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New One-Night Southwest Vacations
Southwest Airlines has begun to offer one-night air/hotel vacations packages These one-night stays may especially appeal to cruisegoers looking to fly into, or out of, a port town before or after a cruise.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007;
The News Having long offered multi-night packages, Southwest Vacations has begun to offer air/hotel packages than include one night of lodging and flexibility in flight dates. Travelers attending concerts, weddings, and family reunions might like these packages, as might cruisegoers looking for one-night stays for pre- and post-cruise itineraries.
When Through March 7, 2008. Note: Southwest plans to open its schedule on November 8, 2007 for travel through May 9, 2008.
The Fine Print Air taxes of about $30 per person are additional. Hotel taxes are included. A fee of about $15 per package is added when a vacation is booked 14 days or less prior to departure. Based on double occupancy. Read these guidelines before you book any Real Deal.
Book By By availability. Note: Seven-day minimum advance purchase required because the airline issues paper tickets for its packages. If package includes flights operated by ATA Airlines, a 14-day advance purchase is required.
Destinations Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Orlando, San Diego, Seattle, and Tampa Bay. By year end, Southwest Vacations plan to expand its offering to all of the 30-plus destinations where it offers vacation packages.
Contact Southwest Vacations, 800/423-5683, swavacations.com.
Why It's a Deal By bundling the hotel rate with the airfare into a single package rate, hoteliers can offer discounts on rooms to select customers through the "back door" without lowering their rates across the board. Southwest Vacations says that its one-night packages often offer discounts of up to 20 percent off the lowest room rates available through booking directly from hotel websites for individual rooms.
Here are a couple of examples of packages for a Friday-night stay in early December:
Southwest Vacations is offering a Chicago to Fort Lauderdale round-trip flight and a one-night stay at the Marco Polo Ramada Plaza Beach Resort, a 250-room beachfront hotel in northern Miami Beach, for $239 per person. In comparison, the Marco Polo's website was recently offering a $162 rate (after taxes) and Southwest.com was recently offering the lowest possible fare for identical flights of $518 for two people. When adjusted on a per person basis, the cost of buying the components of the trip separately is $340 per person—or about 40 percent more than the discounted package rate of $239 per person.
Providence, R.I. to Fort Lauderdale round-trip flight and a one-night stay at the Marco Polo Ramada Plaza Beach Resort, a 250-room beachfront hotel in northern Miami Beach, for $274 per person. In comparison, this hotel's website was recently offering a $162 rate (after taxes) and Southwest.com was recently offering the lowest possible fare for identical flights of $514 for two tickets. When adjusted on a per person basis, those costs lead to a comparable hotel/air rate of $338 per person—or 23 percent more than the discounted package rate of $274 per person.
Note to Frequent Fliers Members of Southwest's Rapid Rewards program can ask to have their flights qualify for reward credit by speaking with a customer service agent on the phone or at the airport gate and requesting that he or she add your Rapid Rewards account number to your reservation.
Related links:
• Southwest Airlines Returns to San Francisco
• Some Cruisers Are Smarter Than Others
• Supersmart Cruising Strategies 2007