Southwest Airlines - Travel Deals

Unless you’ve been living under some really big rock for the past 10 months, you’ve probably noticed that travel to just about everywhere has been pretty cheap. Airfares are way down, and with 17% fewer traveler expected to take to the air this Labor Day Weekend, you’d imagine that the airlines have been offering up some pretty sweet fare sales and package deals to encourage travelers to hit the road. There are a few destinations that are offering up some especially good deals this fall—and Vegas is certainly one of them. Southwest Airlines is offering up some Vegas vacation deals that include midweek credits at some hotels and other special offerings.

Those sounds you heard this past weekend were the expressions of joy coming out of the mouths of football fans from coast to coast. With college football season underway and the NFL on its way, this is the favorite time of year for those of us who like to sit on the couch and watch grown men exercise. You can hardly blame us for shouting out loud.

Of course, watching football or any sporting event on television hardly compares to being in the stadium watching it in person. The roar of the crowd, the taste of overpriced food and beverages, the close-up views of the athletes and the cheerleaders…that is the essence of being a sports fan. You can capture it a bit from the comfort of your own home or even better you can combine a trip to a game with your travel plans.

If you’d like to follow your favorite team around early in the season, you’ll want to do yourself a favor and check out the sale that Southwest Airlines is currently offering. The prices are low, the flights are plentiful, and everyone knows that you have to be at the game when your team wins a big one.

I am a tad biased because I live in the region but for my money (which currently includes three pennies and a Canadian quarter in my pockets) the most awesome, fabulous, amazing, cool, splendid, terrific and all around wonderful part of the United States is the Pacific Northwest.

In these parts we have ourselves some lovely scenery. There are trees that are big and green all year round. There are rugged coastlines where only those insulated by whale blubber would dare swim. There are mountains that are really volcanoes and that reach way up into the sky with a permanent layer of dandruffy snow on top of their heads. There are cities like Seattle and Portland that redefine the meaning of cool. And there is the Pacific Northwest way of life, a relaxed way of living that isn’t for everyone but certainly is pleasant for those passing through on a visit.

In short, you would be a foolish, foolish person not to want to hop on a plane right now and to visit the Pacific Northwest. You can do that for mere dollars with Southwest Airlines deals on flights between Portland, Seattle and Spokane to destinations throughout the country.

If you do plan of stopping by just let me know in advance so I can hit the ATM. Three pennies and a Canadian quarter doesn’t go very far in these parts.

Chances are that if you own a television you probably have seen one of those Southwest Airlines Wanna Get Away commercials. You know the ones where someone does something completely embarrassing and would like to be transported to another place or time to escape the humiliation.

I had one of these moments a few years back when I was living in a foreign country. My language skills were not the best so I would frequently visit my friend’s very old and very sweet grandmother who was very patient with me as I practiced the language. One day I was visiting her and she told me I needed to eat some of her food. I politely declined and she said something to the effect that I needed to eat or I would melt away. I replied that since I had come to her country I had not lost any weight. At least that is what I thought I replied.

It turns out that I got my verbs mixed up and instead of saying I had not lost weight, I said that I had no masturbated since coming to her country. The look on her face was pure shock. It was a Wanna Get Away moment.

Too bad I did not have a video camera with me at the time because surely this ultimate blunder would have won the Southwest Airlines Wanna Get Away contest.

When you are swooshing down the mountain at speeds of 40 mph, cutting a nasty path through the fresh powder and feeling the glorious sun beat down on your face, take a moment to look around and thank your lucky stars that a place like Lake Tahoe exists. The mountains, the blue lake that looks almost unreal, the copious amounts of snow, and the days of bright sunshine; these are all reason enough to get down on your knees at night and to offer up thanks to the ski gods.

Tahoe is a great destination just about any time of year, but it is during the winter months when a special place becomes even more special. Of course, it isn’t perfect. There can be significant crowds on the weekends and standing in lines with grumpy, impatient urbanites can be a real buzzkill, but all in all you probably won’t complain if you book yourself on one of the cheapie flights from Southwest Airlines and you head to Lake Tahoe for some winter fun.

The flights actually fly into nearby Reno, which offers up its own joys if you are into gambling, copious amounts of smoking, prostitution and all-u-can eat buffets. Combine Reno with the natural joys of Tahoe and you can experience the best of both worlds in one easy trip.

Maybe it is because I live in the place in question, but I rarely think of sales tax-free shopping as being one of the top attractions in Portland, Oregon. I think of the amazing nature that surrounds the city, the many wonderful brewpubs, the excellent public transportations system, the safe and clean streets, and, of course, the best bookstore in the universe, Powells.

All of these things make the Rose City a special place in which to live and a great place to visit. Throw in that little fact that there is no sales tax here and I can see why Southwest Airlines is promoting Portland as the place to come to do your holiday shopping.

So come here to shop or come here to say hello to me. Either way you’ll get your money’s worth by visiting Portland.

Anyone who has ever been to Dallas will tell you that it is exactly like the television show that goes by that name. Money is everywhere, all the people are gorgeous and the drama never stops, at least not until the hour is up and you have to wait for the exciting conclusion next week.

Ok, none of this is true, but Dallas is an interesting place to visit for business, pleasure or a little bit of both. The city has grown like crazy in recent years and has added a lot of worthwhile sights for travelers to see. Southwest Airlines is currently offering a promotion to take you to the heart of Texas for as little as $49 one-way. At prices that cheap, you might have money left over to buy an oil well or one of those pretty mansions J.R. Ewing used to have so much fun in.

Dallas Travel Guide

After years of ‘mass boarding’ and ‘first come, first serve’ policies, Southwest Airlines is trying their hand at conventional boarding systems.

The largest United States domestic carrier in terms of passengers, Southwest is operating test runs on select flights to see if ‘advances in technology’ have enabled them to seat people faster and more efficiently than in the past.

Southwest is the only carrier in the United States that does not assign passenger seats.

Southwest Airlines tries telling passengers where to sit

We get excited for promotions, we admit it. While we’re not convinced a million dollars is going to come our way with the Publisher’s Clearinghouse, we are willing to spend thirty seconds to enter in our spam-catcher email address and cross our fingers.

While roaming around on Southwest Airlines’ website, we noticed that they have an entire page, dedicated to various promotions!

Currently, they’re giving away free tickets to celebrate their 35 birthday, a chance to play ball with pitching great Nolan Ryan, and even a promo celebrating where you play the game UNO with with the Where do you UNO? competition!

Southwest Airlines Promotions

Southwest is having a ball this summer and they want to share in the fun!

They’re putting their low fares even lower with flights to select cities from $49 to $159 one-way!

Book by July 27 for travel August 17 through December 10, 2006. Plus, if you hurry and book today, you can fly Southwest Airlines from $44 to $99 one-way in select markets with 10-day advance purchase.

Purchase through July 24 for travel August 1 - August 16, 2006. Note that some flights are operated via ATA Airlines.

Southwest Sales Thru the Summer with Systemwide Savings