Southwest Airlines launches first summer fare sale. Wait. What?
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Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman of the Board and CEO speaks to a crowd during the Southwest Airlines opening of a $125 million, 140,000-square-foot, maintenance hangar at Hobby Airport Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, in Houston. lessGary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman of the Board and CEO speaks to a crowd during the Southwest Airlines opening of a $125 million, 140,000-square-foot, maintenance hangar at Hobby Airport Wednesday, Jan. … more
Photo: Steve Gonzales / Staff Photographer
Photo: Steve Gonzales / Staff Photographer
This morning Southwest Airlines announced a summer fare sale, which likely has nervous fliers saying, “Wait. What?”
In a CBS “Face the Nation” interview on Sunday, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly pushed a positive spin, stating that with physical distancing, masks and the deep cleaning of aircraft, it’s time for air travel to resume. He said, “I don’t think the risk on an airplane is any greater risk than anywhere else…It’s as safe as an environment as you’re going to find.”
He added, “We’re doing everything possible to encourage people to come back and fly,” which translated into one of the first broad summer fare sales we have seen since the COVID-19 pandemic began and interest in air travel plummeted. (See Kelly’s interview here.)
Are you ready to jump on a plane yet? Will a cheap fare be enough to push you off the fence?
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A quick look at the Ready for Summer sale shows fares that are pretty good, but not the fire sale that you might expect in the current environment of nearly zero demand for air travel.
To get the deal you need to book trips by May 7 at midnight, central time.
Sale fares are good for travel from May 19 through October 30, which really makes this a summer and fall sale.
As usual with Southwest’s sale fares, they are not available on Fridays or Sundays. There are also no fees for changes or cancellations.
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Some examples of the deals on offer include $98 roundtrips for intra-California and Las Vegas trips. From the Bay Area, Denver’s going for $200 roundtrip, Phoenix or Seattle roundtrip is $160. Most transcon roundtrips to Florida and the Northeast run $360. Hawaii fares are at about $300 roundtrip. See all the sale fares here.
How do you feel about flying this summer? Is a good deal enough to help you get on a plane? Take our poll here or below and let us know how you feel.
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Chris McGinnis is SFGATE’s senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don’t miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates!
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