- Messages
- 53,693
- Reaction score
- 7,873
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
I have been so put out by the major airlines giving New York travelers cheap fares to Cozumel but charging Panhandle-South Plains Texans so much more. I think I paid about $650 last year! SWA didn't seem interested in helping either as they'd not bother with itineraries LBB-CZM or AMA-CZM, meaning I'd have to book two tickets and hope they'd work together okay: LBB-DAL and DAL-CZM.
SWA started looking better recently when they finally started publishing LBB-CZM thru fares, at least into the first week of August. I like to go for my birthday later in the month, in part because US kids are back in school and the town is a little less crowded, etc. SWA isn't booking that far out yet, but I checked Matrix as a lark to see what American and United were offering. Big surprise!
I don't know if I'd call this the Southwest-Effect, since my dates are beyond their range, maybe. SWA is offering fares as low as $489 with free bags and changes in late July, on planes that would force me to arrive after 8pm and on return be at the airport by 7am - yuck! Whatever the cause, American is offering flights as low as $394, and - I grabbed it!
That's $80 cheaper than flying to Cancun! Well, the $394 fare is Basic Economy, sit where they tell you when they're ready to decide, no changes - use it or lose it for those exact flights, so I paid $30 more to select my seats now and reserve the privileges of changing for a fee if something comes up in the next eight months. I'll book Trip Insurance that covers many risks, but I like more flexibility. I'll still whine about almost a 3 hour layover going, arriving at 3pm instead of noon like we used to get, and almost a four hour layover returning, not getting me back to Lubbock until almost midnight and a home arrival around 2am, luggage fees for all of the gear I like to pack, and - the airline can & will change anything they want to change between now & then, but this is still a nice improvement.
United isn't even show itineraries that week.
SWA started looking better recently when they finally started publishing LBB-CZM thru fares, at least into the first week of August. I like to go for my birthday later in the month, in part because US kids are back in school and the town is a little less crowded, etc. SWA isn't booking that far out yet, but I checked Matrix as a lark to see what American and United were offering. Big surprise!
I don't know if I'd call this the Southwest-Effect, since my dates are beyond their range, maybe. SWA is offering fares as low as $489 with free bags and changes in late July, on planes that would force me to arrive after 8pm and on return be at the airport by 7am - yuck! Whatever the cause, American is offering flights as low as $394, and - I grabbed it!
That's $80 cheaper than flying to Cancun! Well, the $394 fare is Basic Economy, sit where they tell you when they're ready to decide, no changes - use it or lose it for those exact flights, so I paid $30 more to select my seats now and reserve the privileges of changing for a fee if something comes up in the next eight months. I'll book Trip Insurance that covers many risks, but I like more flexibility. I'll still whine about almost a 3 hour layover going, arriving at 3pm instead of noon like we used to get, and almost a four hour layover returning, not getting me back to Lubbock until almost midnight and a home arrival around 2am, luggage fees for all of the gear I like to pack, and - the airline can & will change anything they want to change between now & then, but this is still a nice improvement.
United isn't even show itineraries that week.