Delta, for example, had fare sales in which people who booked on the Web could save 5 or 10 percent.

Traditional fare sales still make regular appearances.

Indeed, you could argue that it's more of a waste of time pursuing fare sales online than it was a few years ago.

It will include new fare sales on some flights, according to industry officials.

Or do you wait until the summer fare sales that normally take place just before Memorial Day, and hope there are still seats left?

And rock-bottom deals are still available, particularly through fare sales distributed over the Internet for weekend trips.

But airlines looking for quick market share are starting fare sales in competitive markets, and the trend is likely to continue, experts say.

Still, over the weekend, major airlines extended various fare sales that had been in place before Sept. 11 for at least five days.

Just look at the current fare sales for premium-class air travel in the spring and into the fall.

But at the top - especially in international travel - fierce competition for premium business-class market share has ignited fare sales across the board.