by Tracy Bee

Created on: February 02, 2009

The United States has not always come to mind as the cheapest place to find domestic flights. However, the tailwinds of change are upon the US airline industry. Following Europe's example, where Ryanair's penny deals lead the way, America has realized that flying locally should be a cheap and affordable option for everyone. In recent years, old airlines have re-branded themselves as discount carriers and a multitude of new airlines have appeared.

You may not have heard about many of these airlines though, as they are not as heavily advertised as the larger, more established domestic airlines such as Delta or American Airlines. That is one of the way they pass savings onto the traveler. In fact, often times, you won't even be able to find these budget airlines on major booking engines or be able to book them through your travel agent. So, what are these airlines, and how does one find them?

The best place to look is the internet. The key words "discount airline" should bring up many of them. However, while many sites will offer to book you on these discount airfares, you should book with the airline directly by using its own website to get the best deals. By searching for fares on the airline's website, you will also be able to find unadvertised fare specials. Most of these airlines have frequent, even weekly specials that you can only discover by going to the website. The discount airline's website also allows access to tools, such as fare calendars, which find those travelers with greater timetable flexibility the airline's best available fares and specials.

Alaskan Air, Frontier, Southwest and Jetblue seem to be the most reliable US budget airlines, with the greatest number of gateways and routes.

Midweek, April (ie, shoulder season) flights have been searched on each airline's website to help compare the destination options and fares offered by each airline. All of the searched flights depart from Seattle and go to three popular domestic destinations - San Diego, New York and Miami. Another point of comparison is the airport to which the airlines fly. It is usually best to fly into a city's major airport, as the transportation infrastructure is usually much better for commuting onwards or into the city. Only if the savings are substantial is it advisable to fly to an out-of-the way airport. Unless otherwise noted here, the airlines fly to the city's main airport.

The individual airline search results have been compared to Expedia's pricing and all fares include

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