Southwest Airlines Ticket sale

[airlarry!]

SW has this great tix promotion, right? Buy one get the second one at a reduced price.

So I checked out a quick trip for July. The take-along fare was right around $30 each way! What a deal, especially if you factor in their lowest fare offering of around $70 each way.

When I priced the two tix up, it came up as $280. So I priced it without the special take-along fare. $303. What?

I don't understand what gives. Everytime I punch the fare in, it gives me a $100 each way ticket instead of the $70 lowest price ticket.

Anybody else notice this, and have a way to get the lowest price fare with the Take along special. (Which the Take along special specifically says that it can be used in conjunction with other specials.)

In other words, I should be paying about $220 for the tickets not $280.

 

[TravelSheryl]

I have priced a number of routes over the past week with the Take Along fares. On most routes (not all though) they are no deal at all. It's clear to me that the first passenger's fare is higher than the lowest available fare when purchasing a single ticket. I'm really disappointed in Southwest on this one. This is the first time I've ever seen them to promote a deal that was no deal at all in most cases.

While Southwest gives no contact info. on their website, you may want to call Southwest Reservations and ask to speak to someone who can substantiate to you how the Take Along fare is calculated.

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation mandates that airfares are properly displayed on airline websites, so you are entitled to this information.

 

[Mic]

As soon as I received the notice of this sale from SW, I priced it for 2 tickets in Sept/Oct. It was $255 and some change, which made the first fare @ $100 each way. Delta recently lowered some Fall airfares, and 2 tickets from them is only $180, and have better flight times. I have to agree that the SW deal does not seem like too much of a deal to me, either.

 

[airlarry!]

Thanks for the info, Mic & Sheryl. I'm glad to see I"m not going crazy on this one.

I'm a huge SW fan, so I'm really disappointed in the way that this has been promoted. And, although I did not research with the fervor of a Supreme Court law clerk, I did poke around the site looking for an explanation...and I don't see anything that states that the promotion does not give you a second ticket after the lowest fare. That is unfair, and I'm going to fire off an email.

 

[TravelSheryl]

I know exactly how you feel, because I too am a huge fan of SW. Don't waste your time searching through southwest.com for an email address though. There isn't one. And yes they know that it aggravates the users of their website, but they have publicly commented that they do not have the resources to support it. Oh well, I guess it's just not a priority for them. Seems odd to me since they promote their website so heavily, and in fact have sold more tickets through their website than any other U.S. airline has done on their website.

 

[airlarry!]

When you said to 'call' SW for a representative, I thought "quaint expression -- a phone call to a company in today's email driven society'.

I did not realize you were serious. Hmm...guess I will really have to 'call' on SW.

 

[mickey7861]

I checked out the Southwest "deal" also from Providence. Yes the companion fare was $60 but the regular fare went up from $210 to $360. No deal there!

 

[sablair]

Is the $60 difference in fare due to them charging $30 for a flight... stopover... $30 to continue to destination? Which makes it $120 for companion flights that aren't non-stop to destination. thats all I could come up when I was searching... there was a statement that it was $30 for each leg of the trip and each airport was considered a leg... not much of a deal at all considering the first ticket cant be a discounted ticket in anyway.

Sheila

 

[TravelSheryl]

Not sure where you read the $30 fare applies to each leg because Southwest's website says it's each way.

See http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/takealong.html

Southwest's fares have never been segment-based; the only exception being when they run a promotion limited to non-stop flights, which Take Along fares are not. The added fees are segment based, but not the fare.

 

[sablair]

you are the travel guru for sure I dont know what it means that the added "fees" are segment based, but the fares arent. It's all the same to me You mean the take along fare is $30 each way regardless of stopovers, but the traveler incurs additional fees that are based on the stopover at each segment? Im sure glad we have you around to keep us straight!

So has SW added additional fees to the tickets to make up for the take along fare, or are they basic fees added to every ticket? hmmm.. my basic ticket price for an upcoming trip is $105 round trip with a stopover each way and the total price is $25, which is only $20 worth of taxes and fees. Ugh... Im so glad Im not in the travel industry.. surcharges, taxes, fees fees fees.. its all so confusing!

Sheila