Southwest Airlines will begin its Philadelphia service May 9, 2004, with a total of 14 daily nonstop flights to the following cities: Chicago Midway (three daily), Las Vegas (one daily), Orlando (three daily), Phoenix (one daily), Providence (five daily), and Tampa Bay (one daily). The airline will offer direct or connecting service to 31 other destinations, such as Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Oakland, Houston, and Seattle.
Southwest Airlines offers its biggest discounts with its advance purchase tickets. For example, Philly fliers can take off to Boston (via Providence, R.I.) for only $29 one-way with Southwest’s 14-day advance purchase fare. The advance purchase airfare to Orlando is only $79 one-way.
Even Southwest Airlines’ most expensive airfare to and from Philadelphia is very inexpensive. The airline’s introductory walk-up fares start at a mere $49 one-way to Providence, and they top out at only $299 one-way for cross-country flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the West Coast. No advance purchase or overnight stay is required on these unrestricted fares.
Southwest Airlines is well known for its low fare leadership. The legacy carriers serving Philadelphia have been charging up to a whopping $497 one-way for an unrestricted ticket to Providence (Boston Area), compared to Southwest’s meager $49 one-way unrestricted fare to Providence. Similarly, Southwest’s walk-up fare between Philadelphia and Chicago Midway is only $99 one-way.
And, if you purchase at least 14 days in advance of departure and within one day of making reservations, Southwest’s nonrefundable fare between Philadelphia and Chicago is only $79 one-way, compared to a competitor’s fare of $123 each way. Comparable savings can be seen across the board.
All fares are subject to a federal segment tax of $3.10 per takeoff and landing. Fares also do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9 one-way and a U.S. government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5 one-way per person.
On all Southwest Airlines discount fares, seats are limited and will not be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods such as Memorial Day and July 4 weekends. Tickets are nonrefundable but (except for tickets purchased through their Group Tickets program) may be applied toward the purchase of future travel on Southwest Airlines. Southwest’s one-way fares can be combined with other fares. When combining fares, all ticketing restrictions apply. Fares are valid on published, scheduled service only. Any change in itinerary could result in an increase in fare but Southwest does not charge an additional fee for Customers to make changes. Fares are subject to change until ticketed and are not necessarily common rated in Houston, the Bay Area, or the LA Basin.
With the addition of its Philadelphia service, Southwest will operate 2,800 daily flights to 59 cities in 31 states. Southwest Airlines employs more than 34,000 people nationwide.
Southwest Airlines Fares To and From Philadelphia
Chart Comparing Southwest’s Fares to Those of Other Airlines,
