Southwest Airlines big fall/winter fare sale starts right now! Other airlines will soon be matching (Photo: Felipe Garcia / Flickr)
Travel demand and fares always tumble during the slower fall and winter months, and this year is no exception.
Today, Southwest Airlines kicked off the first big late fall and winter fare sale, and I expect other airlines to start matching these low fares in the next 24-48 hours. (see below for links)
So if you felt priced out of peak summer season, take a look at what Southwest has on offer during the “dead weeks” between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and into the cold, dark early winter months.
Southwest kicked it off today with with fares starting at $100 roundtrip. From there, roundtrip fares rise in several steps to $300.
Sample approximate round trip fares include:
$100: All intra-California and CA-Las Vegas flights, Atlanta-Raleigh or Richmond; Washington DC-Boston
$150: Atlanta-most cities in Florida, New York LGA-Chicago,
$200: SFO/OAK or LAX to Dallas, Chicago or Denver; Atlanta-Boston, Chicago, Dallas or New York
$260: Atlanta-Los Angeles (very good deal!); Denver-Atlanta; New York to Chicago or New Orleans
$300: Most transcon flights between New York, Baltimore, Atlanta or Boston and LAX, SFO/OAK, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle
Expect other major airlines to match these low fares over the next 24 hours. (We’ll update this page with competitive matches as they roll out…see below)
This sale is good for flights during what’s known in the biz as the “dead weeks” when travel demand plummets to annual lows– this means that hotel and car rental costs are also at annual lows, so it’s a great time to take a cheap trip. It’s also a good time to get home and see the family if pricey peak holiday season fares keep you grounded.
For business travelers who have not been able to get out and see clients due to this year’s extraordinarily high fares, this is a great opportunity save by traveling when most folks are staying at home. You can take off for a quick visit just before Christmas or drop by during the cold dark months of January and February.
Details of Southwest’s 72-hour sale:
>Must buy your tickets between now and Thursday, October 15 at 11:59 p.m. (in originating city).
>Travel windows: December 2-December 16; January 5-February 10 2016
>Not available on Fridays or Sundays (bummer for business travelers or weekenders)
>Black out dates: Christmas/New Year peak season from Thursday December 17- Monday, January 4
>Very limited time: Only a handful of seats on each flight are on sale- you snooze, you lose.
>See Southwest website for other rules and restrictions, or to book trips.
Stay tuned for UPDATES: Airlines matching this sale so far include: Alaska Airlines | American | United
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Got to take advantage of these deals because they become harder and harder to come by. The airlines are a lot like the Borg on Star Trek, each time you shot them they get harder and harder to kill. The same with the airlines, each passing month the airlines figure out ways of loading up planes and it’s getting harder to find these specials because the airlines just collapse the capacity and make it harder to not fly full flights.