Southwest Rapid Rewards - I wish it would have been Southwest

Airtran will now fly to Jamaica, Key West, Aruba, and Nassau....add this to Cancun.
They announced this awhile ago, but I wish it would have been my favorite airline with some of the most comfortable seats instead of the true cattle car with no leg room. I wonder if this would have been a profitable/smart idea for SWA to get in to those destinations sooner or if they are behind the eight ball now. I know they don't have the ETOPS planes for some of the routes, but it sure would have been a nice surprise for SWA to announce these new routes instead of Airtran.

Travelling the U.S. is great, but I wish they would have some other destinations!

I fully agree!! This would make the CP worth at least double for me. I am not sure how many flights they could actually get in and out of those destinations, but I wish they would find a way!

Just wait. Southwest WILL fly out of the U.S next year starting with Canada, Mexico, the Carribean or Puerto Rico.

Be patients for 2010.

Just wait. Southwest WILL fly out of the U.S next year starting with Canada, Mexico, the Carribean or Puerto Rico.

Ssshhh! Don't let those people in Puerto Rico know that you kicked them out of the US! ;)

And hey, what about Alaska? :D

+1 for Canada - that seems like a solid growth opportunity with plenty of short high-revenue routes.

I know less about the Caribbean...it doesn't feel like the same major opportunity that Canada is. Perhaps it's because I think of it as a primarily-leisure destination with a variety of carriers (from U.S. legacy to newer startups) covering it already. When I think Cancun, I think dirt-cheap fares and flights full of spring breakers.

Judging from the fares I've paid for business trips to YYZ, it seems like there's a pile of moolah to be made there. Most flights into Canada are short enough in duration to fit the WN model well. The U.S. legacies tend to treat Canada as a domestic U.S. destination for operational purposes - so you aren't competing against free lounge access, an international premium cabin, food/drinks in Y, etc. Give me some good routes/times and introduce some competition and I'm likely to consider WN just like I would against a domestic United two-cabin narrowbody flight.

Ssshhh! Don't let those people in Puerto Rico know that you kicked them out of the US! ;)
And hey, what about Alaska? :D

LOL.

I guess i meant to say out of contiguous U.S.(a la PR), Canada, Mexico and/or Carribean

Judging from the fares I've paid for business trips to YYZ, it seems like there's a pile of moolah to be made there.

Just remember, a lot of the money you're paying when you go to Canada goes to taxes. I believe they tax heavily based on distance when leaving Canada, which is why I buy two tickets on AS, YVR-SEA and another SEA-TUS. It can save me $150+ doing it this way.

Of course, if the base fares are higher, the taxes are just insult to injury. WN would compete well on transborder routes, especially if they link up with Westjet intra-Canada.

Just remember, a lot of the money you're paying when you go to Canada goes to taxes. I believe they tax heavily based on distance when leaving Canada, which is why I buy two tickets on AS, YVR-SEA and another SEA-TUS. It can save me $150+ doing it this way.

Of course, if the base fares are higher, the taxes are just insult to injury. WN would compete well on transborder routes, especially if they link up with Westjet intra-Canada.

And not to mention their sales tax is high. I was there this weekend. They have two different taxes on purchases. 1 was a provincial(state) tax and 1 Canadian tax. All our bills in Montreal was about 12.5% tax.

And i thought California was high on tax.

Just wait..