Southwest

A couple of days ago, Southwest launched what must be one of the most rewarding promotions of the year when it started offering a limited-time Companion Pass to Southwest Rapid Rewards members who book a flight by 24 September and then travel by 15 November 2020. 24 September is TODAY so there are just hours left to get in on this fantastic deal.

Southwest is currently running a flash sale which ends tomorrow and when you consider that the airline doesn't charge checked bag fees some of the fares on offer appear to offer very good value.

statement credit when the way they were processed by AA/Amex was changed. Last month there was a suggestion that this situation had been reversed but that turned out to be a glitch and, as far as I know, American Airlines gift cards continue not to trigger the Amex statement credits. Now we may be facing a similar issue with Delta and Southwest gift card purchases.

It was way back in October 2017 that Southwest announced its intention to commence flights between the mainland and Hawaii and although flights were supposed to go on sale in 2018 it wasn't until March of this year that Southwest finally opened up bookings for travel out of 6 California airports.

Just last week I (and quite a few others) were wondering if we were just days away from seeing Southwest Airlines officially launch flights between the mainland and Hawaii and, as of today, that's exactly what's happened.

Southwest first announced its plan to operate flights between the mainland and Hawaii back in October 2017 and the intention was for the airline to commence service to the islands at some point in 2018. 2018 came and went and thanks to delays in getting its aircraft ETOPS certified (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) we are yet to see a Southwest commercial flight making its way to Hawaii....but this may be about to change.

The airline that so many of us have been hoping will one day fly to Hawaii has finally said that it plans to do exactly that. In an address to employees Southwest CEO Gary Kelly confirmed that the airline plans to operate flights between the continental US and Hawaii from next year.

Southwest Airlines has announced its schedule of non-stop services between Florida and Cuba which will be starting up as soon as next month. Last month both Delta and American Airlines opened up reservations on their routes to Havana and, a couple of weeks ago, Alaska followed suit (although it will be starting services later than expected). Now its Southwest's turn to announce details of its new routes and its doing so with an introductory fares of $59 one-way....which is fantastic!

News of Aer Lingus continuing to add services to the US while Lufthansa kills off a route completely before reopening an old route they haven't deserved in years. Not to be left out of the new route announcements, Southwest's spring schedule shows a number of interesting new options.

A roundup of some of the airline news from the past week - new routes, old routes restarted, airlines making travel even less comfortable....it's all in here :)