When airlines start offering rates for under $100, you usually have to "act fast" or "get it while you can." The model behind such sales is often to slash a bunch of ticket fares over a two-day period and offer them to those who can commit to traveling several months in advance.
Last month, low-cost carrier Breeze Airways launched a sale that offered flights to Orlando and Florida's Gulf Coast for as little as $29, but travel needed to be booked in November for January 2024.
Related: How the CEO of a Low-Cost Airline Tries to Keep Prices Low
Breaking from the types of sales it has offered in the past, Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) is giving travelers more than 10 days to book flights through its latest fare slasher. Those who book before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Dec. 18 can score routes from Atlanta to Nashville, Austin to New Orleans and Las Vegas to Santa Barbara for as little as $39 each way.
Southwest is asking you to 'hightail it outta town' (here's how)
"Super low sale fares," the airline is telling travelers to promote the flight sale. "Hightail it outta town."
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Flights to farther-away destinations like Cancun start at $177 each way from Fort Lauderdale and $289 from New York's LaGuardia Airport or Mexico's Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos from West Coast cities such as Seattle or Los Angeles for around $200. Most major cities are included in the sale with rates starting at $39.
The key condition is that travel needs to be booked at least 21 days in advance and up between Jan. 3 and May 22, 2024, for flights on the continental U.S. Flights to Hawaii and Puerto Rico as well as any international destinations need to be between Jan. 9 and May 22, 2024. There are certain blackout periods during the period's most popular travel dates — March 12 through March 27 for Hawaii (that's when many families go there for kids' spring breaks) and Jan. 16, Feb. 27, Feb. 28, and March 19 to April 19 for flights in the continental U.S.
Need a cheap flight to Europe? Here's another sale
For those eyeing major European cities, Icelandic budget airline Play is also holding a fare sale with $79 flights to Reykjavik from East Coast cities such as New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Boston as well as $99 flights to European capitals such as Paris, London, Dublin and Amsterdam.
This is a traditional "act fast" sale as travel needs to be booked before midnight of Dec. 8 through the airline's website. The lowest fares apply only for certain dates in the middle of the week. Those who want or need to travel on the weekend will see higher fares.
That said, the fare includes taxes and airport charges. Sometimes, one has to pay this fee independently with such sales.
"This year, we experienced an incredible turnout of passengers with our highest consumer demand since operations began in the U.S," Play CEO Birgir Jónsson said in a statement on the sale. "We wanted to give our passengers the gift of even more affordable flights so they can plan a dream trip or spontaneous getaway with us."
