/.
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