Jaunted - Tag: Southwest Airlines

New York: Slankets, Sliders and Southwest Ale at NYC's Bryant Park

JetSetCD — 2009-11-20T16:04:30-05:00

Almost six months ago, Southwest Airlines gave New Yorkers an outright gift: the Southwest Porch, a relaxing, open-air venue in the middle of the city at Bryant Park. During the day, workers from offices in Midtown would sit in the adirondack chairs and on the cushioned lounges to eat their packed lunches, and at night, they can return for a drink and snacks when the bar opens.

The Porch is a pleasant surprise for its lack of pretension and excess of good food choices (being from Top Chef Tom Colicchio' s 'wichcraft chain). We expected it to close down for the winter when the leaves began to fall, but instead the Porch has re-inaugurated itself via a winter menu and introduction of fire pits and slankets, the slankets in celebration of Southwest's recent SkyMall cover.

What Kind Of Crazy Loot Can You Score With Your Frequent-Flyer Miles?

egw — 2009-11-18T08:54:29-05:00

Earlier this year we were attempting to cash in some miles from Midwest Airlines accumulated over a lifetime of visiting Mom and Dad, when we noticed something weird: Along with gift certificates and logowear, we were presented with the option of using our surplus miles to buy Amtrak tickets. Well, that's weird: Why would an airline that still handles a generous amount of short-hop regional flights want to remind us that for short distances we could get a guaranteed outlet and more legroom?

Common wisdom holds that frequent-flyer miles just aren't what they used to be, thanks to high occupancies and rampant blackout dates. Not to mention, if you have trouble committing to one airline you probably have a few thousand miles sitting unused with a variety of different companies, with whom you will never fly enough to get the elusive free ticket. So why not cash them in for something wacky instead? With our guide, you'll never forget that trip to Acapulco so long as you have the electric doggy-door opener you bought with its mileage.

After the jump, we break it down by airline

Southwest Gets Its Own Special Slanket Skymall Cover Starring Santa!

juliana — 2009-11-09T17:24:24-05:00

Everyone loves SkyMall, the ridiculous shopper's catalog found on flights around the world. We're not sure anyone would actually buy anything featured on these pages but if you forgot your reading material, SkyMall will keep you highly entertained during take-off and landing. (For an analytical look at the products featured in SkyMall, we highly recommend perusing through Gadling's extensive SkyMall Monday posts.)

Yet while we're accustomed to seeing ridiculous things inside the pages of SkyMall, we were shocked to find Southwest Airlines on the COVER of a SkyMall magazine. Even worse, everyone pictured in the Southwest cabin is wearing Slankets. Yes, slankets! But that's not all. Guess who's handing out the slankets? SANTA. Southwest + Slankets + Santa = Serendipitous SkyMall Silliness. And in our opinion, the best in-flight magazine cover of the year.

Fly on Southwest for $25 (or The Price of a Second Checked Bag on a Different Airline)

juliana — 2009-10-27T10:45:44-05:00

Yesterday, we bemoaned that airfares were getting more expensive but if you can hop in on this new sale from Southwest, you can fly short distances starting at $25 each way.

The sale starts today and ends at 11:59PST on October 29th and is good for travel between Dec. 2, 2009 and Dec. 16, 2009, or travel between Jan. 5, 2010, and Feb. 10, 2010. And the prices are easy to remember as everything is increments of 25. Flights up to 375 miles start at $25 one-way. Between 375 and 549 miles, fares are $50 one-way. Between 550 and 999 miles, fares are $75 one-way. Flights longer than a 1,000 miles will be the more expensive of the group, starting at about $100 per ticket.

Southwest Adds A 'Green Plane' To Their Fleet As An Eco Test Lab

JetSetCD — 2009-10-22T08:46:45-05:00

During yesterday's big news day down at Southwest Airlines' headquarters in Dallas, much more was revealed beyond the ten new routes for 2010, including the reveal of Southwest's new "Green Plane."

Aside from the snazzy new recycling logo added to the usual Southwest heart on the plane, the 737-700 is outfitted with a range of eco-products being tested out by Southwest, since the Green Plane serves as more than just a machine flying passengers place to place, but also as a test lab. It will still be flying it's regular route as flight WN222 between Chicago-Midway and Boston-Logan, so Midwest and Beantown travelers should keep an eye out, although it'll still rotate throughout the system.

Southwest Announces 10 Hot New Routes For 2010

JetSetCD — 2009-10-21T14:59:19-05:00

While we are all whittling down the last few hours of the work day, Southwest Airlines is throwing a full-blown airline party down at their headquarters in Dallas for their annual Media Day. For those who aren't airline dorks, that means that the low-cost carrier invites members of the press down to Texas to show off new innovations and annouce new routes in person, versus the usual Twitter blast.

Today's news is sure a doozy too: aside from their new "green plane" (more on that tomorrow), Southwest has announced a full 10 new routes beginning in 2010. 10 for 1010; that's cute. Let's break them down, shall we?

Where you'll be flying Southwest to next year, after the jump.

San Diego: Plane-Spotting In San Diego Could Become A Literal Kiss-And-Fly

JetSetCD — 2009-10-01T16:18:52-05:00

Plane spotting everything from legacy carriers to LCCs isn't all that difficult outside of San Diego International Airport with the hilly terrain, but there's one specific spot that lines up so well with the end of one of the runways that we simply must tell you about it. It's a parking garage.

Specifically, it's Aladdin's Parking Garage, at Kettner Boulevard and West Laurel Street, and it's a multi-level airport parking structure situated so perfectly for watching the activity on the runways at the airport. That said, the parking garage doesn't particularly like their reputation as a prime plane spotting location, and there are signs warning of "no loitering." But until they put up signs that warn "no making out," we'll keep coming back for a little literal Kiss-and-Fly.