The Shorthaul – American: Chicago – Fort Lauderdale (and vice versa) $194. Roundtrip, including all Taxes

Spirit Airlines has this for $128. However, with the “optional” fees that Spirit charges, it comes out to be about the same. For example, Spirit Airlines charges a $10 booking fee per passenger. That makes it $138. If you have carry-on luggage, that’s another $30 (you can’t avoid luggage fees with Spirit), making it $168. If you want an advanced seat assignment, it is another $1 – $50. When you add it all up, you get worse protection during irregular operations and an even more cramped seat. It equals flying a regular carrier from a cost perspective. With a regular carrier, at least you can use your miles for a reward trip in the future. That’s why we have never published a Spirit Airlines fare even though they do have some cheap fares.

What is The Shorthaul? Read here.

Fort Lauderdale Beach Photo: miamism, used under Creative Commons License (By 2.0)

Sample Date:

  • September 8th – 12th. Valid for travel from September 5th – February 13th, 2013 for Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday departures. Use ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search and flexible month search to see availability. Must purchase at least 7 days in advance of departure

Routing:

  • ORD – FLL (Fort Lauderdale) – ORD

Mileage:

  • 2,366 miles

We used a promotion code to save 5%. Below are some codes for selected travel dates.

Promotion Codes for booking on AA.com:

  • To Fort Lauderdale
    • September 7th – 24th: Code – 2192BF – 5% Off
    • September 28th – October 29th: Code – 23H2BK – 5% Off
  • To Chicago
    • September 7th – October 8th: Code – 6292BF – 5% Off
    • September 12th – 23rd: Code – 6392BI – 7% Off
    • September 30th – November 20th: Code – 85H2AZ – 5% Off

Booking:

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