Airline sales are difficult to follow because airfares have no set prices.
If you're flying from Boston to Los Angeles, for example, the price of that ticket might be higher for an afternoon flight and much cheaper if you're willing to leave early in the morning.
Unless you fly the same routes on a regular basis, it's hard to know when you're getting a good deal. Prices can vary wildly by airline, day and time of day. On routes that have a lot of competition, higher availability can drive prices down even during times when overall airfares are expensive.
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A flight might cost $200 if you're willing to fly on a weekday but $400 if you book on a weekend. Low-cost airlines like Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier also muddy the waters by offering lower base airfares while passengers pay for everything from carry-on bags to seat assignments.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) generally offers what would be considered lower-cost full-service fares. The airline does not charge extra for checked or carry-on bags, and its tickets are generally cheaper than those at full-fare traditional carriers including Delta, United and American Airlines (all of which charge for checked bags).
Like its rivals, Southwest often runs sales, where it pushes that airfares are lower. In most cases, they probably are, but again it's hard to know for anyone not meticulously tracking fares.
The airline, however, has a new offer that will enable members of its Rapid Rewards loyalty program to guarantee that they will be purchasing their tickets at a discount.
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Southwest offers a Rapid Rewards deal
Southwest passengers who join the free Rapid Rewards loyalty program earn points for flying. The number earned varies based on the person's loyalty tier and the type of tickets they have purchased.
The airline also awards points for purchases made on its branded credit card and for buying things from select partners. Points can be redeemed for free travel. Every Southwest Airlines flight has a purchase price in both dollars and points.
Rapid Rewards members can redeem points for free travel and they can buy points if they're short of the amount they need. Currently, the airline is offering a sale on points that allows its customers to save as much as 45% on buying points.
"Rapid Rewards member will save 35% when the member purchases 3,000 to 9,000 Rapid Rewards points, or save 40% when the member purchases 10,000 to 14,000 Rapid Rewards points, or save 45% when the member purchases 15,000 or more Rapid Rewards points within a single purchase," the company says on its website.
Basically, the airline is enabling customers to buy points at a discount, which can be applied to any future flight. That's essentially selling them the ability to pay less for those flights in exchange for giving the airline their money now.
Southwest will run this promotion through April 2. Purchased points do not count toward loyalty status.
Southwest Airlines has bounced back
Raid Rewards members have been a big part of Southwest's comeback from its 2022 holiday meltdown. During that unfortunate period, the company tested the loyalty of its best customers, but they seem to have returned.
Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Green, speaking on the company's fourth-quarter-earnings call, noted that the company set a number of records in 2023.
"Looking to our full-year results, we grew 2023 operating revenues nearly 10% year over year to a record $26 billion accompanied by record passengers, record Rapid Rewards revenue, and record ancillary revenue," he said." And speaking of records, we set operating revenue records in each quarter of the year and for the full year of 2023."
Green expects that those trends won't slow down in the new year.
"As we move into 2024, we are seeing the momentum continue, and we're seeing early but highly encouraging benefits from our network optimization efforts, and we expect first-quarter unit revenue growth of 2.5% to 4.5% when compared to the same period last year," he added.
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