The great tax holiday of 2011 for air travelers is just about over.
By Monday, most U.S. airlines had raised fares to reap the benefit of lower federal taxes on airline tickets. A few airlines that were passing the savings of about 7.5 percent on to consumers changed their minds. However, Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines continued to pass the tax savings onto passengers, as is Virgin Airlines on flights out of Seattle and Mexico.
Several federal taxes on airline tickets expired over the weekend after Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running at full speed.
Raising the fares allows the airlines to charge the consumer the same amount as before, while pocketing money previously collected for the government.

It could turn into a windfall for airlines if the stalemate in Congress drags on. The government estimates that the expiring taxes total $200 million a week. And with fuel prices much higher than last year, airlines can use the cash.
But some travel experts called the fare increases a public-relations mistake.
"One of the major airlines could have said, 'Hey, at least for a week we're going to give this money back to the consumers,"' said Rick Seaney, who tracks prices as CEO of FareCompare.com. "I'm surprised no one made promotional hay over this."
Airlines collect various federal fees, including a 7.5 percent tax on all tickets that expired at midnight Friday night. Once the taxes expired, airlines began raising fares by an equal amount. On some tickets, the expired taxes can top 10 percent of the price.
US Airways and American Airlines were the first to raise fares. They were joined quickly by United, Continental, Delta, Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue.
Virgin America, which at first passed the savings on to consumers, changed its mind by Monday on most routes, but spokeswoman Abby Lunardini said the airline would continue passing on the 7.5-percent tax savings on flights out of Seattle and Mexico. Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines also said Monday they were continuing to pass on the tax savings.
Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Marianne Lindsey said the airline "saw a noticeable increase in bookings over the weekend."
A spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, a trade group for major U.S. airlines, said consumers will benefit if the tax savings increase airline profits.
"This short-term additional revenue for airlines, which does not mean a fare increase for consumers, benefits all stakeholders — customers, employees and investors — by temporarily improving tiny industry margins to better cover costs and enable airlines to invest in their product and service," the spokeswoman, Jean Medina, said in an email.
George Hobica, founder of travel website airfarewatchdog.com, said stores don't raise prices during tax holidays, and neither should airlines.
"It seems predatory," he said. "I realize the airlines have to make money, but this is kind of a cheap shot. It's tone-deaf."

Passengers who bought tickets before this weekend but travel during the FAA shutdown could be entitled to a refund of the taxes that they paid, said Treasury Department spokeswoman Sandra Salstrom. She said it's unclear whether the government can keep taxes for travel at a time when it doesn't have authority to collect the money.