Article Directory :: Travel & Leisure Articles

Southwest Airlines Cheap Flights - Hub And Spoke Or Point To Point?

By Huzaili Aris

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 31Oct2008 Word count: 551 Viewed: 660 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Southwest Airlines cheap flights operate on a point to point system rather than the more conventional hub and spoke system that many other carriers prefer. With more than three thousand flights a day, Southwest Airlines flights can often be bought cheaply because it is a low cost carrier.

The point to point system may benefit the traveler, as rather than having a central airport from which many of its flights originate, the Southwest Airlines model flies its airplanes between airports, with each of its airports having relative parity with the next. To cut down on costs and enable cheaper flights, Southwest Airlines frequently uses the secondary airports of its origin and destination cities. This may be a benefit or a disadvantage, depending on where the traveler wants to go in the destination city. Secondary airports usually have lower tariffs and charges for the airline, and the reduction in costs is often passed on in part to the consumer in the form of Southwest Airlines cheap flights.

Flying the High Life with Southwest Airlines Cheap Flights

However, Southwest Airlines also waives the rule about serving only secondary city airports - it also serves some of the major airports in the big cities. Listed below are some of the major airports that may be served if you book a Southwest Airline cheap flight.

1. Philadelphia International
2. Denver International Airport
3. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
4. Orlando International Airport
5. Detroit Metropolitan Airport
6. Lambert St. Louis International Airport
7. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
8. Seattle-Tacoma International
9. Pittsburgh International
10. San Francisco International Airport
11. Washington Dulles International Airport (limited flights, also serving Baltimore-Washington International Airport)

The Los Angeles area is served by Southwest Airlines cheap flights via four airports including the major Los Angeles International (LAX). The one airport not served by Southwest Airlines in the Los Angeles area is Long Beach so if you are headed there you will need to check out the fares of other low-cost carriers that fly to the area.

Benefits of Booking Southwest Airlines cheap flights

So why should you check out Southwest Airlines cheap flights rather than those of other carriers? First, the point to point system employed by Southwest airlines means that it is likely to have flights going between your intended origin and destination cities. If you are relying on cheap flights from other carriers, you'll probably be in luck if you happen to be living in a hub city otherwise, you might struggle to find a cheap flight to your intended destination.

Another reason to check out Southwest Airlines cheap flights is the fact that it avoids "farming out" its fares. It is not likely that you'll find a Southwest Airline cheap flight on fare search sites like Orbitz or Expedia. It is better that you go to Southwest Airline's home on the web to find bargain flights there. The current home page of Southwest Airlines can be found at http://www.southwest.com. Southwest Airlines has had an online presence for more than a decade. Its flights are sold direct from its web site, and Southwest Airlines has a great record for online sales. As such, you are likely to find good deals on Southwest Airlines cheap flights exclusive to its web site. So why not check it out today?

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by Huzaili Aris

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy Now:

Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!
Click For Details