LAX to NYC fare war

Due to Jet Blue debuting at Los Angeles International on June 17, summer fares to New York and Boston have dropped as low as $105 one-way — or $231 roundtrip with fees. Peter Pae at the L.A. Times:

It's the lowest such price the industry has seen in recent memory for high-demand summer travel.

"I haven't seen anything like this in years," said Tom Parsons, chief executive of online travel guide Bestfares.com. "I've been telling people they need to be careful booking flights for June and July this early, but if you are finding $231 fares coast-to-coast, you don't want to wait."

Similar summer flights on American and United airlines were averaging about $400 round trip before the fare war ignited Wednesday....

Virgin America quickly matched JetBlue's $105 one-way offers this morning. Other airlines that offer nonstop flights to Boston and New York from LAX -- United, American and Delta Air Lines -- are likely to drop their fares in response, analysts said.

I flew Virgin America to San Francisco in November and found it quite tolerable.