Fare alert: check out those tickets to Panama City

by Grant Martin on

I hear that Costa Rica is all blown out by tourists and that Panama is the new hot destination in Central America. Why not check things out for yourself with some secret sales going on today bound for Panama City (PTY)?

Delta and American Airlines got into it this morning with some discounted fares from each other’s hubs. And while as of lunch time Delta availability is starting to dry up, I’m still picking up tickets in the sub 250$ range on American from several domestic cities into PTY. A quick dummy booking from Atlanta from June 12 to 16th yielded a paltry 227$ fare, while Cincinnati was 241$ and Salt Lake City was 227$.

The sale only seems to be good for flights only taking place in June. Time to buck up and commit to that summer vacation that you were going to take the wife and kids on. Too bad I’m all booked up for June.

Don’t forget about the double elite miles promotion that’s going on at American through June 15.

%Gallery-17310%

Fare sales on the way

by Grant Martin on

I have to give the Times credit on this one. Last week I read an online article by Joe Sharkey in the travel section that suggested that fare sales might be coming and pretty much dismissed it as crap. In it, Sharkey pointed to a recent drop in demand that may be motivating carriers to launch discounts across the board.

Wouldn’t you know it — as predicted, fare sales are starting to pop up. Is it directly related to Mr. Sharkey’s predictions ? Is it aggressive competition between low cost and legacy carriers in a tight market? Is it tied to the astrological calendar? Maybe a little bit of everything. I’m personally still not sure, but the numbers are definitely looking good, especially for the summertime.

For example, the tickets between Detroit and New York I was looking at for June 14th weekend just went from 300 to 180$. Virgin America, and Spirit have launched a spectrum of fare sales across their routes, causing other carriers to post competing prices.

Keep an eye particularly on transcontinental fares above everything else. That market has recently become particularly saturated, so competition should be high and prices low. Maybe now is the time to schedule that wedding in California or party in New York City.

Make sure you get your act together quick too, these prices won’t last long.

Thanks for the tip, Joe.

Southwest Airlines Offers “Skimpy” Airfare in Nod to Miniskirt Publicity

by Catherine Bodry on

First, a Southwest employee insults Kyla Ebbert by asking her to change her revealing outfit or disembark the plane. Now, Southwest has turned the critical media coverage of this impromptu dress code violation into a marketing campaign for its flights.

Chief Executive Gary Kelly claims that they’re “trying to be lighthearted about all this.” Southwest has already apologized to Ebbert, but after another woman spoke out about similar treatment and Ebbert went on ‘The Today Show’ and ‘The Dr. Phil Show’ to tell her story, Southwest not only issued another apology (and two free round-trip tickets) to Ebbert, but also announced a 10-day fare sale in honor of miniskirts.

Does this mean that buttock-baring minis will be okay on future Southwest flights? Kelly doesn’t elaborate on a Southwest dress code, but does acknowledge Southwest’s less-conservative past as a company that touted itself as “the love airline” and dressed its stewardesses in hot pants.

More Southwest Airlines controversy:

[via msnbc.com]