ftnoob

I would think matching jetBlue rather than DING!

diablonhn

Talk about the irony: Southwest is matching Virgina America's $44 sale today.

nsx

Check JetBlue's sale and look for unannounced fare matches:

http://www2.jetblue.com/deals/shipping-and-handling/

nsx

Today-only VX sale including $9 SFO-LAX. 7-day advance purchase. No WN match yet:

http://www.virginamerica.com/flights/airfare-deals.html

diablonhn

It's $49, not $9.

diablonhn

Southwest just started matching to VX.

nsx

Oops, my typo!

nsx

They matched with much more than 7 days' advance purchase, so it was a partial match. Also they ended the sale 1 hour early, at 11 PM Pacific.

IMHO this business of always ending sales well before midnight Pacific Time is customer-unfriendly. It's been this way forever, but that does not make it right.

pinworm

"Your $39 ticket is effectively completely non-refundable and non-changeable. Booking farther ahead you would be foolish not to choose Southwest"


Maybe not...at 10 dollars more per flight on WN vs a $50 change fee on VX, you need to change your flight 5 times on WN to break even/justify the extra 50 you spent on airfare on WN.

Some people have flexible schedules, but for me flying twice a week on a schedule I lay out quarterly, I am more likely to stay with each flight I book. I think I changed a flight once last year, out of about 30 flights for the year. That said, if the VX fares are 1 day advance, it also means I am less likely to need to book them. I tend to go with USairways instead because the prices are the same or lowera than WN in the markets I travel in. Maybe we should have a thread that includes them on the price comparisons, as those are not 1 day advance fares.

Also, VX lost my luggage once, and blamed me for it telling me it was my fault for being dumb enough to interline with them. Seriously. I had no choice flying on a UA turboprop to catch a flight to LHR.

no2chem

[QUOTE=pinworm;16864689]"Your $39 ticket is effectively completely non-refundable and non-changeable. Booking farther ahead you would be foolish not to choose Southwest"


Maybe not...at 10 dollars more per flight on WN vs a $50 change fee on VX, you need to change your flight 5 times on WN to break even/justify the extra 50 you spent on airfare on WN.

[QUOTE]

That's not necessarily true at all. If WN prices drop, for example, you can always refare, which saves you money and helps ensure that you always get (in theory) the lowest price on WN. Also VX has a pretty crappy rewards program, so you have to deal with that as well.

pinworm

[QUOTE=no2chem;16865761][QUOTE=pinworm;16864689]"Your $39 ticket is effectively completely non-refundable and non-changeable. Booking farther ahead you would be foolish not to choose Southwest"


Maybe not...at 10 dollars more per flight on WN vs a $50 change fee on VX, you need to change your flight 5 times on WN to break even/justify the extra 50 you spent on airfare on WN.

Yes, they do have a crappy rewards program, but I often fly on the Virgin Atlantic from LAX to LHR and back and it comes in handy to get those miles and the very odd upgrade to premium for the transat. Doing the transat pulls them in faster, and miles are obviously exchangeable between the "two" virgins. Still, I will often go US as well as a plat where I focus the bulk of my flights domestically just for the few times I year I have to get across the pond.

Refaring can be a gamble, but I have done it on the highly variable WN routes like PHX-LAS. Honestly, I cannot be bothered to fare-check my dozens of upcoming fligths constantly. I wonder if there is a service for that!

But as I said, I don't check luggage often and almost never change a flight because I don't fly last minute. If WN is consistently 10 to 60 dollars more than the competition, I will eat the rare change fee because it will be cheaper than the longer term costs of paying WN's higher fares.

ftnoob

As opposed to RR 2.0?

nsx

VX has a one-day sale today with only 3 days' advance purchase. Sale fares run through mid-November. Look for Southwest to match it later today, but to end the match at about 1 AM Central Time.

no2chem

yes, at least RR2.0 is tiered. VX gives no incentive for loyalty.

nsx

JetBlue 1-day sale 8/16/11

Fall sale for all days of the week except Friday and Sunday. $29 Long Beach to LAS! $39 and $49 for some other short-hauls.

Look for Southwest to match the low fares this afternoon and evening, ending at 1 AM Central Time.