Southwest Expands (And Celebrates with a Summer Sale), MegaBus Does the Same

Its now a good-looking 40 years old, and to celebrate Southwest Airlines made two tantalizing announcements today:

• By 2012 it will have several new crafts in its fleet big and strong enough to make flights to Hawaii and other farther-flung destinations. 
• In the coming months, the flyer is adding a number of new routes, most notably from Newark to Baltimore, Phoenix, Denver and Houston. 

For those Newark non-stops, it will be slashing rates to as low as $49 (that covers the Newark to Baltimore flights). Tickets must be purchased by end of day (Pacific time) Friday, Dec. 17. The sale is good for flights from June 5 through Aug 12.

Bus A Move To Or From Toronto

The much younger Megabus (founded in 2006) has an even more tantalizing offer: how does almost free grab you? The company is giving away 20,000 seats for winter trips between nearly 50 US cities (including Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, St. Louis, Cleveland and Washington, DC) and Toronto at that non-price."Buyers" pay just a .50 cent booking fee. And when those seats are gone, the price will start at $1 (really $1.50 with the booking fee).

Use the code WOW200K when booking.

The demand on this deal is so great that its been crashing the Megabus site. But keep trying as this deal will sell out soon.