US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - US Offers $138 Fares To Florida With No Minimum Stay Fare Basis=TRA7SSN

Just received an email from US announcing $138 fares to Florida from cities east of the Mississippi. The key restrictions are:
Must Purchase By: Jan 15, 2004
Complete Travel By: Feb 12, 2004
Advance Purchase: 7 days
Minimum Stay: none
Booking Class: T

It seems these fares would be good for mileage runs since they do not require minimum stay. Why not advertise them as mileage run fares http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

I fear for US a bit, because let's compare what they are offering vs others:
JetBlue: Offers live television at all seats, friendly staff, and free snacks;
AA: Offers a free ticket after buying 2 tickets to CA or FL from BOS/NY;
DL: Offers same free ticket promotion as AA except restricts quallification on lowest fares.
US: Offers a fare sale only though prices are compelling. Unlike the other promotions US ends on 2/12/2004, as opposed to 4/15/04. Not even sure this will capture all the school vacation weeks. This would be ideal for once a year flyers, but perhaps the short lived travel period will hinder sales that might otherwise go US's ways, plus the competition (like AA) may just match these fares and they still offer the free tickets.

Call be naive, but the offer of television or free tickets that are relatively easy to earn may catch the attention of consumers more than just a fare sale. US could have at least matched the 2 for 1 free ticket, or offered some other interesting frequent flyer bonuses, but it seems there advertising might be a day late and a dollar short. Certainly compelling on price, but the Boston media keeps touting the AA and DL offers with B6 on the local news.

However, again these fares look excellent for mileage runs!

More details online at the 72 Hour Sale Page (http://www.usairways.com/pro/specials/best_florida.htm)

[This message has been edited by jetsetter (edited Jan 13, 2004).]

on the aforementioned page, don't be fooled into believing that you can fly to eyw (key west) for $138, despite the fact that the website programmers included 'key west' in their drop-down list of destination cities from which you are supposed to be able to choose the sale fares.

i called the chairman's desk and they said, "um, no." they also said they'd be getting in touch with the website development people to correct the error.

oh well. miami ain't bad.

-- he who slacks

Closer to $170 with all the taxes/fees/graft...

Mileage run? Nah. A good way to get to FL for the AA/DL NYC runs, though...

Yes, I am a bit more in to segment runs than long mileage runs. Another thing this could be good for is if you have to stop at an intermediate city for less than 4 hours. For example, I have a dinner scheduled in Washington, DC. It would be less expensive for me to fly to Florda, stop over in DCA on the return for dinner (for less than 4 hours), and then fly back to BOS; than it would be for me to buy a same day BOS to DCA roundtrip. Plus I'll pick up some miles and segments.

Please note that only airports that are cheap to fly to anyways (such as TPA, MCO, MIA) are included in the sale. The extortion podong airfields like GNV are NOT included in the $138 offer.

Hmmmm... you can fly AA or US NYC-TPA for $138... with AA you get MRTC and a free international ticket after 2 trips, while with US you get filthy planes, an extra connection and a bunch of possibly soon-to-be-worthless miles. Hello!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Looks like an attempt to raise quick cash to avert a possible shutdown. We have seen it before - Eastern, Midway, National - to name a few.

Does anyone have the number for Delta, err Song?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ctmike:
Looks like an attempt to raise quick cash to avert a possible shutdown. </font>

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

Yeah a 72-hour long sale with travel to be completed within 1 month and applicable only to states east of the Mississippi for travel to/from a single state ... that's the best way to raise cash quick.

The next month is a pretty slow travel period for Florida ... not many people take vacations right after the X-mas/New Years holidays, US is trying to fill planes that are a little too empty because of the vacation lull that's now in affect, that's all this is ...

My area must just be odd, people here have spring fever. I can think of 4 coworkers heading to Miami in the next two weeks. One just used this sale fare. I think it's a decent price and will get some people booking flights south.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by catwood:
My area must just be odd, people here have spring fever. I can think of 4 coworkers heading to Miami in the next two weeks. One just used this sale fare. I think it's a decent price and will get some people booking flights south.</font>

The month between Thanksgiving and X-mas and the month after New Year's are traditionally the two slowest months in Florida ... not many families take vacation during those times for obvious reasons ... that's not to say that no one goes, but it's sloooow. (Coming from someone who used to work in a tourist related industry in Florida).

I'm heading to MCO myself on the 31st. I was able to snag a $200 r/t fare from LAX, which I booked a few months ago.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
...(Coming from someone who used to work in a tourist related industry in Florida).</font>

So you were the scary guy in the Pluto suit when I visited Disney when I was 4. It all makes sense now!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BackOfTheBus:
Please note that only airports that are cheap to fly to anyways (such as TPA, MCO, MIA) are included in the sale. The extortion podong airfields like GNV are NOT included in the $138 offer.

Hmmmm... you can fly AA or US NYC-TPA for $138... with AA you get MRTC and a free international ticket after 2 trips, while with US you get filthy planes, an extra connection and a bunch of possibly soon-to-be-worthless miles. Hello!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

I think it's "Podunk"

The fares to Florida have gotten even lower. I see fares on USairways. com from EWR to multiple Florida destinations are just $98 with lots of dates through mid-Feb. I believe CO is offering similar fares out of PHL.