Southwest launches new fare sale
What a difference a little competition makes.
Southwest Airlines, the largest carrier at McCarran International Airport, launched a fare sale good through Thursday, pulling one-way prices down to $29 to Los Angeles, $39 to San Diego and Oakland and $49 to Portland. The discounts are available three days a week for trips no later than Nov. 9.
Not coincidentally, these are all routes that low-cost rival Spirit either launched this year or will in the next few weeks.
In different markets, different combinations of airlines either matched or came in lower than the Southwest sale. Further, several airlines matched the Oakland fare, going instead to San Francisco.
For most of the past year, the Los Angeles market has seen outbreaks of price slashing in the wake of new service by Allegiant Travel to nearby Long Beach or other airlines boosting their schedules. But to the other three cities, Southwest either had a monopoly or one competitor.
