Road Warriors – there is good news for any last minute business trips you might be considering before the end of 2008.  We are seeing sharp declines in ticket prices that present affordable opportunities to close that last sales contract of the year or take your top client out for a holiday dinner.

Travelocity’s most recent data shows a steady decline in airfare over the last five weeks with an average price drop of $53, so it may be a good time to shop for a fare as well as a gift.

You also may want to check with your company’s travel manager to see if they have any unused air tickets that must be used by the end of the year – better to use the ticket for business purposes than to let the value expire.

Air carriers in North America implemented more than a dozen fare increases over the course of 2008.  The recessionary environment and the recent slowdown of business travel has carriers with blocks of empty seats between now and the beginning of holiday travel, around December 20.  Hoping to fill those remaining seats, carriers are slashing ticket prices - bringing some much needed relief to road warriors as well as leisure travelers looking for both domestic and international flights.

If you previously researched flights for December and found that they were too expensive, look again.  The low price of fuel (down approximately $100 a barrel from July’s highs) combined with weaker demand is pushing airlines to run last-minute sales at fares we haven’t seen in a long time.