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Deal alert: Transcontinental flights from $97 round-trip

Victoria M. Walker
Articles
Victoria M. Walker is a former TPG senior travel reporter. She previously taught multimedia journalism at Howard University and was the breaking news video editor at The Washington Post.
Nov. 22, 2019
•
3 min read
Airplanes at LAX
Deal alert: Transcontinental flights from $97 round-trip
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How does a $100 round-trip transcontinental flight sound?

Wait, what?

You heard me, we're seeing deals from the East Coast to the West Coast starting at $97 round-trip. The deals are from cities like Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore (BWI), New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX). Even better: many of the routes also work in reverse.

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Note that many of the fares are in each airline’s respective basic economy class. While basic economy means different things to different airlines, generally you can’t pick your seat in advance and limited in your ability to check bags. However, there are ways to defeat aspects of basic economy by using an airline’s co-branded credit card.

To search, head to Google Flights and enter your origin and destination cities. Scroll through the calendar function to find dates and prices that work for you. Finally, click through to book directly with the airline or an OTA like Orbitz or Expedia.

Airline: United, Delta, JetBlue, American
Routes: LAX/SFO/BWI/ATL/BOS/ORD and in reverse
Cost: $97+ round-trip in basic economy
Dates: January – May 2020 for ORD-LAX route, January – February 2020 for all other routes
Pay With: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline), Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare when booked directly with the airline) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel)

Here are a few examples of what you can book:

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Atlanta (ATL) to San Francisco (SFO) for $97 round-trip nonstop in United basic economy (also works in reverse):

Chicago (ORD) to Los Angeles (LAX) for $113 round-trip nonstop in American basic economy (also works in reverse):

Los Angeles (LAX) to Baltimore (BWI) for $167 round-trip nonstop in United basic economy (also works in reverse):

New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) for $197 round-trip nonstop on JetBlue (also works in reverse):

San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK) for $197 round-trip nonstop in American basic economy (also works in reverse):

Boston (BOS) to Los Angeles (LAX) for $197 round-trip nonstop in Delta basic economy (also works in reverse):

Maximize your purchase

Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns additional points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express® Gold Card, Citi Premier® Card, Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this guide for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

Featured image by Alberto Riva
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.