Airlines Announce Big Sales to Entice Travelers
Deals at Southwest and AirTran signal an industry in trouble.
July 8, 2009— -- If you're paying $200 to fly to Florida before summer's end, it's probably too much, and if you've been waiting for a travel bargain, your time has come, FareCompare.com CEO Rick Seaney said today.
Steep sales announced Tuesday by two airlines are the latest attempt by a struggling industry to lure back the travelers it's lost during the recession.
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Ticket sales at Southwest and AirTran airlines are aimed at enticing travelers eager for a fall vacation for less than $200 -- but only if they seize the opportunity before the end of the week.
"You have to take advantage of these," Seaney said. "This is only a two-day sale. If you blink, these prices are going to be gone."
If you're one of those travelers, you can scoop up a $90 one-way ticket on Southwest for all domestic destinations that are more than 750 miles apart. Those fares kick in for flights after Labor Day. Or travelers can book even cheaper fares for shorter trips.
Passengers can fly Southwest round-trip from Denver to Chicago for $120, compared with the $288 price they'll fork over when the offer ends.
Air Tran's sale offers $39 tickets each way for flights from Atlanta to Charleston, Baltimore to Boston, or St. Louis to Milwaukee.
"Folks are being tight with their money, and we won't fly unless it's a heck of a good deal," said Tom Parsons, who runs BestFares.com. "The people that are saving them are the low cost travelers. It is better to have $180 bucks coast to coast rather than zero."
Both airlines' offers are available if you're taking a trip before mid-November. Southwest's sale ends at the end of the day today; Air Tran's runs through tomorrow.
"Those are crazy cheap prices," Seaney said. "The holy grail of coast to coast has been $99 one way. This undercuts the holy grail."
It's possible other carriers will soon follow their lead.
"Nobody wants to be undercut in this economy," Seaney said. "When one of them has a sale, they all have a sale."
