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Fare war: California-Chicago $100 roundtrip

Chicago continues to block Uber airport pick-ups. (Image: Jim Glab)

Chicago-California nonstops hit rock bottom for spring trips. (Image: Jim Glab)

There’s a fare war festering between major airlines and ultra-low-cost carriers between the West Coast and Chicago with fares as low as $120 round trip.  

What’s best about this deal is that it is good for spring break travel– we’ve found super low, sub $150 roundtrip fares on SFO-ORD and LAX-ORD from now through the end of May.  

The cheap fares are lead by the ultra lows: Spirit Air and Frontier. Both are offering fares as low as $100 round trip on this busy route, which is crazy. But keep in mind that you end up paying a price for using these guys…you are dinged for carry-on bags, seat assignments, and don’t get much love (or alternatives) if your flight is canceled or delayed. You might have to take a red-eye. But still, $100 round trip is tough to resist!

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We used March 1-March 8 as sample here (Google Flights)

We used March 1-March 8 LAX-ORD as sample here (Google Flights)

Majors have responded with ultra low fares of their own– we found nonstop deals on United, American, and Virgin America for as little as $120 round trip. We found American’s code share on new Alaska Air operated nonstops between San Jose and Chicago as cheap as $128. And these are regular economy fares, not the new stripped down “basic economy” fares loaded with restrictions and fees. Plus most of these flights are at decent times, you’ll still earn miles or points, and are not saddled with too many restrictions.

$200

Get $200 when booking your next trip: Use code: TS!

Southwest does not appear to be engaging in this fare war– its cheapest Oakland-Chicago Midway flights are still in the $300 roundtrip range.

Anytime we see roundtrips between California and Chicago running less than $200, we know it’s time to jump. So if this works for you, jump! It won’t last for long.

NOTE: These fares were available using Liligo and  Google Flights on Tuesday, Feb 21 and subject to change.  We also confirmed fares on individual airline sites.

Let us know if you have been successful or unsuccessful in finding these fares–put it in the comments. 

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