Big summer/fall fare sale takes off

Southwest Airlines unveiling its newest specialty aircraft, named Missouri One—a Boeing 737-700, in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo: Ashlee Duncan, Southwest Airlines)

Travel demand and prices are bound to tumble after what could be the busiest summer travel season…ever.

So if you feel priced out of peak summer season, or have plans for trips in late summer or fall, Southwest Airlines has an airfare sale for you.

Southwest kicked it off today with with fares starting at $100 roundtrip. From there, roundtrip fares rise in three more steps: $160, $200, and $260.

As usual, we expect other airlines to match this sale and will monitor response at the bottom of this post.

What’s nice about this sale is that it’s good for late summer trips starting as early as August 23— keep in mind that Labor Day is not until Monday, September 5 this year.

And summer is not officially over until September 21. That’s a nice window for a late summer trip!

Take a look at what Southwest has on offer during the slower fall months as well as the “dead weeks” before and after Thanksgiving.

Sample approximate round trip fares include:

$100 between Las Vegas and San Jose, or Long Beach and Oakland (most intra-California and Vegas routes)

$160 between Dallas and Los Angeles or Orlando and Chicago, or Atlanta and Boston

$200 between San Francisco and Denver, Indianapolis and Orlando or Houston and Las Vegas, or Orlando and Aruba

$260 between SFO, Oakland, Los Angeles and Chicago, or Atlanta and Los Angeles, Las Vegas (some but not all transcons)

Southwest Airlines jets at Oakland International Airport (Photo: Port of Oakland)

We expect other major airlines to match these low fares over the next 24-48 hours. (We’ll update this page with competitive matches as they roll out…see below)

Details of Southwest’s 72-hour sale:

>Must buy your tickets between now and Thursday, June 9 at 11:59 p.m. (in originating city).

>Travel window: August 23- December 14

>Lowest fares available only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays

>Blackout dates for domestic flights: September 1-3, September 5, and November 18-29, 2016.

>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: United | Virgin America (good for mid-summer trips) |

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: United’s newest, longest flight + Tipping Uber drivers + Qantas 747 Trip Report + Confusion over PreCheck policies + No-fee earlier flights

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