The mouse that soared

If you're looking to fly on the cheap, you can save hundreds of dollars on airfares by spending a few extra minutes in cyberspace.

All the major airlines maintain active Web sites and use them to put empty seats on sale.

Go up on the Web and register with US Air (www.usair.com), United Airlines (www.ual.com), TWA (www.twa.com), etc. and those airlines will send you a weekly e-mail detailing which flights have been discounted.

The flights change from week to week, so it's important to receive the updates. Or you can register with Marco Polo Galleria (www.marcopolo.com).

This company rounds up the hot deals from several airlines and sends you a weekly e-mail update.

But it doesn't always include all of them.

So if you really want to stay current, go to each airline's site.