Southwest Will Slash Its Fares Within the State

Intensifying a wave of air fare cuts, Southwest Airlines said Thursday it will reduce its prices to $78 round trip on all flights within California from Aug. 16 through Sept. 30.

The tickets, which are not refundable, must be purchased seven days in advance, and travelers must stay over at least one night.

The bargain tickets are limited and aren’t available on some flights during heavy travel periods, said Southwest, which serves nine California locations: Orange County, Los Angeles, Burbank, Ontario, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose.

The fares represent a significant discount off current prices at Dallas-based Southwest. Unrestricted round-trip tickets from Orange County or Los Angeles to Northern California points now run $160 or $170. And a round-trip ticket with advance-purchase and stopover restrictions for these routes costs $102.

Southwest’s chief competitor on the short-haul California routes, United Shuttle, did not match the cuts immediately. “But we’ll be studying the situation,” spokesman Dan Whelan said. “We’re committed to staying competitive.”

Numerous air fare cuts have cropped up recently in the wake of a run-up averaging 11% in the base price of tickets since the year began.

Last weekend, Northwest Airlines discounted off-peak prices up to 25% through Dec. 17, and other carriers quickly followed suit. Recent California specials included a weeklong America West Airlines promotion that cut fares more than half on its 38 daily flights to and from Orange County.

Tom Parsons, editor of the Internet fare-tracking site Bestfares.com (https://www.bestfares.com), said prices are falling as the summer travel season winds down.

United Airlines, for example, has slashed prices on many flights from California. It cut its Los Angeles-Anchorage round-trip price to $155--a fare matched by America West and Alaska Airlines. “You can fly to Alaska for 3 cents a mile,” Parsons said.

Delta Air Lines has round-trip flights between Ontario and Denver for $121. And America West is offering $117 one-way tickets to Newark, N.J., from Orange County with no advance purchase required, Parsons said.