As is the case with many Tuesdays, JetBlue and Southwest have released new sales. While they are somewhat normal and some may consider not “news”, such sales do present a lot of opportunities for rebooking or for greater savings with points (since both carriers are revenue based redemption systems).
New JetBlue and Southwest Sales – From $39 and $69
JetBlue Sale
- Book by August 10, 2016 (the earlier of 11:59 PM ET or local time).
- Travel Monday – Thursday & Saturday
- Travel between August 23 – November 17, 2016
- Blackout date: 9/5/16 & 10/10/16 (all cities); plus, 11/10 – 11/14 (JFK/LGA/EWR/HPN only)
- JetBlue Sale Link
Point redemptions for this sale start at a low 1,800 points for the lowest fair cities while the cash versions start at $39 for some short-haul city pairs. This is yet another great opportunity to get that low cost roundtrip ticket if you still need to fly to take advantage of the Virgin America match from JetBlue.
Southwest Sale
Southwest also has a sale but this one will last a little longer. Here are the details for the Southwest sale:
- Purchase from August 9 through August 18, 2016, 11:59 p.m. for the respective time zone of the originating city.
- Domestic travel valid August 23, 2016, through February 15, 2017.
- Travel to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico valid September 7 through December 8, 2016, and January 17 through March 2, 2017. International travel valid August 23 through December 13, 2016, and January 10 through March 2, 2017.
- Domestic travel blacked out September 2, September 5, November 22-23, November 26-28, December 21-23 and December 25-26, 2016, and January 1-2, 2017.
- Domestic travel is not valid on Fridays and Sundays. Travel to Florida and Nevada is valid only on Sundays through Wednesdays. Travel from Florida and Nevada is valid only on Tuesdays through Fridays. Travel to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico is valid only on Mondays through Thursdays. International travel is valid only on Mondays through Thursdays. Travel to Cancun, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta is valid only on Sundays through Wednesdays. Travel from Cancun, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta is valid only on Tuesdays through Fridays. Travel to/from Mexico City; Liberia, Costa Rica and San Jose, Costa Rica is valid daily.
- Sale Link
Check Your Reservations to Save Money/Points!
The real benefit of these sales is for you to check your existing Southwest reservation and see if the fare is any cheaper right now. This is very common because many people will book as far out as they can when the schedule opens to ensure they have the flight. Then, with Southwest’s generous cancellation/change policy, you can make changes to the reservation and always make sure you are booked at the lowest price.
Cancellation and Change Policy
If you have already booked your tickets in the past, you can still take advantage of the sale. Southwest has the best cancellation/rebooking policy of the US airlines. Basically, as long as you cancel by 10 minutes before the flight, you get the points back in your account for free and with no penalty. That means you are free to make any changes you want without any problems or loss of points or cash!
Check Your Already-Booked Reservations For Price Difference
So, now is the time to search for your tickets within this sale and see if you have a better price available now than when you had booked it. If the price has dropped, you simply select to change the flight and look at the same dates and flights again. Once you go through and confirm, you will receive a refund of the difference in miles and the cash for the taxes will be transferred for the new ticket.
In 1 Minute, You Can Have Your Points Back!
The whole process takes less than 60 seconds and you could save a lot of money or points! If you had booked your ticket in the past using cash, you will receive a refund in the form of a credit that is usable for 1 year from the time you originally booked the ticket. If you booked it with points, you will receive the points back in your account for the difference.
Summary
While neither of these sales are the best ones from each airline, these frequent sales are great for current reservations (Southwest) and for trips that come up after the previous sales. In the case of the Southwest sale, you do have over a week to book but the JetBlue sale is only for 2 days so start looking now!
