Originally Posted by madison8
What I would do is for the first week buy a one-way LCC ticket from MSP to BUF. Then I would buy weekend trips BUF-MSP-BUF on NW/CO/DL. Keeps it very clean as far as buying tickets ( no nesting involved ). After doing it for 6 months to a year you will need to buy a cheep one-way back to MSP.
There will be no issues with NWA if you do this.
Not sure what you're proposing here.
I did a "LCC trip" BUF-MSP (I drove up here). I live in BUF.
The problem is that the tickets (out on Friday/return on Monday) run between $360 and $600, whereas with the "skipped" week, I can get them for between $275 and $300. Either way, it's a good chunk of change, but when you're paying it, every nickel counts.
Southwest is beginning service MDW-BUF in July, and they already fly MSP-MDW, so that may be an out in the future, but historically I've always been able to beat SW on any route I've tried.
So, yes, I can do the alternate week thing, but the bookkeeping gets tricky and the routing gets less convenient (NW provides non-stops). Oh well.