AC

Fliers who suffered sticker shock this summer are about to get a break for fall. Starting Aug. 20, many airlines will slash fares on their cheapest domestic seats by 10% to 20%, says Rick Seaney of the price-tracking site, FareCompare.com. Carriers normally cut fares once the kids head back to school. But this year, Seaney says, the deals are coming sooner as airlines try to woo fliers who may be reluctant to travel while the economy is still struggling. "When an airline fires out a sale, it's probing its competition and it's probing the appetite of consumers," Seaney says. "They'll do the sale, evaluate it, and figure out what they need to do for their pricing strategy." When fliers began returning to the air following the recession-fueled travel slump that ran into 2010, airlines aggressively tried to charge more for tickets. They attempted raising prices 22 times in 2011 and six times in the first three months of this year, Seaney says. Fliers this summer saw fares that were...