Southwest Airlines – Let the Air Fare Wars Begin
Southwest Airlines is giving all of us a gift this summer. Fares as low as $30 – $90 dollars – Round Trip (depending on distance). They claim that this is the biggest sale they’ve had in the company’s history.
To avail of this special, Travelers must book their flights by midnight (12:00 a.m.) tonight, July 8th 2009.
American Airlines was quick to follow suit by offering $200.00 RT ticket to anywhere in the US (plus taxes and fees). These types of promotions advertised by airlines including AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines are an early start in the industry’s efforts to fill their capacity when travel begins to slow after Labor Day.
According to the News:
Southwest structured its sale based on the distance flown – one-way fares of $30 for trips of up to 400 miles, $60 for 400 to 750 miles and $90 for more than 750 miles. That offers a significant discount from the usual nonsale tickets sold several weeks in advance.
From Dallas Love Field, for example, a ticket to such nearby cities as Oklahoma City, Austin, San Antonio and Houston would cost $30 one-way, compared with its usual deepest discount of $49 each way or $130 for a last-minute purchase.
In the second group with $60 fares were such cities as Nashville, Tenn.; Kansas City, Mo.; St. Louis; and Albuquerque, N.M. In the third group with $90 fares are the more distant cities, including Chicago and those along the East and West Coasts.
A Dallas-Boston round-trip ticket on Southwest, for example, would cost at least $359 before Sept. 9, but $209 including taxes and fees on Sept. 9 and afterward.
“For those who have been waiting for the cheapest fare sale of the year, I can’t think of anything better,” said Tom Parsons of BestFares.com.
So, what are you waiting for?! Go online and make your booking!
