Southwest and AirTran Announce a Surprising Reduction in Fares -- to As Little as $59

In an unexpected turn of events, Southwest Airlines tried to institute an across-the-board, airfare rise of up to $10 just last week (on Friday, to be exact). When most other airlines failed to go along, they withdrew the increase over the weekend and then Monday morning Southwest and its new subsidiary AirTran announced a surprising airfare sale, cutting prices to as little as $59 on short-haul flights.

Durations of the sale, and the deadline for booking, are slightly different on each airline. Southwest's bargain fares must be purchased by end-of-the-day August 1, and are good for flights from August 23 throughout December 14. they are valid for travel every day except Fridays and Sundays, and there are blackouts from September 1 to September 5 and from November 17 to November 29.

Air Tran's bargain fares are valid for travel July 30 to November 16, and are lowest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They then rise a bit, but remain fairly low, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There are similar blackout dates for the Labor Day weekend and Thanksgiving period.

Hundreds of routes between dozens of cities are affected by the cuts, too many to be shortly summarized. But on both airlines, $59 is now the low one-way fare, and fares rise on Air Tran to a still-spectacular price of $134 one-way between Milwaukee and Cancun.

If you have any desire to travel anywhere in North America within the coming autumn, you really ought to look immediately at the websites of both airlines. This is an important sale offering valuable savings.