Southwest announces a $49 fare sale as airline recovers from its holiday meltdown

Rae Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal
·2 min read
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Southwest Airlines is selling tickets for as low as $49 through Thursday for travel beginning later this month and into the spring.

Southwest has promised to compensate passengers, take steps to prevent a similar operational catastrophe from happening again and is offering lowered airfares after a holiday travel meltdown, which saw thousands of flights canceled and passengers and bags left stranded for days.

You can fly from Louisville to Atlanta in February or March, for example, if you search those cities and February on Southwest's website.

Southwest's $49 fare sale

Southwest's latest deals are available through 11:59 p.m. PST on Thursday. Fares as low as $49 one-way are available for flights between Jan. 31 and May 17.

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Blackout dates are Feb. 16 and 20, with international travel and flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico, also excluded from March 9 through April 10 and travel from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii blacked out March 16 through April 10.

The deals are available only on certain days for some routes, most of them on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Check out the airline's website for full terms and conditions.

Was your Southwest flight canceled during the meltdown? Here's how to get your refund

Southwest has a webpage set up for customers whose flights were canceled or severely delayed between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2.

According to the airline, travelers whose flights were canceled or delayed by more than three hours in that period are eligible for full refunds if they did not take a rebooked Southwest flight. Those customers also qualify for 25,000 Rapid Rewards points, which they must claim by March 31 through the airline's portal.

In addition, Southwest will reimburse passengers for "reasonable" incidental expenses, including hotels, rental cars, other airline tickets and food as a result of operational disruptions.

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The airline issued guidance to investors last week that it expects the meltdown will cost the company as much as $825 million.

Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Southwest announces $49 airfare sale after holiday meltdown