Prepare to pay more for holiday flights

Fasten your seat belts, fliers, it could be a bumpy ride this fall and winter.

In many places, prices are increasing, seats are scarce and your favorite flight may have disappeared. The holidays are looking especially un-jolly.

The main culprit is a reduction in airline capacity. Pressured by bankruptcies and high fuel prices, many airlines are dropping routes, flying less or using smaller planes for domestic service. Among them are American, Delta, Independence Air and Northwest.

Here are some tips for dealing with the turbulence:

“Check for schedule changes. This is especially important for connecting flights.

“Prepare to pay more. Since late summer, U.S. leisure fares have been 11 percent to 17 percent higher than last year, said Bob Harrell, president of New York-based Harrell Associates, which tracks the lowest published prices.

You may get a price break if you travel after Thanksgiving through Dec. 12, when demand is lower, said Barbara Messing, vice president of customer experience for Hotwire.com, an Internet travel seller.

“Book holiday flights now. You already may be too late for popular destinations. Round-trip air fares from Dec. 26 to Jan. 9 between Los Angeles and Honolulu have topped $1,360, said Susan Tanzman, owner of Martin’s Travel and and Tours in Los Angeles. She found that two out of three tour operators were sold out.

“Get real about redeeming miles. Award seats are scarce. Capacity cutbacks are “just going to make a problem that was bad in the first place even worse,” said Tim Winship, editor and publisher of the online newsletter FrequentFlier.com. Book early, travel off-season and be willing to pony up extra miles for unrestricted awards, he advised.