Southwest Launches Another Sale
Business must be slow, because no sooner did Southwest (tel. 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com) end a sale about a week ago than they launched another one. Incidentally, Southwest is now the largest U.S. airline based on domestic passengers flown.
This sale requires that you book by August 23 midnight central time, and travel August 28 to January 11 with a 14-day advance purchase, with fares ranging from $49 to $109 each way (no round-trip purchase needed) traveling Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Fares are $49 to $169 for travel other days of the week.
Particularly good are the fares to/from Islip, Long Island at $99 each way or less, any day of the week (Islip/Phoenix is especially low at $158 RT). These fares are only available online.
Other examples include:
- Long Island to Austin $198
- Long Island to Chicago $198
- Long Island to Houston $198
- Long Island to Las Vegas $198
- Long Island to Los Angeles $198
- Long Island to Orlando $119
- Long Island to Portland $198
- Long Island to Raleigh $186
- Long Island to Seattle $198
United, US Air and other airlines are matching these fares, although Southwest services some of these routes nonstop and the competitors don't.
Allegiant Adds New Routes
Scrappy little Allegiant Airlines (tel. 888/594-6937; www.allegiantairlines.com), which sells seats only on its own website, is now selling tickets on some of its newly announced nonstop routes. These include:
- Rapid City/Mesa, AZ (near Phoenix) $138 RT (service begins Nov. 21)
- Rockford, IL/Ft. Lauderdale $118 RT (service begins Dec. 14)
- Mesa, AZ/Rockford $158 RT (service begins Nov. 16)
- Chattanooga/Ft. Lauderdale $118 RT (service begins Dec. 13)
- Allentown, PA/Ft. Lauderdale $138 RT (service begins Nov. 14)
- Knoxville/Ft. Lauderdale $188 RT (service begins Nov. 14)
Be warned that Allegiant charges for checked luggage and advance seat assignments, but if you travel light, at these fares, who cares?
American Adds New Service to Roswell, NM
American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) is offering new low fares to/from Roswell, and we all know what supposedly happened there in July, 1947, right? There's even a yearly UFO festival in case you're a believer.
More to the point, Roswell is also fairly close to Albuquerque. This sale ends on September 5, with fares as low as $98 RT nonstop from Dallas/Ft. Worth. See a complete list of fares on Airfarewatchdog.com.
$20 off USA3000 Fares
Use promo code AFFORDABLE on USA3000's (tel. 877/872-3000; www.usa3000.com) website between now and August 29, for travel through November 15, and you'll save $20 off the airline's usual low nonstop fares. Make sure you click the "Flexible Traveler" box in order to find the lowest fares more easily.
Examples, with the discount, include:
- Baltimore/Melbourne, FL $138 (service starts December 20)
- Cleveland/Sarasota $118 RT (service begins January 20)
- Newark/St. Petersburg $88 RT
- Newark/Ft. Myers $88 RT
$20 off JetBlue Fares
JetBlue's (tel. 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com) most recent sale ended a few days ago, but you can still save $20 off most round-trips if you buy with an American Express card using this well-hidden link between now and August 31 for travel September 5 to October 31. Don't have an Amex card? Maybe it's time you got one. JetBlue and American Express are also offering a special deal where you get 50 TrueBlue frequent flyer points when you make your first purchase on the JetBlue branded Amex card (normally you get just 25 points). You need 100 points to get a free ride.
SkyBus Update
You remember SkyBus (no phone, www.skybus.com), right? The airline with no toll-free phone number? And those $10 one-way fares? Not surprisingly, they're pretty much sold out on many routes, until the airline releases a new batch. But on other routes, they're available if you're flexible in your travel dates. For example, Columbus to Greensboro is still $20 each way, as is Columbus/Chicopee (where's Chicopee? Somewhere in western Massachusetts, not too far from Hartford) and Portsmouth, NH. But the best we could find for Columbus to San Diego was $100 RT, still not bad at all. See all their fares on our Columbus page.
Sales to London
British Airways (tel. 800/247-9297; www.ba.com) announced a sale that's good until the end of business on August 17, and you'll save an extra $20 if you register and buy on BA's site as well as get a free 2-day London Pass, with free admission to 50 top London attractions, which, with London so expensive these days (a short Tube ride can cost you $7 or more), is nothing to sneeze at. Even better, for just $99 more each way, you can upgrade to BA's roomier premium economy. For travel September 6 to October 24, fares are listed at $199 each way, which translates to about $530 RT from New York-JFK, with taxes included.
Fares go down by $40 for travel October 25 to December 8, then back up for the Christmas rush, and then back down for travel December 24 to March 25. American and Virgin Atlantic are pretty much matching, but without the $20 discount and freebies.
Meanwhile, Zoom Airlines (tel. 866/359-9666; www.flyzoom.com) is offering tax-included fares as low as $499 RT from New York to London Gatwick, for travel between September 10 and December 15, purchase by August 25.
Chicago/Ireland Sale
Aer Lingus (tel. 800-223-6537; www.aerlingus.com) has fares as low as $164 each way (which works out to $408 RT with taxes) on its nonstops from O'Hare to Dublin for travel in November. Seats are easy to find at this writing. Book on Aer Lingus' website only.
Our favorite Airfare Sites
People ask us all the time, where do we start when booking travel for ourselves, and how do we find the fabulous low fares on airfarewatchdog.com. What about those elusive last minute fares? Read what we have to say here.
Ugly Planes
A couple of weeks ago, we nominated our contenders for the five most attractive airliners to ever take to the skies. But what about the ugly ones? Most of them are actually transporters, but trust us: some of them are truly grotesque, and many of them you've probably never even seen before (maybe they're ashamed to show their faces). Click through for the Five Ugliest Airplanes Ever.
George Hobica is a syndicated travel journalist and blogger whose website, www.airfarewatchdog.com, tracks unadvertised airfare wars and fare sales, including the most helpful and always updated Top 50 Airfares.
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