The advertised $49 fares are impossible to find

[JJA]

I get these bait-and-switch emails that advertise a $49 fare, but when I click on the link there are no fares listed that are anywhere near that price. I understand that there may not be a $49 fare to anywhere from my "home" airport. Still, I would like to see the $49 from anywhere to anywhere if for no other reason than to prove that the ad is not total rubbish.

[dfwskier]

There’s no bait and switch here. The $49 fares are out there. 5 of them are out of DAL.

https://www.southwest.com/html/offers/nationwide_sale_NonstopConnect_240213.html?redirect=false&cbid...

pick a city from the drop-down menu to see which cities have them

[JJA]

I disagree. This is the very definition of bait-and-switch. You advertise a desirable product, service, or price. Then when an attempt is made to accept the offer, the advertised product or service is either not available or difficult to access. The customer is instead presented with more expensive or less desirable alternatives.

I would withdraw my assertion if the email link presented a list of all $49 fares that are available. It is not reasonable to ask the customer to click on all 100+ possible departure airports to search out where the low fare might be available. Therefore, Southwest's practice is a bait-and-switch.

[dfwskier]

You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to assert that your opinion is wrong

[DancingDavidE]

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@JJA wrote:

I get these bait-and-switch emails that advertise a $49 fare, but when I click on the link there are no fares listed that are anywhere near that price. I understand that there may not be a $49 fare to anywhere from my "home" airport. Still, I would like to see the $49 from anywhere to anywhere if for no other reason than to prove that the ad is not total rubbish.

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They did get dinged for this before so I'm sure that the fare exists or did exist at the time the email was sent. But it may not be for a favorable time of day or your cities.

[SoCalFlyer97]

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@JJA wrote:

I get these bait-and-switch emails that advertise a $49 fare, but when I click on the link there are no fares listed that are anywhere near that price. I understand that there may not be a $49 fare to anywhere from my "home" airport. Still, I would like to see the $49 from anywhere to anywhere if for no other reason than to prove that the ad is not total rubbish.

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Hola! Since I'm actively involved in Marketing in the whirlpool bath and aging-in-place industries, I know the limitations of what the Marketing Copy can say and what it cannot say. However, trust me: I can understand the disappointment of when SW (or any company) announces a sale and the products I desire don't line up to the sale. I've had my share of flights/airport locations/days not matching up with SW sales too. From SoCal, I usually fly SW out of SAN because I have a better shot of locking in a sale price there. However, my "convenience" preferred airport is ONT because of ease of access, but airfares are typically much higher and many SW sales don't return a good deal but sometimes, I'll get lucky and find a deal from ONT. Thus, I normally go to SAN but on occasion, use ONT.

However, I can state for a fact that last week's sale was not bait-and-switch because the offer was stated as "One-way as low as* $49" with the asterisk fine-print clearly stating the exclusions and restrictions. For the SoCal Market, most of the flights listed around the $49 range were limited to short-haul trips during the middle of the week (e.g. in between SAN and LAS for Tuesday and Wednesdays). I locked in a midweek daytrip flight from SAN to LAS for $39 during a prior sale which did not apply to my convenience airport at ONT.

However, I was not able lock in anything from this last sale and there's been some great sales (even last January's WOW40 sale) where I had trouble finding good deals for my needs whereas I was able to locate many deals and book several 2024 winter flights during last September's WOW50 sale...or during a prior "As Low as $29" Sale where my convenience airport at ONT posted $39 sale prices. Sometimes we just have to wait for the right sale. Fortunately, since SW doesn't charge any change fees, I can always check and re-price my existing bookings during different sales and collect the difference in fare in the form of a flight credit.

Hope this helps!